There are a lot of bands who claim to be punk and they only play the music, they have no clue what it's all about. It's a lifestyle. It's not about popularity and all that crap.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Play, About, Bands, Clue
I don't want to live in an ivory tower, being the songwriter who just turns inward.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Want, Being, Ivory, Inward
For some young people, their first experience ever hearing punk rock music was playing the Green Bay Packers on 'Madden'.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Green, Young, Some, Green Bay
If I look at my old lyrics, they seem to be full of rage, but empty. There was an emptiness in my life.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
My Life, Look, Old, Emptiness
What is going on in America is extreme. The youth cult, they worship youth so much it's almost paranoid. And LA is the Mecca of it all; they're taking it to the hilt.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Youth, Going, Almost, Mecca
I sort of enjoy the fact that I'm misunderstood most of the time. That's fine.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Fact, Fine, Most, Misunderstood
I approach playing acoustic guitar more of as a percussive instrument. It's fragile. I don't have a lot of finesse when it comes to my guitar playing.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
More, Acoustic Guitar, Guitar Playing
I would definitely say the Oakland Raiders are the punk rock band of football.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Football, Say, Rock Band, Oakland
I'm not going to conform to some consumer need.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Need, Some, Going, Consumer
I don't like LA. The majority just seem to be so artificial. Look at how they worship everything they think is fashionable. Isn't it sick?
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Think, Sick, Like, La
Set lists are tough because you come up with this structure of how the songs are going to go from one to the next, but at the same time, you have to be spontaneous and take requests and change the set list at the drop of a hat.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Drop, Next, Requests, Spontaneous
When I signed that major-label contract when I was 20 years old. I did it because I wanted to play music for the rest of my life. That's every 20-year-old's dream - to do whatever the hell you want.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
My Life, Hell, Play, Play Music
I'd love to go to art school. I'd love to learn how to draw. I'd love to be fluent in Spanish. I'd like to be a brain surgeon.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Love, Art, Spanish, Art School
I don't want to limit myself musically. It would be really limiting if we'd neglect something we really want to do, like explore other styles of music.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Explore, Other, Like, Limiting
What annoys the hell out of me is the arrogance of some people. They don't even listen to our music, they decided in advance that they don't like it.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Hell, Some, Like, Annoys
The thing is, acoustic could be like a four-letter word to a lot of kids.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Like, Could, Lot, Four-Letter
Moshing and broken glass just don't go together.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Broken, Go, Glass, Together
Punk has always been about doing things your own way. What it represents for me is ultimate freedom and a sense of individuality.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Doing, Always, Been, Individuality
Minority is about being an individual. It's like you have to sift through the darkness to find your place and be that individual you want to be your entire life.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Through, Individual, Like, Minority
Punk will never be dead to me. It's my life. I can never just drop this lifestyle. It embodies me.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
My Life, Drop, Will, Embodies
A lot of punk rock is not going to be in the mainstream. It's below the radar. The beauty of it is that you're not supposed to always know. It's subterranean.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Beauty, Always, Going, Radar
There are always young bands playing in their garages. A lot of punk rock is not going to be in the mainstream. It's below the radar. The beauty of it is that you're not supposed to always know. It's subterranean.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Beauty, Young, Always, Radar
The first time that you escape from home or the small town that you live in - there's a reason a small town is called a small town: It's because not many people want to live there.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Small, Reason, Town, Escape
If journalists ask you again and again about the same bands, you'll end up saying you hate them just because you're so fed up with being asked all those stupid questions.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Stupid, About, Fed, Fed Up
Punk is not just the sound, the music. Punk is a lifestyle.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Music, Punk, Sound, Lifestyle
A punk concert isn't fun without a pit.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Fun, Punk, Concert, Pit
I sound like an Englishman impersonating an American impersonating an Englishman.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
American, Sound, Like, Englishman
And you don't want to always write about politics just for the sake of writing about politics.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Politics, Want, Always, Sake
The things that people do now in sports, you can't even believe. These are complete total athletes. To see what human beings can do in the highest level is amazing.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Sports, Level, Highest Level, Complete
Formats are constantly changing, and there are really no rules for the way you put your records out anymore.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Rules, Records, Your, Formats
There's nothing wrong with being a loser, it just depends on how good you are at it.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Nothing, Depends, How, Wrong
We're not a political band. We don't want to tell people what to do or what to think. We just want to tell them to think.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Think, Want, Tell, Band
No one's really happy anyway, it's not human.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Happy, Human, Really, Anyway
I never thought being obnoxious would get me where I am today.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
I Am, Thought, Never, Obnoxious
My brother David was a great athlete and I knew there was no way I could live up to that.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Athlete, Knew, Could, David
I'm a father. It isn't just my life any more. I don't want my kid finding bottles in the house or seeing his father completely smashed.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
My Life, More, Dad, Smashed
The thing about punk is that there are purists. Once you start going outside of that, they don't think what you're doing is punk rock.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Doing, Think, Going, Punk Rock
Music - that's been my education. There's not a day that goes by that I take it for granted.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Music, Been, Take, Granted
I'm very monogamous.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Very, Monogamous
School is practice for the future, and practice makes perfect. But nobody's perfect, so why practice?
- Billie Joe Armstrong
School, Practice, Perfect, Nobody
I think it's your own choice if you turn from an angry young man to a bitter, old bastard.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Think, Young, I Think, Young Man
I hate celebrities. I really hate them.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Hate, Them, Really, Celebrities
People are so damned afraid that one day they might wake up and discover that they've grown old.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Discover, Old, Might, Wake Up
Making mistakes is a lot better than not doing anything.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Better, Making, Lot, Making Mistakes
I've been playing rock and roll since I was 16 years old, and now I have a 16-year-old.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Old, Been, Roll, Rock And Roll
Our passion is our strength.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Strength, Our, Passion
If you have children, you don't want to have drugs and drinks in the house. It's just not good.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Children, House, Want, Drinks
There's an honesty in our family - my kids and I are able to talk about things without me putting the fear of God into them.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
About, Them, Putting, Honesty
In every song I write, whether it's a love song or a political song or a song about family, the one thing that I find is feeling lost and trying to find your way.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Love, Song, One Thing, I Write
I love storytelling.
- Billie Joe Armstrong
Love, I Love, Storytelling
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