Gourt Home::Gourt :: Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Green Day song)
| "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" | ||
|---|---|---|
| Single by Green Day | ||
| From the album American Idiot | ||
| Released | 2005 | |
| Format | Digital download, Compact Disc | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 4:20 | |
| Label | Reprise | |
| Writers | Green Day Billie Joe Armstrong | |
| Producers | Green Day Rob Cavallo | |
| Director | — | |
| Certification | 3x platinum | |
| Chart positions | #2 (5 weeks) (USA) #5 (UK) #1 (CAN) #5 (AU) | |
| Grammy Awards | 2006 Record of the Year | |
| Green Day singles chronology | ||
| "American Idiot" 2005 | "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" 2005 | "Holiday" 2005 |
| American Idiot track listing | ||
| "Holiday" 3 | "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" 4 | "Are We The Waiting" 5 |
The song's broad appeal was demonstrated by its performance on several less-publicized Billboard singles charts. It became one of only two songs to ever reach #1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks, Modern Rock Tracks, and Adult Top 40 charts.
Boulevard of Broken Dreams's popularity was also increased, by being featured in the Trailer/Commercial to Lords of Dogtown, a movie based on a Skating team, and was biographical of the story of the Zephyr Boys in general.
The song was co-written by Green Day (with Billie Joe Armstrong writing the lyrics), and was co-produced by Green Day and Rob Cavallo. In this moderate midtempo characterized by moody and depressing lyrics, Green Day speaks from the point of view of Jesus of Suburbia as they describe his loneliness after arriving at The City. An alternate explanation of the lyrics is that Billie Joe Armstrong is exploring the effect that his "broken dreams" in showbusiness had on him.
The song has also reached some publicity over a mash-up that was created that used the song. As the song has the same guitar chords from as Oasis' "Wonderwall"(however they are in different keys), the two were combined into a popular mash-up named "Boulevard of Broken Songs". The mash-up altered the two songs into one another (along with "Writing to Reach You" written and performed by Travis, which also shares the chords).
At the Grammy Awards of 2006 this song was named Record of the Year.
Two earlier songs have the same title: an old Harry Warren song*, and a song by Brian Setzer from his 1986 album The Knife Feels Like Justice. Also, the song's name shares the lyrics of the Elvis Costello song "Brilliant Mistake" and the Deadsy song "The Key To Gramercy Park".
This song is in the key of F minor. Its key signature is A-flat, tonically equivalent to the four flats found in the keys of the preceding three songs; however, the use of the natural minor chord at the beginning of each phrase marks the song as being in a minor key.
The song is four minutes, 20 seconds in length, at a leisurely 86 bpm.
Music video
The music video for Boulevard of Broken Dreams starts where "Holiday" left off (although the former was released first). The band's car breaks down on a barren road, presumably the Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool get out of the car and walk along the road. Its background is filled with broken things and other items representing misery. The setting later changes to a road in the city; again, this road represents broken dreams, such as homelessness. The video occasionally cuts to the band playing.
Samuel Bayer, the director of all of the music videos off of American Idiot, made "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" look aged by using several techniques, such as putting his burning cigarettes out on it, and by scratching it with a eyepiece. He even dared young directors to do it as well in the making of it.
The video of "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" won six awards at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2005, most notably for Video of the Year. It also won Best Group Video, Best Rock Video, Best Direction, Best Editing, and Best Cinematography.
On an unrelated note, this song was covered by Japanese pop singer Utada Hikaru acoustically with a guitar during an internet broadcast in December 2005. A video of it can be found here.
U.S. charts
| Year | Single | Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" | 2005 Year-End Billboard Hot 100 | #7 |
| 2005 | "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" | Billboard Hot 100 | #2 (5 weeks) |
| 2005 | "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" | Billboard Hot 100 Airplay | #1 |
| 2005 | "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" | Billboard Pop 100 | #1 |
| 2005 | "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" | Billboard Pop 100 Airplay | #1 |
| 2005 | "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" | Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | #1 |
| 2005 | "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" | Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | #1 |
| 2005 | "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" | Billboard Hot Digital Tracks | #1 |
| 2005 | "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" | Billboard Hot Digital Songs | #1 |
| 2005 | "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" | Top 40 Tracks | #6 |
| 2005 | "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" | Top 40 Mainstream | #1 |
| 2005 | "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" | Adult Top 40 | #1 |
| 2005 | "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" | New Zealand Singles Charts | #5 |
| 2005 | "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" | Adult Contemporary | #30 |
| 2005 | "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" | Billboard Hot Ringtones | #5 |
| 2005 | "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" | ARIA End of Year Singles Chart | #31 |
| 2005 | "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" | ARC Weekly Top 40 | #1 |
| 2005 | "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" | 2005 Top Tracks World Wide | #1 |
External links
- Green Day official website
- Lyrics, Song Meanings, and Info
- Complete Lyrics
- Lyrics And User Written Meaning
2005 singles | Green Day songs | Billboard Pop 100 number-one singles | Canadian number one singles
Boulevard of Broken Dreams | Boulevard of Broken Dreams | Boulevard of Broken Dreams
"Boulevard of Broken Dreams (Green Day song)"