Boulevard Of Broken Dreams

Song Meaning of Boulevard Of Broken Dreams by Green Day

The song was released as the second single from the album, American Idiot in 2004.

The song, which has a moderate midtempo and sombre and depressing lyrics, is narrated from the perspective of "Jesus of Suburbia," the primary character of American Idiot. In contrast, the album's first song, "Holiday," shows Jesus of Suburbia experiencing the high of being in the city.

During a break from pre-production on what would later become the band's seventh album, American Idiot, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" was written. Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong took a solo trip to fresh York City for a few weeks, renting a small loft in Manhattan's East Village in an effort to decompress and come up with fresh song ideas. He spent a lot of this time going for long walks and taking part in jam sessions in the bar Hi-Fi in Alphabet City's basement. Ryan Adams and Jesse Malin, two songwriters, with whom he started mingling.

During his time in New York City, Armstrong penned the song about "feeling alone" and attempting to derive power from it. Armstrong thought the song went well with the theme of the album, which is about "going away and getting the hell out, while at the same time fighting their own inner demons."

The inspiration for the song came from a painting by Gottfried Helnwein featuring James Dean, Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis Presley enjoying a late-night breakfast. Billie Joe Armstrong claimed that the title of the song was "nicked" from the artwork of James Dean strolling alone in a 2005 VH1 Storytellers programme featuring Green Day.

Green Day's most popular song in the country, the track peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. With more than 5 million copies sold globally, the song was the sixth best-selling single of the 2000–2009 era. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" is the only song to have received both the Grammy Award for Record of the Year and the MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year as of 2021.

Lyrics of the song Boulevard Of Broken Dreams by Green Day

I walk a lonely road

The only one that I have ever known

Don't know where it goes

But it's home to me and I walk alone

I walk this empty street

On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Where the city sleeps

And I'm the only one and I walk alone

I walk alone

I walk alone

I walk alone

I walk a

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me

My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating

Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me

'Til then I walk alone

Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, aaah-ah

Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah

I'm walking down the line

That divides me somewhere in my mind

On the borderline

Of the edge and where I walk alone

Read between the lines

Of what's fucked up and everything's alright

Check my vital signs

To know I'm still alive and I walk alone

I walk alone

I walk alone

I walk alone

I walk a

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me

My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating

Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me

'Til then I walk alone

Ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, aaah-ah

Ah-ah, ah-ah

I walk alone

I walk a

I walk this empty street

On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams

Where the city sleeps

And I'm the only one and I walk a

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me

My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating

Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me

'Til then I walk alone