"X-Kid" is a song by American rock band Green Day. It is the fifth track on their eleventh studio album, "¡Tré!" (2012), and was released as the second single from the album on February 12, 2013, and is the sixth and final single from the "¡Uno!, ¡Dos! &amp; ¡Tré!" trilogy.
Background and release.
"X-Kid" was released as a single on February 12, 2013. On December 19, 2012, a video was released to Green Day's official YouTube channel showing "X-Kid" playing on a cassette tape.
Theme and composition.
According to The A.V. Club, "X-Kid" has "a rousing intro" which becomes a "hybrid" of "Who Wrote Holden Caulfield?" and "One Of My Lies", two songs from Green Day's second studio album "Kerplunk".
Song meaning.
“X-Kid” from "¡Tré!" deals with the suicide of a close friend of the band's. “I don’t really want to get into it,” Armstrong says. “It’s too heavy.”
This song was written in response to the 2009 suicide of a close friend that Armstrong grew up with in Rodeo, CA. However, the song is as much about the entire "Generation X" (those born from roughly 1965–1980) as it is about this one specific tragedy. Billie Joe has repeatedly identified himself as an "Ex-Kid" in recent interviews. The narrator is able to relate to his late friend, in that they were both "Ex/X-kids." But, he was able to push through the struggles that came with growing older, while his friend was not. His friend, unfortunately, found an escape in suicide, thus the line "Here goes nothing, the shouting's over." The narrator sees facets of himself in his late friend. He feels as if, sadly, there wasn't much that could have been done to help his friend, though he wishes someone could have found a way to help him before it was too late.
Critical reception.
Ray Rahman of "Entertainment Weekly" named "X-Kid" as the best song on "¡Tre!", above "Brutal Love" and "Missing You".
References.
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