| "Time of Your Life (Good Riddance)" | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||
| Single by Green Day from the album Nimrod |
|||||
| Released | 1997 | ||||
| Format | CD | ||||
| Recorded | 1997 | ||||
| Genre | Acoustic | ||||
| Length | 2:35 | ||||
| Label | Reprise | ||||
| Producer | Rob Cavallo, Green Day | ||||
| Green Day singles chronology | |||||
|
|||||
"Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" is a popular song by the American pop punk band Green Day. Although written by lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong just after the release of their 1994 hit album Dookie, the song was not released until their third major-label album Nimrod in 1997.
Contents |
Background
In comparison to previous Green Day material, "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" features more mellow, contemplative lyrics with acoustic music. Band member Mike Dirnt went on to state that the release of this song was probably the "most punk" thing they could have done. The song is more commonly promoted on the radio as "Time of Your Life", and it became a Billboard chart-topper and an international hit, and was the only song from Nimrod that was a crossover success when released in single form. The song began life as an entirely different version as a B-side to the Insomniac album. This alternate version featured strummed chords instead of the usual sound and lacked the orchestra strings found on the more well known version. This early version can be found on the "Brain Stew" single.
Interview
Billie Joe Armstrong in an interview in Guitar Legends magazine, May 2005:
| “ | "At the time I wrote Good Riddance, I was breaking up with a girl that was moving to Ecuador, and I was trying to be as understanding about it as I could. I wrote the song as kind of a bon voyage. I was trying not to be bitter, but I think it came out a little bit bitter anyway... I thought that calling the song "Time of Your Life" was just a little too level-headed for me, so I had to come up with something different" | ” |
Appeal
Despite being a break-up song, it is frequently played at ceremonial social occasions such as weddings, anniversaries, funerals and graduations. It is a continual favorite to be played as the last song at high school proms. The song reached a massive audience in one night, when it was used during the special two part "Clip Show" of the extremely popular show Seinfeld in 1998. The song played during a montage of clips from the show's history. Billie Joe plays an electric guitar version of the song as their traditional show-closer for live Green Day concerts, including their live performance on Bullet in a Bible. The song features on their greatest hits compilation International Superhits!, as well as on the prom music compilation Hey Are You Guys Going To Prom, Too?
Track list
CD 1:
- Time of Your Life (Good Riddance) - 2:28
- Suffocate - 2:47
- You Lied - 2:25
CD 2:
- Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)
- Desensitized
- Rotting
EU CD:
- Time of Your Life (Good Riddance) (Clean Album Remix) - 2:28
- Desensitized (Non-LP Track) - 2:47
- Rotting (Non-LP Track) - 2:50
Music video
The music video was directed by Mark Kohr, and features Billie Joe Armstrong playing an acoustic guitar in a bedroom interjected with scenes depicting various people undergoing major physical changes in their lives. Band members Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool make cameo appearances in the video as a person getting gas (Dirnt), and an injured bike rider (Cool). Also when the video came out, both names of the songs were swapped and were known as "Time of Your Life (Good Riddance)", this name was also used on the single cover. In 1998 Green Day won their first MTV Video Music Award for Best Alternative Video for "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" and they were also nominated for Viewer's Choice.[1] The video can be found on their music video compilation DVD, International Supervideos!.
In pop culture
- In Season 4 of the television show ER, PA Jeanie Boulet - played by actress Gloria Reuben, sang this song as a farewell to a young boy (Scott Anspaugh, son of Dr. Anspaugh) who had died in her care.
- The song was featured in the retirement ceremony held for hockey player Wendel Clark before the season opener between the hockey clubs the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens at the Air Canada Centre. The crowd proceeded to give Clark a 5 minute standing ovation as he walked out to the ice.
- When Tony Stewart fulfilled his life's dream by winning the Brickyard 400, the song played in the background.
- The song was played at the end of the Seinfeld episode The Clip Show, Part 2 which along with Part 1 was the second to last episode of the series.
- The song was played in Madison Square Garden after Wayne Gretzky played his final game. Pittsburgh Penguins won the game in overtime while Gretzky was on the bench. The crowd gave a long standing ovation for Gretzky while he strode around on the ice - Good Riddance repeatedly playing in the background.
- After Princess Diana died, many TV stations played this song while showing clips of her throughout her life.
- The "best bits" of the British reality television programme Big Brother 2004 (UK) played on the finale night were set to the song.
- At the Boston Celtics' first home game at the TD Banknorth Garden on February 28, 2007 since former guard Dennis Johnson died six days previously, this song was played alongside the tribute video on the TitanTron for the late Celtics guard.
- In an episode of the CBS series How I Met Your Mother, when the cast was deciding what clichés not to include in their friends' wedding, one suggested to play clips of their time together with "Green Day's Time of Your Life" as background music.
Trivia
 |
Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- On the album version, at the beginning, Billie Joe Armstrong makes a mistake (the 3rd and 4th strings of the open G chord are played instead of the 2nd and 3rd), tries again, repeats the mistake, and in anger swears in a barely audible voice. It is thought by many that this "mistake" was recorded on purpose and included in the song to provide comic relief, as it is considered one of their more serious songs. This is often copied by accident on renditions of this song, such as on YouTube. A metronome can also be heard faintly in the background.
- In the United States, the song receives frequent airplay on radio stations featuring the Soft Adult Contemporary format (a.k.a. easy listening)—an irony, given the band's punk roots.
- Billie Joe Armstrong claims to have written this song in less than 10 minutes.
Chart positions
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | UK Singles Chart | No. 11 |
| 1998 | Irish Singles Chart | No. 30 |
| 1998 | Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | No. 7 |
| 1998 | Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | No. 2 |
