Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)

"Good Riddance"
Song

"Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" is a song by the American rock band Green Day. Although written by lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong just after the release of the band's third album Dookie (1994), the song was not released until Green Day's fifth album, Nimrod (1997), and was the second single released from that album. An alternate version (in a different key, with a faster tempo and sparer arrangement) did appear as a b-side to the 1995 German import single for "Brain Stew/Jaded". As of November 2010, "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" has sold 1,812,000 copies.

Writing and composition

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 Rock 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 entirely different as a b-side to the Insomniac album. This alternate version featured strummed, as opposed to the arpeggiated, chords and lacked the orchestra strings found on the more well known version. This early version can be found on the "Brain Stew" single.

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"

On the album version, at the beginning, Billie Joe Armstrong makes a mistake (the 3rd string of the open G chord is played instead of the 4th), tries again, repeats the mistake, and in anger swears in a barely audible voice. In between tries, the faint click of a digital metronome can be discerned as well.

The song is set in common time and composed in the key of G major. The first verse features arpeggiated chords, but Billie Joe begins strumming a typical folk rhythm after the first chorus. The song follows three chord progressions. The verse progression is a I-IV-V (G-C-D), the pre chorus progression is a vi-V-IV-I (Em-D-C-G), and the chorus is a vi-I-vi-I-vi-V (Em-G-Em-G-Em-D). The interlude with strings also uses these chords.

Appeal

Despite the fact that the song is actually written about a break-up, its sentimental quality has made it a popular choice for play at events involving young people, including high-school and university graduation parties, funerals, award presentations and photo montages.

Billie Joe plays an acoustic electric version of the song as their traditional show-closer for live Green Day concerts, including the performance on their live album Bullet in a Bible. In addition, an acoustic cover of the song is played by the full cast as an encore to the Broadway musical American Idiot. The song also features on their greatest hits compilation International Superhits!, and as part of the video game Green Day: Rock Band where it is one of only two songs (along with the a capella Song of the Century) to be missing an instrument. As the song has no bass part, the player playing bass in the game takes up the string part. Also, a fully acoustic version appears on the band's 2011 live release Awesome As Fuck

The song has also received play as backing music in several television shows. Notable broadcasts to large TV audiences include:

• A special episode of Seinfeld in 1998, which featured a montage of clips from the show. As this was the song's first broadcast to such a large audience, much of its rise in popularity is attributed to this.
• The conclusion of NBC's coverage of the 1997 World Series.
• The "Best Bits" montage of Big Brother UK 2004, the popular reality TV show.
• Commercials for videographies of other musicians, including Madonna, David Bowie, Michael Jackson and The Rolling Stones, airing on VH1 Latin America.

It has also received recognition by both the record industry and the public:

• The song was certified as a digital gold single by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2005, seven years after its release. This speaks in part to its lasting popularity into the rise of the digital download era.
• It appeared on the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time, 2009 at 75, as voted by the Australian public.
• Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) was voted #37 on VH1's countdown of the 100 Greatest Songs of the 90's.

Music video

The music video was directed by Mark Kohr, and features Billie Joe Armstrong singing and playing an acoustic guitar in a bedroom, intercut with "pull-in" shots of various people involved in mundane activities. All of the subjects are shown seemingly staring into space absent-mindedly. Band members Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool make cameo appearances in the video as a person pumping gas (Dirnt), and an injured bike rider being attended by paramedics (Cool). Also, two people in the video are laying on the same couch that Billie Joe is sitting on in the video for Longview. When the video came out, the name of the song was inverted, hence the video's title is "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.

The video can be found on their music video compilation DVD, International Supervideos!.

Tracklist

CD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Good Riddance" (Clean Remix)	2:28
2.	"Desensitized" (Non-LP Track)	2:47
3.	"Rotting" (Non-LP Track)	2:50
4.	"Good Riddance"
Total length:		8:40

EU CD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Time of Your Life (Good Riddance)" (Clean Album Remix)	2:28
2.	"Desensitized" (Non-LP Track)	2:47
3.	"Rotting" (Non-LP Track)	2:50
Total length:		8:05

AUS CD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Redundant"	3:18
2.	"Good Riddance(Time of Your Life)" (Album Version)	2:34
3.	"Redundant" (Video)	3:20
4.	"Good Riddance(Time of Your Life)" (Video)	2:29
Total length:		11:41

Charts

Chart (1998)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart	11
Australia Singles Chart	2
Canadian RPM Singles Chart	5
Canadian RPM Alternative 30	7
New Zealand Singles Chart	40
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks	11
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream	13
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	7
U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks	2

Covers

• Rancid have covered the song in some acoustic performances, Matt Freeman is the lead vocalist in the cover.
• Comedian Tim Hawkins plays a parody of the song entitled "These Are Things You Don't Say to Your Wife"
• In 2004, the Swedish band Raymond och Maria performed the song at the last episode of the talk show Sen kväll med Luuk.
• Colin Murray covered the song during the 2007 Comic Relief does Fame Academy.
• In 2007, the Canadian Idol contestant Jaydee Bixby performed a country version of the song during the fifth series of the show.
• California indie band The Citizen Vein covered this song in 2007 to close their final performance before vocalist Adam Lambert left the band. (This version was lyrically and instrumentally similar to the one found on the Brain Stew single and sung with an almost parodic or joking tone.)
• The song was covered by the American country musician Glen Campbell and can be found on his 2008 release Meet Glen Campbell.
• Dwight Yoakam covered the chorus at the end of his performance of "If There Was a Way" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on the May 26, 2009.
• Jimmy Fallon covered a parody version of the song with lyrics about Lost at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards.