Ongoing History Daily: Green Day’s “Longview” problem

When Green Day was getting things together for Dookie, their 1994 major label debut, bass player Mike Dirnt decided to drop some acid hoping to get a little songwriting inspiration. This is not recommended, of course.

Billy Joel Armstrong had come up with a shuffle sort of beat as Mike was laying up against the wall with his bass in his lap and started playing something. He said “Isn’t this the wackiest thing you’ve ever heard?” It made all the sense in the world at the time.

But when his trip ended, it didn’t. It took him forever to learn to play the bassline straight. Eventually, he got it right and people have been grooving to his bits in “Longview” ever since.