Billie Joe Armstrong thought fans would hate this classic Green Day song

In 1997, Green Day debuted their legendary album Nimrod. As a turning point for the band, the album remains one of the most popular amongst critics and fans. However, Billie Joe Armstrong has now revealed that he was nervous to release one particular song on that album.

In a new interview, Armstrong says he thought fans would hate their iconic acoustic ballad “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life).”

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For many of us, “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)” has been played at countless graduations and special events in our lives. Today, it stands as one of Green Day’s most popular tracks. The song, however, was particularly challenging for Armstrong.

The Green Day frontman reveals that creating a song like “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)” was “terrifying.”

“Doing something like ‘Good Riddance’ was terrifying for me, to put myself out there and be that vulnerable,” he shares.

For years, Green Day had trouble placing the track within their discography because of its different sound. The acoustic ballad first began to take form while material for 1994’s Dookie was being written. However, Armstrong couldn’t work out how to fit the song on Dookie or 1995’s Insomniac. Eventually, it was placed as one of the last tracks on Nimrod.

Despite finally finding a place for “Good Riddance,” Armstrong goes on to share that he thought fans would still hate the song.

“I thought people were probably gonna fucking hate it, you know? But I think the way that it resonated with people, I was able to kind of go, ‘Okay, now I’ve really accomplished something that was a shift,'” he continues. “And, as an artist, I felt more empowered that I could keep doing my thing without having to feel like I had to please everybody.”

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The risk of releasing “Good Riddance” paid off for Green Day and, ultimately, it taught Armstrong a lesson on approaching the band’s music.

“It’s important to never give people what they want; you give people what they don’t know they want,” he continues. “It can definitely turn people off, but, I mean, with me, Mike [Dirnt] and Tré [Cool], it’s always just been this collective effort. It’s like being a three-headed monster.”

“Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)” was never released as an official single in the U.S., but it remains one of Green Day’s most well-known songs to date. The track eventually climbed to No.7 on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Chart and No.2 on the Mainstream Alternative Chart. It also crossed over to reach No.13 on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40.

Is “Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)” your favorite Green Day song? Let us know in the comments below.