“Welcome to Paradise” sees Billie Joe as a young man living in a crime-ridden cesspool like Oakland. It tells the story of when he left his mother’s home and how he felt facing the difficulty of living alone.
First appearing on the band’s 1991 album Kerplunk, “Welcome to Paradise” was later re-recor...
[Verse 1]
Dear mother, can you hear me whinin'?
It's been three whole weeks since that I have left your home
This sudden fear has left me tremblin'
'Cause now it seems that I am out here on my own
And I'm feelin' so alone
[Chorus]
Pay attention to the cracked streets and the broken homes
Some call it slums, some call it nice
I wanna take you through a wasteland I like to call my home
Welcome to paradise
[Verse 2]
A gunshot rings out at the station
Another urchin snaps and left dead on his own
It makes me wonder why I'm still here
For some strange reason, it's now feelin' like my home
And I'm never gonna go
[Chorus]
Pay attention to the cracked streets and the broken homes
Some call it slums, some call it nice
I wanna take you through a wasteland I like to call my home
Welcome to paradise
[Instrumental Break]
[Verse 3]
Dear mother, can you hear me laughin'?
It's been six whole months since that I have left your home
It makes me wonder why I'm still here
For some strange reason, it's now feelin' like my home
And I'm never gonna go
[Chorus]
Pay attention to the cracked streets and the broken homes
Some call it slums, some call it nice
I wanna take you through a wasteland I like to call my home
Welcome to paradise
Oh, paradise
Welcome to Paradise was written by Billie Joe Armstrong & Mike Dirnt & Tré Cool.
Welcome to Paradise was produced by Rob Cavallo & Billie Joe Armstrong & Mike Dirnt & Tré Cool.
Green Day released Welcome to Paradise on Tue Feb 01 1994.
Billie told Rolling Stone
I had moved out of my house in the suburbs to West Oakland, into a warehouse that was rat-infested and in a really fucked-up neighborhood, with a lot of crazy punks and friends. I was paying $50 a month for rent, which was great, because, being in a band, you got paid a co...