Longview Lyrics

[Bass Intro]

[Verse 1]
I sit around and watch the tube, but nothing's on
I change the channels for an hour or two
Twiddle my thumbs just for a bit
I'm sick of all the same old shit
In a house with unlocked doors, and I'm fuckin' lazy

[Chorus]
Bite my lip and close my eyes
Take me away to paradise

I'm so damn bored, I'm goin' blind
And I smell like shit


[Verse 2]
Peel me off this Velcro seat and get me movin'
I sure as hell can't do it by myself
I'm feelin' like a dog in heat
Barred indoors from the summer street

I locked the door to my own cell and I lost the key

[Chorus]
Bite my lip and close my eyes
Take me away to paradise

I'm so damn bored, I'm goin' blind
And I smell like shit

[Bridge]
I got no motivation
Where is my motivation?
No time for the motivation
Smoking my inspiration
Huh

[Verse 3]
I sit around and watch the phone, but no one's callin'
Call me pathetic, call me what you will (We will)
My mother says to get a job
But she don't like the one she's got
When masturbation's lost its fun, you're fuckin' lonely
Suh

[Chorus]
Bite my lip and close my eyes
Take me away to paradise

I'm so damn bored, I'm goin' blind
And loneliness has to suffice

Bite my lip and close my eyes
I was slippin' away to paradise
A-some say quit or I'll go blind
But it's just a myth

How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

To learn more, check out our transcription guide or visit our transcribers forum

About

Genius Annotation

“Longview” describes intense boredom, with a title taken from a Washington town where it was first played. Lyrically, the song is about a day spent sitting around the house, doing absolutely nothing of importance, masturbating, and smoking marijuana until the days are no longer fun.

The song captured the attention of many youths at the time with its overt allusions to masturbation. Bassist Mike Dirnt has stated that the famous bass line intro to this song was written one night while he was high on LSD, and what remains on the album is what he and lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong could recall in the morning.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What inspired the band to name the song like that?
Genius Answer

The song is named after the city of Longview, Washington, where it was first performed in 1992. The band had already written the song prior to arriving in the city.

What did Green Day say about "Longview"?
Genius Answer

Billie Joe told Billboard:

I really loved the song by the Pretenders called “Message of Love,” and wanted to write a song like that, but we needed a bass line. We are all living in this house in Richmond, California, and I think I went to a movie. Everybody back at the house had dropped acid. So I came home and Mike is sitting on the floor in the kitchen tripping balls, and he had his bass on, and he goes, “I figured it out, man! I figured it out.” He played the bass line for me for the first time right there. I didn’t know what to think about it, because I was like, “Well, he’s on acid, so I can’t tell if he’s even going to remember it.” Then we ended up playing it the next day, and it just stuck.

The lyrics to it are about feeling like a loser, watching television, jerking off, and feeling lonely. I was pretty frightened at the time. I was in limbo. I didn’t have a girlfriend — it took, like, four years for me and Adrienne to get together, from like ’90 until ’94. We had signed to a major label, and there was a backlash at the time because we had been this underground band. Things felt out of my control, and it felt like a make-or-break deal. It’s such a unique-sounding song, when you really look at it. Nobody was playing rhythms that swing, or that kind of power in the choruses. Grunge had turned into something that was bastardized by lameness, and I think we were coming from a place that felt a little harder and more upbeat. And it was super-danceable and got people to go crazy.

What has the band said about the music video?
Genius Answer

In an interview with Pandora Mike Dirnt said:

We did a video for this song in the house where Billie and Tré were living at the time. So that video has a special place in all of our hearts because we spent a lot of time doing nefarious things, bong rips, hanging out with friends, and writing songs. And the room in which we were playing live in that video, we actually practiced in quite often. And the room that me and Tré were playing in, which is the bathroom, is where we made dookie quite often.

Tré then added

There was a snake that lived in the walls named Athena, that ate all the mice.

Credits
Background Vocals
Recording Engineer
Additional Recording Engineer
Cover Artist
Video Director
Recorded At
Fantasy Studios, Berkeley, California
Release Date
February 1, 1994
View Longview samples
Tags
Comments