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Basket Case (song)

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"Basket Case"
Song

"Basket Case" is a song by American punk rock band Green Day from their third album, Dookie, which was released in 1994. After the single was released, the song spent five weeks at the top of the Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Conception and recording

The song was written by frontman Billie Joe Armstrong about his struggle with anxiety; before he was diagnosed with a panic disorder, he thought he was going crazy.[1] Billie Joe once commented that "The only way I knew how to deal with it was to write a song about it."[2]

Composition and lyrics

The introductory verse features only Armstrong and his guitar. During the middle of the first chorus the rest of the band joins in, with Tré Cool adding fast tom fills and explosive transitions and Mike Dirnt adding a bass line that is reminiscent of the vocal melody.

Release and reception

"Basket Case" was released after successful singles, "Longview" and "Welcome to Paradise." "Basket Case" later became an even bigger hit, spending five weeks at the top of the Modern Rock Tracks chart; five times longer then "Longview". In 1995, Green Day was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for "Basket Case". In 2006, on Mike Davies and Zane Lowe's Lock Up Special on BBC Radio 1, the listeners voted "Basket Case" the Greatest Punk Song of All Time.[3] The song can also be found on their 2001 greatest hits compilation International Superhits!. The music video can be found on their International Supervideos! DVD. A live version is also found on Bullet in a Bible, a live album of Green Day performing at the Milton Keynes National Bowl in 2005. In 2009, it was named the 33rd best hard rock song of all time by VH1.[4]

Covers

The song has been covered by many performers. Haruna Ikezawa recorded a cover[5], as did Japanese pop-rock duo Puffy AmiYumi on the Japanese edition of their 2006 album Splurge, and Canadian pop-punk artist Avril Lavigne covered the song in her DVD "My World". "Weird Al" Yankovic included the song in his 1996 medley "The Alternative Polka". The first line of song ("Do you have the time/To listen to me whine?") was interpolated into Lil' Wayne's song "Hot Revolver".

The University of Alabama "Million Dollar Band" plays an arrangement of Basket Case during the 4th quarter of University of Alabama football games. The arrangement was composed by Fred Chang.

Music video

This was the second music video by Green Day, and it was directed by Mark Kohr. The video was shot in an actual mental institution called Agnews Developmental Center in Santa Clara County, California, at the request of the band members. The mental institution had since been abandoned, but most of the structure remained in a broken-down state. The band members found old patient files, deep scratches in the walls and dental molds scattered around.[6] The video frequently references the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The music video was actually shot in black and white and the color was added in later, contributing to the surreal effect of the video. Several extras in the video are wearing the same mask as the torturer in Terry Gilliam's Brazil.[7]

The video was nominated for nine MTV Video Music Awards in 1995: Video of the Year, Best Group Video, Best Hard Rock Video, Best Alternative Video, Breakthrough Video, Best Direction, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, and Viewer's Choice Award, however, the video did not take home any award, after all, the song was released about one year before it, being already a bit old for it, other groups that were much more popular at the time, such as TLC and Weezer, won in most categories.[8]

Track listing

Initial pressing
  1. "Basket Case" – 3:01
  2. "On the Wagon" (non-LP track) – 2:48
  3. "Tired of Waiting for You" (non-LP track) – 2:30
  4. "409 in Your Coffeemaker" (unmixed non-LP track) – 2:49
Alternate pressing/Limited Edition Pressing
  1. "Basket Case" – 3:01
  2. "Longview" (live) – 3:30
  3. "Burnout" (live) – 2:11
  4. "2,000 Light Years Away" (live) – 2:49
  • (Live tracks recorded March 11, 1994 at Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg, Florida)
Japenese Version
  1. "Basket Case"
  2. "She"
  3. "Emenius Sleepus"

7" Vinyl Singles Box Set

  1. "Basket Case"
  2. "When I Come Around"
  3. "Having A Blast
  4. "When I Come Around (Live from Stockholm, Sweden)

Chart positions

Year Chart Position
1994 Modern Rock Tracks (US) 1
1994 Mainstream Rock Tracks (US) 9
1995 Billboard Hot 100 Airplay 26
1994 Top 40 Mainstream 16
1995 Norwegian Singles Chart 2
1994 Sweden Singles Chart 3
1994 UK Singles Chart 6
1995 Irish Singles Chart 11
1995 German Singles Chart 18

It should be noted that, while the song was very popular in the United States, even managing to hit number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay, the lack of a commercial single prevented the song from charting on the Billboard Hot 100.

References

  1. ^ "Billie Joe Armstrong Interview on VH1". VH1. Retrieved 2007-12-05.
  2. ^ "Dookie Song Meanings". Green Day Authority. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
  3. ^ "BBC Radio 1- The Lock Up Top 30 Punk Songs". Retrieved February 8, 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); line feed character in |accessdate= at position 9 (help)
  4. ^ "spreadit.org music". Retrieved February 7, 2009.
  5. ^ [1]
  6. ^ "Billie Joe Armstrong Interview on MTV". MTV. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  7. ^ [2]
  8. ^ Rock on the Net: MTV Video Music Award History
Preceded by Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single
August 20, 1994 - September 17, 1994 		Succeeded by
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