Lyrics for Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) as interpreted by IllusoryFreedom

Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) Lyrics
Another turning point
A fork stuck in the road

Time grabs you by the wrist
directs you where to go
So make the best of this test
and don't ask why
It's not a question
But a lesson learned in time

It's something unpredictable
But in the end is right
I hope you had the time
of your life

So take the photographs
and stillframes in your mind
Hang it on a shelf
in good health and good time

Tattoos of memories
and dead skin on trial
for what it's worth
it was worth alll the while

It's something unpredictable
But in the end is right
I hope you had the time
of your life

It's something unpredictable
But in the end is right
I hope you had the time
of your life

It's something unpredictable
But in the end is right
I hope you had the time
of your life

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oxconversexo
10-28-2009

Rated 0 
To me this is interpretable in a few ways,

A- Relationships coming to an end, your bitter that the person is leaving but you also wish them all the best in the future because you love them. Iv'e always been able to vibe off this song & make myself feel better.

B- Leaving somewhere; School, where you live, it could be anywhere, or someone close to you leaving. When your leaving somewhere it could be you looking back on the memories you had there & saying it was all worth it in the end. Or someone leaving you because your saying that you hope they had the time of there lives in the place there leaving.

C- And of course, death. This interpretation is always going to be obvious for this song because he's looking back on life memories, hoping the person had the time of there lives why there were here.

But personally I think this song was intended sarcastically. Like he's saying he hopes she had the time of her life but he means the complete opposite. With the original title being 'Good Riddance' I think he's basically bitter. It's a lovely song.

Can be interpreted whichever way you want it to:)
That's what music is, it's interpretable however you want it to be.

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musicgal2020
10-05-2009

Rated 0 
i think this song is about looking back at all the memories in your life and thinking about mistakes and things you should have and should not have done

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punkbooty93
09-08-2009

Rated 0 
He's not saying 'Good Riddance' in a good way. This is a 'fuck you' song.

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m401
09-08-2009

Rated 0 
It may seem unbelievable, but my girlfriend said "You might have had the time of your life" when we broke up. It was me who was wrong and I still feel sorry for that. But when I apologize it was too late. If she reads this, I just hope she'll understand. This song is really close to my heart. Greenday rocks.!

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MCR712
08-20-2009

Rated 0 
To me, this song is about death.
"another turning point, a fork stuck in the road;
time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go"
These lines are about going through life and having things happen but later in life, when there are unfavorable circumstances, time is threatening to run out and they've got to make long term decisions keeping in mind that their lives may be closing soon.
"So make the best of this test, and don't ask why
this is just making the best of what you're dealt
"It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time"
I may be looking too much into this line but i feel like it is means that a younger person is still feeling invincible, almost as if they can do anything and be okay, but an older person is wiser and has come to terms with death, knowing that it isn't a question of IF you will die but WHEN. they know it will come no matter what.
the repeated lines ("chorus" i guess) are the old person telling the young one that they are not invincible and death could come at anytime it's "unpredictable" but in the end you can't change it so make sure you don't have any regrets.
the 2nd "verse" is a bit tougher for me. overall i think it's the old and young who are both going through life, at any age really, just not taking anything for granted.



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walkingparadox
08-09-2009

Rated 0 
Does anyone know what "dead skin on trial" means?

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1 Reply
TashaFlint12
07-04-2009

Rated 0 
To me this is about friendships not ending but when a friend moves away and you don't see him or her anymore you want to know that they had fun

Recently, one of my friends left college and when I found out that he was leaving it took on a whole new meaning for me

Love this song

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ThexHappyxPill
06-17-2009

Rated 0 
this is the biggest Fuck You song out there.
Billie = God

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gloogloo
05-22-2009

Rated 0 
i don't think this song applies specifically to relationships but to any decision that a person makes in life... he says 'another turning point, a fork in the road, time grabs you by the wrist and directs you where to go'... this is saying that when face with another decision, your knowledge and past experiences will influence and guide your choice... 'make the best of this test, it's a lesson learned in time' ... learn from your mistakes so as to not make the same ones again... 'take the photographs and hang them on a shelf in good health and good time' enjoy the good times while you can because you may not be able to in the future... the past and the effects that it has had on you will always be taken into account and criticized... i think the rest is self-explanatory...


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captainawesome
04-23-2009

Rated 0 
the song is about life
about how unpredictable life is and about different choices you make. and that "in the end its right" even if the choices are bad

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Psychedelic14
04-18-2009

Rated 0 
I hate/love this song. My brother died 3 days ago and we're playing this song at his funeral, basically because he used to love Green Day, The Offspring, NoFX, Rancid... He used to blast their songs all the time.

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Thylacine
04-10-2009

Rated +1 
Earlier I said I never gave it too much thought as to why I like this song. I take that back. Personally, I think of this song as one that reminds me of life's cruelties. Horrible things happen every day. While I cannot stand the ideas of modern humanity, I nonetheless keep moving on. I have my own personal plans to change the world. I hope they will be for the better. Who knows?

Regardless of what happens, I need to live life to its fullest. Anything can happen, and I just need to take it in stride.

This is a personal opinion. Please don't reply saying how I'm wrong and the writer really meant blahblablah. I don't care what the writer meant. All that matters to me is what I think about this song.

Thanks ^^

--Thylacine

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1 Reply
jc040284
04-09-2009

Rated 0 
fuckin hell, i keep on getting a lump in my throat with peoples stories about the song.
For me, it reminds me about when my parents were together and my dad always played greenday. i hated it then coz it always got played every weekend. but now i love them (green day) and learn there songs on my guitar ( think the neigbours are getting pissed off now)) LOL

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falconren
03-17-2009

Rated 0 
I believe that so far only one other person has really got the meaning that I believe to be true correct. Billie Joe wrote this song long before it was actually put on their Nimrod album and it's about the relationship he was in at the time because the girl he was with was leaving for Ecuador. Billie Joe was trying to be okay with the situation but did not want the relationship to end. As for the beginning of the song Billie Joe strums the 3/4 chord twice instead of the 1/2 and in frustration says F**K. As for the whole it was a song meant to be a big F**K U to the industry that not true, however at the time they chose to release it they meant it to be a big F**K U to the industry but it was not written for that purpose. Mike Dirnt a member of the band even said at the time it was the most "punk" thing they have ever done. One last thing, this song can be taken any way that one person wants to receive it. Whether that be for a graduation, wedding, funeral, or a breakup, music is meant to reach people on an emotional level, the origin of the song should not take that away.

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1 Reply
egocorttm
02-27-2009

Rated 0 
I heard something completely different.

Apparently while on holiday in Scotland, the singer for the band, billie, had a really intense trip on mushrooms. His hallucination was so strong and vivid; he thought he had met a dragon and spent a couple days flying about Scotland with it. Afterwards, he wrote this song to express how he felt when he was tripping.



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NickDaGreat
02-09-2009

Rated 0 
In the beginning if you turn it up really loudly billie joe says "fuck" right after the second stop go guitar part... if that makes sense...

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1 Reply
cheesycheese01
02-06-2009

Rated 0 
My grandfather passed away when I was eleven. I moved a month and a half later, and my life completely changed as I knew it. I just went into a sort of depression, and was so scared of even leaving the house, because I felt like I could die so suddenly, too. I've gotten through that, but it's taken me a few years, and now I'm seventeen. I'm planning on getting a lyric from this song tattooed on my body, as a reminder of who my grandfather was, that I got through this time and am a much stronger person, and that I can get through anything, as long as I try. And, lastly, that I need to hold on to life no matter what happens. Things do get better. I'm not going to act like I completely worship Green Day, nor even listen to them on a regular basis anymore, but when I was younger, I honestly believe that they're the reason I did hold on to my life. They made me feel like I was in a completely different situation when I'd listen to their music, it was an escape for me. I feel like this song is one I'll never grow tired of, and that these lyrics really, really fit the situation I was in:

"It's something unpredictable
But in the end is right
I hope you had the time
of your life"

Basically, what it means to me, is "we weren't expecting you to pass on when you did. you weren't that old, and it was so sudden and random, but in the end it's what's meant to happen, so im just hoping that you had a great life and enjoyed it as much as possible."

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2 Replies
kaynicka1988
02-06-2009

Rated 0 
this song to me is the saddest ever heard. also i good.

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ashmoe
01-07-2009

Rated 0 
I love when people play this at happy occasions such as graduation, because its not meant to be a happy song. On the contrary, its very bitter and sarcastic. When he says "I hope you had the time of your life," he's not serious. I mean, listen to the title of the song; "Good Riddance." Dictionary.com: "good riddance said to express relief at being free of a troublesome or unwanted person or thing." I think its about the end of a relationship, and it ended badly ("in the end its right"), so he's saying that at least they learned from it ("tatoos and memories and dead skin on trial, for what its worth, it was worth all the while"). It was worthwhile because it was a learning experience. However, the overall tone of the song is not nostalgic, but spiteful.

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225178
01-01-2009

Rated 0 
This song gives me the chills. It's amazing.

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mik_is_sick
10-23-2008

Rated 0 
Is a very calm and soothing song

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noris
09-22-2008

Rated 0 
everytime i hear this song,
i imagine all of my friends singing in our graduation
i dont know why
but its just so good
it makes me think of all my life
and all the good and bad moments i've had
i dont like green day, but this song, it's an exception :)

best part :
So take the photographs
and stillframes in your mind
Hang it on a shelf
in good health and good time

and the chorus,
woow!
it's really deep

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fhcxc2010
08-25-2008

Rated 0 
wow, some of you think this song is just "okay"??

This is an emotional song for me...because I think about high school. I'm a junior now, and it's crazy because...I'm already thinking about graduation and saying goodbyes and moving to different places...and, this song is about celebrating the good and bad, and saying goodbye. I always listen to this song at the end of a school year...because, it makes me think about everything that happened that year and what went wrong, and the past is the past, and mistakes have been made. I love this song, and I always will.

I do agree with the relationship aspect of it. my exboyfriend, and my bestfriend, and I listened to this song a few days ago, and we didn't speak, we just remembered the time that we were dating and how the breakup was unpredictable, and things just didn't go right. but, everything happens for a reason. and it's a lesson.

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PutTheLightsOn
07-24-2008

Rated +1 
To me, it has no specific happening (like breaking up or graduating or whatever...) but when I hear it, my feeling is that it points out how cruel life can be, and just do things with us we didn't want to, didn't ask for, and or not happy with at all to happen. But we can't choose how our life goes (yeah, offcourse we can influence it, but I mean the part that we can't influence), we just see it happen and we have to accept it.

So instead of waisting our time with wondering why on earth those bad things had to happen to us, or by complaining ourselves, we just have to accept it, and try to make the best of our lives, don't let it destroy by the bad things that happens. We should keep the good things with us and don't forget them, remember that those worthful memories are what make life worth living, doesn't matter how it goes or how it ends, we ourselves choose on what to put the emphasis, and this lyrics say, put the nice, good memories on the first place, they give you the energy and courage to live on.

That's what I feel, and it's a support to me, eventhough it has a very bitter undertone and it says very well how hard and how raw life can be, it gives me a positive message.

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wee yin
06-03-2008

Rated 0 
hmmmmmm..................

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