Green Day > Songs > 21st Century Breakdown > Lyrics


    [Part I]

    (Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)
    Born into Nixon, I was raised in hell
    A welfare child where the teamsters dwelled
    The last one born, and the first one to run
    My town was blind from refinery sun

    My generation is zero
    I never made it as a working class hero

    21st century breakdown
    I once was lost, but never was found
    I think I'm losing what's left of my mind
    To the 20th century deadline

    (Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh)
    I was made of poison and blood
    Condemnation is what I understood
    Video games through the tower's fall
    Homeland security could kill us all

    My generation is zero
    I never made it as a working class hero

    21st century breakdown
    I once was lost, but never was found
    I think I'm losing what's left of my mind
    To the 20th century deadline

    [Part II]

    We are the class of, the class of '13
    Born in the era of humility
    We are the desperate in the decline
    Raised by the bastards of 1969

    My name is no one, the long lost son
    Born on the 4th of July
    Raised through the era of heroes and cons
    That left me for dead or alive
    I am a nation, a worker of pride (Hey!)
    My debt to the status quo
    The scars on my hands and a means to an end
    It's all that I have to show

    Hey!
    Hey!
    Hey!

    I swallowed my pride and I choked on my faith
    I've given my heart and my soul
    I've broken my fingers and lied through my teeth
    The pillar of damage control
    I've been to the edge and I've thrown the bouquet (Hey!)
    Of flowers left over the grave
    I sat in the waiting room wasting my time
    And waiting for judgement day

    I praise liberty
    The freedom to obey
    It's the song that strangles me
    Well, don't cross the line

    [Part III]

    Oh, dream, America, dream
    I can't even sleep from the light's early dawn
    Oh, scream, America, scream
    Believe what you see from heroes and cons

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