Green Day - Longview - Lyrics Meaning

"Longview" was Green Day's first major label single, the first of the band's singles to reach the top of the U.S. Modern Rock chart, and the first single to be released off of Dookie. The song features a signature bass line that was supposedly written while Mike Dirnt, the group's bass player, was under the influence of LSD. The song is famous for containing overt references to masturbation ("Bite my lip and close my eyes / Take me away to paradise / Some say, `Quit or I'll go blind.' / But it's just a myth"). "Longview" features an unnamed character who is in the midst of an intense bout of boredom. He has no job and spends the majority of his life at home, masturbating, watching TV, and getting high. He is caught in an endless apathetic cycle, unwilling to even take a shower. Despite his best efforts, he cannot find the motivation to change his life ("I got no motivation / Where is my motivation?"). Eventually, even masturbation loses its fun and the narrator begs for the drive to "peel [himself] off this Velcro seat" so that he can do something to make his life meaningful. "Longview" earned Green Day a Grammy nomination for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1995.