Boulevard of Broken Dreams Lyrics

[Pre-Chorus]
I walk alone, I walk alone
I walk alone, I walk a—

[Chorus]
My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beatin'
Sometimes, I wish someone out there will find me
'Til then, I walk alone

[Post-Chorus]
Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah
Ah-ah, ah-ah
I walk alone, I walk a—

[Guitar Solo]

[Bridge]
I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Where the city sleeps
And I'm the only one, and I walk a—

[Chorus]
My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beatin'
Sometimes, I wish someone out there will find me
'Til then, I walk alone

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About

Genius Annotation

“Boulevard of Broken Dreams” sees the album’s main character, the Jesus of Suburbia, aimlessly roaming the city’s streets with nothing to do and nowhere to go. After leaving his hometown and venturing into the city, Jesus has come down from his excitement to find that he’s surrounded by strangers, completely alone in an unfamiliar environment. The realization that he has no one pushes Jesus to his emotional breaking point and drives him to borderline insanity, as implied by the creation of St. Jimmy.

Selling over five-million copies as of September 1, 2009, it was Green Day’s most successful song on the Billboard charts, peaking at #2 on the Hot 100 list. It also won the Grammy Award for “Record of the Year” in 2006.

Q&A

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

Translations
Genius Answer
What have the artists said about the song?
Genius Answer

“Boulevard Of Broken Dreams” is a famous painting by Gottfried Helnwein depicting Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart, James Dean and Elvis Presley hanging out in a bar. In a VH1 Storytellers session, Billie Joe Armstrong (lead singer and guitarist of Green Day) explained he actually saw the title Helnwein’s painting of James Dean from 1948. “There’s an old James Dean photo where he’s walking in New York and underneath it says ‘Boulevard of Broken Dreams.’ It’s a great photo of him, so that’s where I sort of nicked the title from,” he said.

Credits
Produced By
Background Vocals
Bass Guitar
Digital Editing
Recording Engineer
Mixing Engineer
Assistant Mixing Engineer
Mastering Engineer
Drum Technician
Phonographic Copyright ℗
Guitar Technician
Performance Rights
Recorded At
Capitol Studios (North Hollywood, CA); Ocean Way Recording (Hollywood, CA); and Studio 880 (Moraga, CA)
Release Date
November 29, 2004
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