Track 5 from ¡TRÉ!
Released 2012
Green Day has played this song live 30 times.
"'X-Kid' from Tre! deals with the suicide of a close friend of Armstrong's. 'I don't really want to get into it,' he says. 'It's too heavy.'" -- excerpt from Guitar World (Now. 2012) interview
This song was written in response to the 2009 suicide of a close friend that Billie Joe grew up with in Rodeo, CA. However, the song is as much about the entire "Generation X" (those born from roughly 1960-1980) as it is about this one specific tragedy. Billie Joe has repeatedly identified himself as an "Ex-Kid" in recent interviews. The narrator is able to relate to his late friend, in that they were both "Ex/X-kids." But, he was able to push through the struggles that came with growing older, while his friend was not. His friend, unfortunately, found an escape in suicide, thus the line "Here goes nothing, the shouting's over." The narrator sees facets of himself in his late friend. He feels as if, sadly, there wasn't much that could have been done to help his friend, though he wishes someone could have found a way to help him before it was too late.
Hey, little kid
Did you wake up late one day?
And you’re not so young, but you’re still dumb
And you’re numb to your old glory
But now it’s gone
I fell in love, but it didn’t catch your fall
Then I crashed into a wall
Then I fell to pieces on the floor
Now you’re sick to death
Bombs away
Here goes nothin', the shouting’s over
Hey X-Kid, bombs away
Here goes nothin', the shouting’s over and out
Over and out again
I once was old enough to know better
Then I was too young to care, but who cares?
I probably would, but Hollywood is dead and gone
You fell in love, but then you just fell apart
Like a kick in the head you’re an X-Kid
And you never even got started again
Bombs away
Here goes nothin', the shouting’s over
Hey X-Kid, bombs away
Here goes nothin', the shouting’s over and out
Over and out
And you were searching your soul
And you got lost and out of control
You went over the edge of joking
Died of a broken heart
Hey, little kid
Did you wake up late one day?
And you’re not so young, but you’re still dumb
You’re an X-Kid, and you never even got started again
Bombs away
Here goes nothin', the shouting’s over
Hey X-Kid, bombs away
Here goes nothin', the shouting’s over
Here goes nothin', the shouting’s over and out
Over and out
Over, and over, and out
"X-Kid" has been played 30 times live: