Last of the American Girls
Last of the American Girls Lyrics
She puts her makeup on like graffiti on the walls of the heartland
She's got her little book of conspiracies right in her hand
She is paranoid, endangered species headed into extinction
She is one of a kind, well, she's the last of the American girls
[Verse 1]
She wears her overcoat for the coming of the nuclear winter
She is riding her bike like a fugitive of Critical Mass
She's on a hunger strike for the ones who won't make it for dinner
She makes enough to survive for a holiday of workin' class
[Chorus]
She's a runaway of the establishment incorporated
She won't cooperate, well, she's the last of the American girls
[Verse 2]
She plays her vinyl records, singin' songs on the eve of destruction
She's a sucker for all the criminals breakin' the laws
She will come in first for the end of Western civilization
She's an endless war, she's a hero for the lost cause
[Chorus]
Like a hurricane in the heart of the devastation
She's a natural disaster, she's the last of the American girls
[Chorus]
She puts her makeup on like graffiti on the walls of the heartland
She's got her little book of conspiracies right in her hand
She will come in first for the end of Western civilization
She's a natural disaster, she's the last of the American girls
[Outro]
Oh yeah
Alright
Oh yeah
About
“Last of the American Girls” is about the increasing lack of American people willing to stand up for their ideals. The “last of the American girls” here refers both to Gloria—one of the two characters of the album, beside Christian—and to frontman Billie Joe Armstrong’s wife Adrienne.
One of the inspirations for this pop-punk number was the time vocalist Billie Joe Armstrong spent in New Orleans helping build houses for those made homeless by Hurricane Katrina. In May 2009 he explained to Q magazine:
I started writing it for my wife, but there’s elements of Hurricane Katrina and (pro-cycling activists) Critical Mass. It adds those elements to one character who has this left wing strength.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
There’s a lot of lyrics in “Last of the American Girls”. That song started out as being about my wife and then I kind of started getting into more of my own beliefs—anything from a little book of conspiracies to, like, playing vinyl records or something. It’s sort of like about an empowering, sort of subterranean kind of lifestyle, but at the same time there’s a new era coming in with the way we all need to live—like living in a disposable society or something like that but actually living off garbage and finding beauty in it in some way.
- 9.Peacemaker
- 10.Last of the American Girls
- 11.Murder City
- 15.The Static Age
- 16.21 Guns
- 18.See the Light
- 21.That’s All Right
