Home | Songs By Year | Songs from 1994
Longview (song)
Buy Longview (song) now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the song. And once you've experienced the song, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Longview
| cover = Green Day - Longview cover.jpg
| alt = The cover depicts three dogs smoking what could be marijuana. One of them is seen throwing something. The Green Day logo with the plane and smoke, can be seen above.
| border = yes
| caption = Artwork for commercial overseas releases
| type = single
| artist = Green Day
| album = Dookie
| released = February 1, 1994
| recorded = SeptemberOctober 1993
| studio = Fantasy, Berkeley, California
| venue =
| genre =
| length = 3:59
| label =
| writer =
| producer =
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title = Welcome to Paradise
| next_year = 1994
| misc =
}}
"'Longview'" is the debut single by American rock band Green Day. It is the fourth track on the band's third studio album, 'Dookie' (1994) and their first single as a band. The song was the band's first single to top the 'Billboard' Modern Rock Tracks chart in the U.S. The music video for this song received heavy airplay on MTV and is largely credited for breaking Green Day into mainstream popularity. The video was directed by the Bay Area music video director Mark Kohr who collaborated with the band on many music videos.
In 1995, Green Day received four Grammy Award nominations, including Best Hard Rock Performance for "Longview". The song was ranked at number 3 on the list of the Best Singles of 1994 by 'Rolling Stone'.
Concept
The song describes intense boredom and frustration with an inability to self-actualize. Lyrically, the song is about a day spent sitting around the house, doing absolutely nothing of importance and masturbating until the days are no longer fun. Bassist Mike Dirnt has stated that the famous bass line intro to this song was written one night while he was high on LSD.
The song is named after the city of Longview, Washington.
Reception
'PopMatters' listed "Longview" as the seventh best Green Day song, citing "This song didnt become an instant classic of its genre merely because Armstrong said the word "masturbation" on the radioit's all in the delivery." Entertainment Weekly placed it among their favorite Green Day songs.
Music video
"Longview" has a music video, which is the first one created by Green Day. The music video was directed by Mark Kohr, the cinematography was by Adam Beckman, and the editing was by Bob Sarles. The music video received frequent airplay on MTV upon release.
The music video takes place in a dimly-lit basement of a broken-down house in Oakland, California, where the band used to live. The band members say that the look was intentionally grungy. In the video, Billie sits on a couch and watches television. At the end of the music video, he goes insane and tears up the couch, with feathers flying everywhere.
The music video was nominated for three MTV Video Music Awards in 1994: Best Group Video, Best Alternative Video, and Best New Artist. The video is also included on the DVD International Supervideos!.
Track listings
'First pressing'
# "Longview" 3:59
# "Going to Pasalacqua" (live) 4:12
# "F.O.D." (live) 2:44
# "Christie Road" (live) 3:49
Total length: 14:44
'1995 re-issue'
# "Longview" 3:59
# "Welcome to Paradise" (live) 4:05
# "One of My Lies" (live) 2:25
Total length: 10:29
'Card sleeve'
# "Longview" 3:59
# "On the Wagon" 2:48
# "F.O.D." (live) 2:44
Total length: 9:31
* All Live tracks above were recorded on March 11, 1994 at Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg, Florida.
'7-inch vinyl box set'
# "Longview" 3:59
# "Welcome to Paradise" 3:45
# "Coming Clean" 1:35
# "Chump" (live from Stockholm, Sweden; Same version on 'Live Tracks') 02:39
Total length: 11:58
'CD Promo'
# "Longview" (radio edit) 3:55
# "Longview" (album version) - 3:59
Total length: 7:54
'CD promo 2'
# "Longview" (Very Clean Version) - 3:55
# "Longview" (Clean Version) - 3:55
Total length: 7:50
Personnel
*Lead vocals and guitar: Billie Joe Armstrong
*Backing vocals and bass: Mike Dirnt
*Drums: Tr Cool
*Songwriting: Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tr Cool
*Production: Rob Cavallo, Green Day
Charts
References
Category:1994 debut singles
Category:1994 songs
Category:Green Day songs
Category:Song recordings produced by Rob Cavallo
Category:Songs about cannabis
Category:Masturbation in fiction
Category:Songs about Washington (state)
Category:Songs written by Billie Joe Armstrong
Category:Songs written by Mike Dirnt
Category:Songs written by Tr Cool
Category:Reprise Records singles
Category:Warner Music Group singles
Buy Longview (song) now from Amazon
<-- Return to songs from 1994