Lyrics for Before the Lobotomy as interpreted by bfg1024

Before the Lobotomy Lyrics
Dreaming
I was only dreaming
Of another place and time
Where my family's from

Singing
I can hear them singing
When the rain had washed away
All these scattered dreams

Dying
Everyone's reminded
Hearts are washed in misery
Drenched in gasoline

Laughter
There is no more laughter
Songs of yesterday
Now live in the underground

Life before the lobotomy
Christian sang the eulogy
Sign my love a lost memory
From the end of the century

Well it's enough to make you sick
To cast a stone and throw a brick
When the sky is falling down
It burned your dreams into the ground

Christian's lesson's what he's been sold
We are normal and self-controlled
Remember to learn to forget
Whiskey shots and cheap cigarettes

Well I'm not stoned
I'm just fucked up
I got so high I can't stand up
I'm not cursed 'cause I've been blessed
I'm not in love 'cause I'm a mess

Like refugees
We're lost like refugees
Like refugees
We're lost like refugees
The brutality of reality
Is the freedom that keeps me from

Dreaming
I was only dreaming
Of another place and time
Where my family's from

Singing
I can hear them singing
When the rain had washed away
All these scattered dreams

Dying
Everyone's reminded
Hearts are washed in misery
Drenched in gasoline

Laughter
There is no more laughter
Songs of yesterday
Now live in the underground

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SouthernPunk777
05-09-2009

Rated 0 
From what i can see, Christian has been reminiscing [sp?] and relizes the best of the past ("Songs of yesterday/Now live in the underground") and his dreams ("I can hear them singing/When the rain had washed away/All these scattered dreams") have been shattered by the end of the century and he's given up on love ("I'm not in love 'cause I'm a mess"). I think it also has to do w/ how the leaders try to make everything seem ok and not to worry 'bout the past ("We are normal and self-controlled/Remember to learn to forget/Whiskey shots and cheap cigarettes"). That's all i've noticed so far, and i can't wait to see what other people turn out on the meaning and how this fits in to the full album's storyline.

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autophobe
05-12-2009

Rated 0 
what a sad song.

I love it.

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davidecoyote
05-17-2009

Rated 0 
Green Day playing with time signatures! What?!

Ha ha, I love it. My favorite off the new album so far. Incredible energy bookended by the emotional "dreaming, singing, dying, laughter" sections. Two great characters are being developed here: Gloria and Christian (patriotism and faith personified, respectively). Gloria got a lobotomy after 9/11. Christian tried to offer comfort and reasurrance because of the ordeal.

What sticks out to me is the "to cast a stone and throw a brick" line, which connects a gospel reading to the Dookie song "She" in a very interesting way. The whole Jesus and Mary Magdalene thing, yes.

"I got so high, I can't stand up." is also a stand out. There is a lot of irony in this song, and it almost demands an explanation.

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5 Replies
deliiroar
05-18-2009

Rated +1 
someone explain something to me. this album seems to take a lot of stabs at Christianity and seems to be saying that Christians are hypocrites, but isn't Billie Joe a tad bit religious himself?

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7 Replies
nicolewasherexx
05-18-2009

Rated 0 
What about the fact that towards the end, it is realized that "We're Lost like Refugees, the brutality of the reality is the freedom that keeps me from.." and the music cuts back into the dreaming section. But this time he states "I WAS only dreaming" as if he is contradicting himself. He says he finds the "reality" of things but then thinks: "I was only dreaming" as if to say the thoughts he was having were wrong to have, no one is lost- even though they are. Especially since it says "Christian's lesson is what he's been sold" as if he was talked out of these thoughts by society.

I just thought that was interesting. And the fact that he says "The freedom that keeps me from.. Dreaming" is also a complete contradiction of freedom itself- much like our country perhaps? "Lost like refugees" I think might also suggest that once, our country had purpose to create freedom and refuge for all, and was symbolized by this, but now we've lost that purpose and are unsure where to turn for true refuge.

Does any of that make sense? Feedback please.

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daraki93
05-19-2009

Rated 0 
screaming, you will hear me scraming, when the fog will make you see my lost memories.

thank you, Kinus

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bostonceltz
05-21-2009

Rated +2 
In my opinion: This is the first song from Gloria's point of view. Remember, the song before this, Viva la Gloria, when we were introduced to this character who completely changed midway through the song? That was quite obviously in Christian's point of view and the last line was "Tell me the story of your life." Well here it is, this is Gloria's story that he asked for, much like 21st Century Breakdown was Christians story. Problem is, she can't remember much. She didn't get a literal "lobotomy" but joining life with Christian, the extremist revolutionary leader, has wiped away most of her fond dreams and memories. The brutal sadness of reality has washed away the time with her family, even laughter and a more fulfilling life.

The negativity and pain has tarnished her innocence and without her faith she compares herself to a "lost refugee." Also I think "Christian sang the eulogy" is, in a way, referring back to "Viva la Gloria" but also Christian basically killed the person who was Gloria, as she has morphed into a completely different person since initially meeting him. In her mind, she's not any worse though, because she found out the "truth" about the cons of America from Christian - yet she's not in love with him either, because she's too drugged out and disgusted with the world.

I've listened to quite a few concept albums and this is right up there. Great stuff Green Day.

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garamri
05-21-2009

Rated 0 
I think this song's about Christian getting the lobotomy, with him singing his own eulogy and the eulogy being the "dreaming, singing, dying, laughter" part. Of course its not a literal lobotomy, but I think it describes him becoming more apathetic toward the world around him.

