Junkies On A High

Album: Father Of All... (2020)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • When he was writing Father Of All..., Billie Joe Armstrong came across a tweet referencing the recent spate of deaths in hip-hop: Lil Peep, Mac Miller and Xxxtention all passed away in 2017 and 2018. "This kid said, 'Death has become the best marketing tool for the music industry,'" he recalled to Q magazine. "I was like, 'Wow, that so true.'" The tweet inspired a line on this slinky West Coast tune:

    Rock 'n' roll tragedy, I think the next one could be me
  • Armstrong told The Sun the song "has a lot of paranoia going on in it." He added: "A lot of these people are no longer with us. Linkin Park's Chester Bennington was one of the younger guys. I also remember playing shows with The Prodigy in 1997, and I saw Soundgarden when I was like 15 years old."

    "Keith Flint and Chris Cornell from those bands have gone too," Armstrong continued. "They are not with us anymore. It just gets scary. These are people that are not only artists they mean something in a spiritual way. These are people that are very heavy. When they are gone, you feel it."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Chad Channing (Nirvana, Before Cars)

Chad Channing (Nirvana, Before Cars)Songwriter Interviews

Chad tells tales from his time as drummer for Nirvana, and talks about his group Before Cars.

Maxi Priest

Maxi PriestSongwriter Interviews

The British reggae legend tells the story of his #1 hit "Close To You," talks about his groundbreaking Shabba Ranks collaboration "Housecall," and discusses his latest project with Robin Trower.

Joe Ely

Joe ElySongwriter Interviews

The renown Texas songwriter has been at it for 40 years, with tales to tell about The Flatlanders and The Clash - that's Joe's Tex-Mex on "Should I Stay or Should I Go?"

Best Band Logos

Best Band LogosSong Writing

Queen, Phish and The Stones are among our picks for the best band logos. Here are their histories and a design analysis from an expert.

Carl Sturken

Carl SturkenSongwriter Interviews

Hitmaker Carl Sturken on writing and producing for Rihanna, 'N Sync, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Donny Osmond, Shakira and Karyn White.

Michael Franti

Michael FrantiSongwriter Interviews

Franti tells the story behind his hit "Say Hey (I Love You)" and explains why yoga is an integral part of his lifestyle and his Soulshine tour.