¿Viva la Gloria? (Little Girl)
¿Viva la Gloria? (Little Girl) Lyrics
Little girl, little girl, why are you cryin'?
Inside your restless soul, your heart is dyin'
Little one, little one, your soul is purgin'
Of love and razor blades, your blood is surgin'
[Chorus]
Run away from the river to the street
And find yourself with your face in the gutter
You're a stray for the Salvation Army
There is no place like home when you got no place to go
[Verse 2]
Little girl, little girl, your life is callin'
The charlatans and saints of your abandon
Little one, little one, the sky is fallin'
Your lifeboat of deception is now sailin'
In the wake (All the way), all the way, no rhyme or reason
Your bloodshot eyes will show your heart of treason
Little girl, little girl, you dirty liar
You're just a junkie preachin' to the choir
[Chorus]
Run away from the river to the street
And find yourself with your face in the gutter
You're a stray for the Salvation Army
There is no place like home when you got no place to go
The traces of blood always follow you home
Like the mascara tears from your getaway (Gloria)
You're walkin' with blisters and running with shears
So unholy, sister of grace
[Instrumental Break]
[Chorus]
Run away from the river to the street
And find yourself with your face in the gutter
You're a stray from the Salvation Army
There is no place like home
About
“¿Viva la Gloria? (Little Girl)” serves as a reprise to 21st Century Breakdown’s fourth track, “¡Viva la Gloria!”. Billie Joe Armstrong discussed this in a 2009 interview with Q magazine, in which he explained the meaning behind “Little Girl” in relation to “¡Viva la Gloria?”:
It’s about a woman with a heavy drug problem. “¡Viva la Gloria!” is about a person who has a vision, but this is a person who’s distorting that vision with drugs and self destruction.
But “Little Girl” transcends that meaning when applied to 21st Century Breakdown’s story, depicting the true depths of Christian’s rage following the failed riot described in “Murder City”. Up to this point in the album, songs like “Christian’s Inferno” and “Peacemaker” have only shown Christian’s wrath to be directed towards the people perpetuating the world’s injustices. “Little Girl” breaks that pattern as Christian punishes Gloria for her believed role in the riot’s failure, using her self-doubt against her in an attempt to invoke feelings of self-hatred and remorse.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
That’s where the character of Gloria kind of comes back in. The piano opening has got that sort of saloon, kind of vibe to it. I think that’s where you start to really get into the depth of Gloria as a character and understand that she’s a human… super human! (laughs)
- 9.Peacemaker
- 11.Murder City
- 12.¿Viva la Gloria? (Little Girl)
- 15.The Static Age
- 16.21 Guns
- 18.See the Light
- 21.That’s All Right