The problem that arises when you try to look at American Idiot as one, cohesive story is the fact that the album was not written in that manner, but rather took that shape as more songs were written. Homecoming was the “first” track that formed the concept for American Idiot, in that each member of the band created a short song (for fun), that they linked together to form one long, epic track. In my opinion, that songwriting process is most clearly seen from the middle of the track forward—specifically with Mike’s verse leading into Tre’s. I would assume that BJA later added in the backing vocals of “Don’t wanna be an American Idiot” to Tre’s verse, as well as the line about Jimmy blowing his brains out. Essentially, the song was retconned in to fit the theme of the album. Add into that the sequence of songs that make up the beginning of the album: Boulevard of Broken Dreams and Are We the Waiting. Both of those songs represent BJA’s time in NYC: a time which he took away from his family after the “stealing” of the masters for Cigs & Valentines. He went to live in the city by himself for a spell, and that’s where the inspiration for some of the more solitary/reflective material came from. When you combine THOSE two elements, it’s easy to imagine BJA returning to Jingletown inspired, in a politically charged American landscape, and banging out Jesus of Suburbia. To me, that was his biggest song-writing risk. He was politicized, Green Day was moving in a new musical direction with the multi-faceted “Homecoming”; and BJA was inspired. Jesus of Suburbia came from there, and at that point, they were “all in”. Holiday and American Idiot were natural tracks to follow, and the other tracks fit into the narrative of the Jesus of Suburbia, and the typical love-lorn songs that BJA tends to write. To me, Letterbomb has always been the best song on the album, and BJA has said that on several occasions as well. It’s easy to see why, when you think of it as possibly the “last” song that was written for AI. It ties the entire “story” together, and it reads like a letter from the narrator, to Jimmy, blaming him for stealing whatsername from him. It is vague enough to stand alone as a great song, but deep enough to flesh out the entire theme of the album. To me, it is the most “thematic” of all the songs on the album. In fact, I would go so far as to say that without “Letterbomb”, American Idiot has 0 story whatsoever; yet Letterbomb is the song on the album that can stand alone as the best punk rock song they’ve written in their entire career. TL,DR: Green Day is one of the greatest collection of musical talent in history, and it’s a pleasure to listen to their music.