Extraordinary Girl

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"Extraordinary Girl"
"Extraordinary Girl" cover
Song by Green Day
from the album American Idiot
Released 21 September 2004
Recorded 23 February 2003-January 2004
Genre Punk rock, Pop Punk
Length 3:33
Label Reprise
Writer(s) Billie Joe Armstrong, Tré Cool, and Mike Dirnt
Producer(s) Rob Cavallo and Green Day
American Idiot track listing
She's a Rebel
(8)
"Extraordinary Girl"
(9)
Letterbomb
(10)

"Extraordinary Girl" is the 9th track of the Green Day album American Idiot. It is 3 minutes and thirty-three seconds in duration.

The song is about the character in Green Day's rock opera album American Idiot. It is a continuation of the description Jesus Of Suburbia's feelings for Whatsername but we begin to see cracks in their relationship 'she gets so sick of crying'.

The unusual percussion instruments in the song's intro (bongo drums in particular), combined with the electric sitar that joins it eight measures later, give the song a Middle Eastern feel until a standard drum kit and electric guitar take over where the sitar and bongos leave off. This introductory segment is evocative of The Beatles' music circa 1966, when John Lennon and Paul McCartney introduced increasingly exotic instruments into the repertoire of rock.

Extraordinary Girl is in the key of A; the aforementioned intro is taken at 112 bpm which segues into the song proper at 142 bpm.

Jesus of Suburbia meets Whatsername in the song She's a Rebel and they begin dating. As Jesus falls thoroughly in love with her, he is torn between living the way she does and the way St. Jimmy, his alter-ego wants him to. As later seen in "Letterbomb," Whatsername wants him to fight for the city, whereas Saint Jimmy doesn't care. In the CD case lyric book, part of the song is written in Whatsername's handwriting, mainly the part of the song that describes "him".

Green Day
Billie Joe Armstrong | Mike Dirnt | Tré Cool
Jason White | Jason Freese | Ronnie Blake | Al Sobrante
Discography
Studio Albums: 39/Smooth | Kerplunk! | Dookie | Insomniac | nimrod. | Warning: | American Idiot
Studio EPs: 1,000 Hours | Sweet Children | Slappy
Compilations: 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hours | Shenanigans | International Superhits!
Live Albums/ Live EPs: Bowling Bowling Bowling Parking Parking | Foot in Mouth EP | Tune in Tokyo | Bullet in a Bible
DVDs: International Supervideos! | Riding in Vans with Boys | Bullet in a Bible
Singles: "Longview" | "Welcome to Paradise" | "Basket Case" | "She " | "When I Come Around" | "J.A.R." | "Geek Stink Breath" | "Stuck With Me" | "Brain Stew/Jaded" | "Walking Contradiction" | "Hitchin' a Ride" | "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" | "Redundant" | "Nice Guys Finish Last" | "Minority" | "Warning" | "Waiting" | "Macy's Day Parade" | "Poprocks & Coke" | "I Fought the Law" | "American Idiot" | "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" | "Holiday" | "Wake Me Up When September Ends" | "Jesus of Suburbia" | "The Saints Are Coming" (with U2)
Related Articles
Cigarettes and Valentines | Pop punk | American Edit | The Network | American Idiot: The Motion Picture | Live Freaky! Die Freaky! | Pinhead Gunpowder | The Frustrators | Adeline Records | The Lookouts | Screeching Weasel | Other projects
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