All By Myself

Album: Dookie (1994)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Boredom, antisocial behavior, and masturbation are some of the themes of Green Day's Dookie album. "All By Myself" checks all these boxes, telling the story of a guy who go into a girl's room and spend some quality time all by himself. It's a Tré Cool solo track: The Green Day drummer wrote the song, sang it, and played the acoustic guitar.
  • This is a hidden track on the Dookie CD, popping on about a minute after the last listed track, "F.O.D." There is only about 37 minutes of music on the album, so there was plenty of room to include "All By Myself." It's a loony little song with little production value, so setting it apart as a hidden track made sense.

    Hidden tracks were a casualty of the digital age: When Dookie was made available for download and streaming, "All By Myself" was visible on the tracklist.
  • Green Day played this live from time to time, with Tré Cool switching places with frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, who would man the drum kit.
  • When Rolling Stone got Billie Joe Armstrong and Billie Eilish in the same room for a 2019 sit-down, Eilish said "All By Myself" was her favorite Green Day song. "That's a dirty little song," Armstrong replied.

    Eilish didn't discover the song by letting the CD play through to the hidden track - she never owned a CD.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Chris Tomlin

Chris TomlinSongwriter Interviews

The king of Christian worship music explains talks about writing songs for troubled times.

Trans Soul Rebels: Songs About Transgenderism

Trans Soul Rebels: Songs About TransgenderismSong Writing

A history of songs dealing with transgender issues, featuring Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Morrissey and Green Day.

Phone Booth Songs

Phone Booth SongsSong Writing

Phone booths are nearly extinct, but they provided storylines for some of the most profound songs of the pre-cell phone era.

Ramones

RamonesFact or Fiction

A band so baffling, even their names were contrived. Check your score in the Ramones version of Fact or Fiction.

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s Edition

Songs in Famous Movie Scenes: '80s EditionMusic Quiz

You know the scenes - Tom Cruise in his own pants-off dance off, Molly Ringwald celebrating her birthday - but do you remember what song is playing?

Bryan Adams

Bryan AdamsSongwriter Interviews

What's the deal with "Summer of '69"? Bryan explains what the song is really about, and shares more of his songwriting insights.