We played a lot of Green Day at both campus stations, though certain tracks, especially those with lyrical content, were available at the undergrad station in edited versions via weekly preview discs or, as often was the case if we had only the album, completely left out of rotation. One song that sticks out all these years later is the thundering gallop of Geek Stink Breath.
Why? It all had to do with the time. Clocking in at just over two minutes, the song was perfect filler material if your last song on the playlist ended too early and you wanted to add some padding to get a bit closer to the top of the hour. Station management, which I was part of by this point, wasn’t strict on hitting the exact top of the hour, but there were perfectionists who continually tried.
I picked up on this trick by another DJ – a rather cool kid named Mark – who asked if his constant use of the song on his shift was being disruptive. After explaining his reasons to me, I admitted I loved the logic behind it and took the song out of regular rotation but kept it available in the studio and therefore if ever you heard Geek Stink Breath near the top of the hour, chances are the DJ was making time. There were probably other short songs that were used for similar purposes but we all knew where the Green Day CD single was and could cue it up in no time.
One note about the lyrics: I recall a note warning about language but I could never hear the offending word while I worked at the station. It’s not until I read them with the song now that I realize what’s being said.
Big deal, eh?
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Geek Stink Breath
(Billie Joe Armstrong/Green Day)
Green Day
From the album Insomniac
1995
I'm on a mission
I made my decision
To lead a path of self destruction
A slow progression
Killing my complexion
And it's rotting out my teeth
I'm on a roll
No self control
I'm blowing off steam with methamphetamine
Don't know what I want
That's all that I've got
And I'm picking scabs off my face
Every hour my blood is turning sour
And my pulse is beating out of time
I found a treasure
filled with sick pleasure
And it sits on a thin white line
I'm on a roll
No self control
I'm blowing off steam with methamphetamine
Don't know what I want
That's all that I've got
And I'm picking scabs off my face
I'm on a mission
I've got no decision
Like a cripple running the rat race
Wish in one hand shit in the other
And see which one gets filled first
I'm on a roll
No self control
I'm blowing off steam with methamphetamine
Don't know what I want
That's all that I've got
And I'm picking scabs off my face
