Green Day- "Whatsername"

We’ve all heard Green Day’s Grammy Award winning album American Idiot at least a time or two…hundred. How could you forget about character’s like Jesus of Suburbia with the 9 minute long song dedicated to his story, or St. Jimmy with the crazy part he plays in JoS' life. The character I want to talk about in the story of American idiot is 'Whatsername'. Whatsername is mentioned or has songs about her like "Whatsername", "She's a Rebel", and "Extraordinary Girl". "She's a Rebel" has always been one of my favorite songs off of American Idiot. It described the most badass, independant kind of gal to me. I always wanted to replicate the energy that she gave off. This is the first song in the album to mention Whatsername. The more I looked into the story, and how she fits into it, I found out she is who Jesus of Suburbia meets when he leaves his hometown and moves to the city.

She has this exuburant energy about her that quickly draws Jesus of Suburbia in. They fall in love fast and have a passionate kind of relationship. Around this time, JoS also gets into drugs after moving, which creates the character of St. Jimmy. Who is just a crazy MF'er. They fuel each other's fire with drugs, love, and passion. A fast, passionate beginning can lead to an abrupt angry ending. As JOS dives deeper into the Jimmy persona, it pushes WHN away, and they end up parting ways. Losing their spark.

When researching this character I came across the VH1 Storytellers episode with Green Day, and Billie Joe Armstrong talks about Whatsername. "I think that the true hero of the whole record is the Whatsername character. She’s a person that never really wanes; she never really falls from grace. She’s the one that kind of stuck to her beliefs and left all the bulls–t behind. The Whatsername character tells Jesus of Suburbia/St. Jimmy what they don’t want to hear, but inevitably that’s what they were going for to begin with, and that’s the twist of the whole thing."

"She's a rebel, she's a saint, she's the salt of the earth and she's dangerous." ("She's a Rebel") Its like he's saying she's everything and not at the same time, all or nothing. Which illudes to their all or nothing kind of relationship. "She's all alone again. Wiping the tears from her eyes. Some days he feels like dying. She gets so sick of crying" ("Extraordinary Girl") This is a glimpse into the disfunction of WHN and JoS relationship. "I made a point to burn all of the photographs. She went away and then I took a different path. I remember the face, but I can't recall the name. Now I wonder how Whatsername has been?" ("Whatsername") Recalling the memories of WHN and wondering what journey life took her on.