August 1994.

It looks like Monday is ready and raring to go. What’s more it’s dragging me along with it, whether I’m ready for it or not. I think I need to have a word with the inner jukebox about volume control though. This was coming through loud and clear, getting louder the longer I tried to ignore it (along with the alarm). I just wanted five more minutes, that’s all.

Although credited to all three members of Green Day, this was written by Billie Joe Armstrong about his struggles with anxiety growing up, before he was diagnosed with a panic disorder. He claimed that the only way he knew how to cope with the anxiety, and the feeling he was going crazy, was to write a song about it – making this a very personal and somewhat cathartic song for him.

The song was originally included on band’s demo tape that caught the attention of producer Rob Cavallo, prompting the band’s move to Reprise Records and the recording of their third studio album Dookie. 

This track became the second single released from the album and gave the band a global top-twenty hit, reaching the top ten in Norway, Sweden and here in the UK, where it spent six weeks on the chart and peaked at number seven.