Time of Your Life by Green Day

Green Day may be one of those bands that does not hold real stellar promise due to its defined genre (punk rock), which proudly considers itself apart from the popular mainstream. But this band has written songs that took their prestige to a whole new level. These songs are no doubt going to be timeless in the next generations. Ironically, the type of songs that often stuck in the standard enduring playlist are those with themes that often teach people how to write eulogy. The sadder these songs are, the more people would listen to them.

This is especially true with Time of Your Life. Twelve years before the release of the song 21 Guns, Green Day composed this solemn secular hymn had serenaded the soul of music listeners who are not usually fond of loud upbeat punk. From the sound of its melody, with sweet infusions of violin in a way 18th Century English seafarers would play their sentimental sides, Time of Your Life could pass as one of the catchiest and most wonderful funeral songs.

Many of the song lines could relate to the bereaved individuals still longing for their departed beloved. “So take the photographs and still frames in your mind.” This line seems to remind people that every moment spent with a loved one must be cherished and remembered. When they are gone, all that remains of them will be a memory. How well we cherish that memory directly affects how individuals get over the stages of grief.

“So make the best of this test and don’t ask why. It’s not a question but a lesson learned in time.” Though it is easier said than done, often times it is best to accept all the things life throws at us, even the unpleasant one’s like passing of our loved ones. As often quoted anonymously, ‘time heals all wounds’. And when you say heal, more than gaining acceptance we tend to understand why the ones we love already left a little earlier than expected.

Ironically, some of the lines in this song do not adhere to the therapeutic post-mortem atmosphere we expect. Some band members wrote this song in the spirit of bitterness due to unacceptable events (e.g. relationship break-up and rejection from fans). In time, they themselves learned the positive wisdom of experiencing bad things they have highlighted.