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1 Reply
garamri
05-21-2009

Rated 0 
This song is so fun to play on the guitar. Especially the eulogy.

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1 Reply
Jcm-93
05-22-2009

Rated 0 
I'm not to sure about a meaning or interpretation but I think this song is brilliant I just wish it would have stayed on the slow, more melodic section with just the acoustic guitar for longer. Anyway great song!


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spicyflo
05-24-2009

Rated +1 
All of his songs have this theme because he's passionate about what he does. I can greatly respect that.
He's a truth seeker and beacon, it's the only thing that brings him peace.

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Santiagof
06-04-2009

Rated 0 
Yes, davidecoyote , this is Green Day playing with time signatures (mixing 7/8 verses all over the heavy parts), as well as a little with harmony.

Awesome, never thought I'd see that happening. My favorite from the album.

As for the song, it's pretty much a memory from a lost past in one of the characters, how everything went to waste, and now how he's a mess trying to deal with it.

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diamondblu7
06-12-2009

Rated 0 
Wow!!! I think we are getting toooo convoluted here. Yeah its a concept album but its not a play. The songs stand on there own. What's the general idea of the album? American decay. To tell you the truth though I can't tell what the hell this song means. However, it adds to the entire picture of the album and I think Christian a lot of time means Christianity. I just wish they would have done the concept album but said what they wished without the ambiguity of the characters Christian and Gloria.

Okay circles and circles but you can take your pic. To me that means this is a pretty good song if you can't tell what it's exactly about but love it.

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master_erk
06-25-2009

Rated 0 
WOW! This song is a mystery and could mean so many things that its hard to say that it is only about 1 thing.
My favorite song of the album,maybe of all time...!

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vr24
07-13-2009

Rated 0 
I'm surprised no one here "gets" what the song means.

While I may not be right, I'm pretty sure I can follow it.

It starts off with "dreaming/singing/dying/laughter" - which is AFTER the lobotomy.

Gloria gets a lobotomy. Basically the song seems to work backwards a little bit.

"Life before the lobotomy
Christian sang the eulogy"

This is referring to Christian causing Gloria to want a lobotomy (not in a literal sense). This will make more sense with this verse.

"Christian's lesson's what he's been sold"

He basically was sold all the b.s. from the media/parents, etc... and it seems like he was repeating this crap to Gloria, who needed a lobotomy to escape it. It drove Gloria insane.


"Well it's enough to make you sick
To cast a stone and throw a brick"

Again, working backwards in the lyrics. This brainwashing of Christian which obviously affects Gloria is enough to make you sick.


If you start at "Like refugees" and work backwards up the verses, each 4 line verse is a complete verse, don't start at the 4th line, start at the first in the verse. The song seems to make a lot of sense.



We are lost like refugees, then they needed to get stoned and screwed up, christian started babbling about crap which made gloria even more screwed up, this makes you sick (from the viewpoint of billie or the listener), then just before the lobotomy, christians antics were the "eulogy", then in the end of that verse she signs off (gets the lobotomy) and it works it's way to the top which starts out as AFTER the lobotomy.

I'm sure this isn't a perfect explanation, but I'm pretty sure it's somewhat close.


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BoboThePanda
07-16-2009

Rated 0 
I noticed alot of people are talking about how Gloria and Christian are "friends" or "lovers", but according to a somewhat recent interview with the band, the story is not a love story at all. In fact, Gloria is the protagonist of the story and is just trying to get through her life without being changed from a Punk Rock chick to whatever this century is trying to make people. She is holding on to her ideas and although she does believe in the corruption of the government and the conspiracies, instead of just bitching about it, she is doing something about it. Christian is the antagonist of the story. He is being changed quickly. He learns of the problems of our society, but just becomes angry at everyone an everything. The two characters are foils and are enemies. Gloria is the "Last of the American Girls" because of how she is willing to stand up for her ideals. Christian is the "Enemy" because he is the "Silence" of the generation, as mentioned in the song "Know Your Enemy".

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fatellove
07-26-2009

Rated 0 
Christian turns his radio on louder and renders Gloria comatose. For her whole entire life, Gloria has always listened to her own kind of music. In her songs that she would listen to, she would find for herself what to think, the right words to say, the right direction to move in, and an internal instinct that would guide her. When Christian makes her listen to his music, she can find no sense of herself, and she feels like a hollow shell that is now possessed by unknown others that take control of her thoughts, words and actions; it's like having 50 other people jump into her car, and they all try to take turns at the wheel. This makes Gloria want to open the car door, throw herself out and die. (ok, so maybe that’s a little more than just a lobotomy, but it has a similar affect)

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SongOfSomeCentury
08-04-2009

Rated 0 
The song is definately from Gloria's point of view, and I think a response to the end of Viva La Gloria when Christian says "Tell me the story of your life." The first part of the song is Gloria struggling to remember life before the figurative lobotomy and coming up with vague misery. The next part of the song goes through a range of emotions almost by verse- first reminiscent, then angry and sickened. After that it gets into propaganda and "remember to learn to forget"- what they were told by the government or religion or whatever. Then the verse "I'm no stoned I'm just fucked up" is weary and given up. The last one wraps it up- "The brutality of reality" is that they're now angry, sick, stoned, confused, lost, nearly brainwashed, and can't function well enough to come up with a clear story but rather strain for what they can remember- dreaming, singing, dying, and laughter.

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greenday2012vp
10-31-2009

Rated 0 
I think the last two Green Day albums (American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown) should be made into books. Not that Green Day should have to write them, but that someone else should write them to fit the songs on the albums so that more people could understand the songs and what kind of story they are telling.

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