Brain Stew / Jaded Explained

Brain Stew" / "Jaded
Cover:	Green Day - Brain Stew-Jaded cover.jpg
Type:	single
Artist:	Green Day
Album:	Insomniac
Recorded:	1995
Studio:	Hyde Street Studios, San Francisco, California
Genre:	Punk rock^[1] ^[2] hardcore punk^[3] alternative rock^[4] ^[5] grunge^[6]
Length:	3:13 ("Brain Stew") 1:30 ("Jaded") 4:43 (both songs combined)
Label:	Reprise
Lyricist:	Billie Joe Armstrong
Composer:	Green Day
Producer:	Rob Cavallo Green Day
Prev Title:	Stuck with Me
Prev Year:	1995
Next Title:	Hitchin' A Ride
Next Year:	1997

"Brain Stew" and "Jaded" are two songs released as a joint single by American rock band Green Day. They appear as the tenth and eleventh tracks and third and final single from the group's fourth studio album, Insomniac. The song was also included on . The two songs were released as one single, as the songs are transitional – "Brain Stew" segues directly into "Jaded". After 9/11, "Brain Stew" was placed on Clear Channel's list of post-9/11 inappropriate titles. The song "Brain Stew" is about vocalist/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong dealing with insomnia. According to Armstrong himself, "Brain Stew" was originally called "Insomniac" on demo (hence the title of the album on which it is featured),^[7] and "Brain Stew" is a reference to Armstrong's long-time friend, James Washburn, who is nicknamed Brain Stew.^[8]

There is also a limited edition CD single of the two songs in which the disc is in the shape of a brain.

One of the B-sides has an early version of the song "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)"

Both "Brain Stew" and "Jaded" were included on the band's first greatest hits album International Superhits!. However, only "Brain Stew" was included on the band's second greatest hits album God's Favorite Band and is the only song off of Insomniac to be included.

Track listing

Vinyl box set

Other versions

"Brain Stew"

• A live version featured on Bowling Bowling Bowling Parking Parking recorded March 26, 1996 at Sporthalle, Prague, Czech Republic. Later featured on the vinyl box set version of the "Brain Stew / Jaded" single.
• Another live version on Bullet in a Bible.
• A remix was made for the soundtrack of the 1998 movie Godzilla.
• Rivers Cuomo did a cover of the song on Sessions @AOL in 2009. The performance was recorded for his band Weezer's EP called Happy Record Store Day.
• A cover was made by the band The Upside Downs named "Brain Stew 10". The band was made by Ray William Johnson.^[9]
• A cover was made by musician K.Flay in 2020.^[10]

"Jaded"

• A live version found on Bowling Bowling Bowling Parking Parking recorded March 26, 1996 at Sporthalle, Prague, Czech Republic.
• A live version was performed during the Milton Keynes concert recorded for "Bullet in a Bible" but was omitted from the CD/DVD.

"Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)"

• This single features a demo version of the Nimrod track "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)". This demo is played in G♭ rather than G standard.

Live performances

"Brain Stew" has been played at most Green Day concerts since its release and is one of the band’s most played songs live.^[11] There have been several notable performances of this song. For instance, the band played the song in front of 130,000 people at the Milton Keynes National Bowl for the live DVD–CD Bullet in a Bible. Another notable performance was when the group performed it at Goat Island in Sydney, Australia on October 19, 2000, where Armstrong mixed up the verses by accident. During the 21st Century Breakdown World Tour, the band played this after playing numerous cover rock songs.

Music video

The music video for "Brain Stew / Jaded" consists of two parts: The "Brain Stew" portion of the video is sepia toned and depicts the band lying on a couch being pulled through a landfill by a bulldozer, interspersed with shots of hula dancers, mealworms, a dog, and a teacher writing on a chalkboard. When the song transitions to "Jaded", the video transitions to chrome and shows fast shots of the band playing the song in their recording studio with more shots of mealworms and hula dancers. The video was directed by Kevin Kerslake.^{[12] [13]}

See also

• List of RPM Rock/Alternative number-one singles (Canada)

Notes and References

1. Book: Myers . Ben . Green Day - American Idiots & The New Punk Explosion . May 26, 2005 . John Blake . 9781784189433 . April 28, 2022 . April 9, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230409222905/https://books.google.com/books?id=JSa3DwAAQBAJ . live .
2. Web site: Sacher . Andrew . unpopular opinion: Green Day's 'Insomniac' is their best album . . April 28, 2022 . April 29, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220429023901/https://www.brooklynvegan.com/unpopular-opinion-green-days-insomniac-is-their-best-album/ . live .
3. Web site: 20 Essential Green Day Hits. Fuse. https://web.archive.org/web/20151002232813/https://www.fuse.tv/2015/10/green-day-wake-up-20-essential-hits#8. May 7, 2018. 2015-10-02.
4. Web site: The 96 Best Alternative Rock Songs of 1996. SPIN Magazine. August 31, 2016. August 8, 2019. August 8, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190808073503/https://www.spin.com/2016/08/96-best-alternative-rock-songs-1996/5/. live.
5. 20 Alternative Rock Music Videos Turning 20 in 2016. April 12, 2016. April 23, 2022. Billboard. Richin. Leslie. December 7, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211207225129/https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/20-alternative-rock-music-videos-turning-20-in-2016-7318926/. live.
6. Web site: Miller . Ted . Unsung Against the Mold: Green Day's Insomniac and Warning Turn 25 and 20 . Rock & Roll Globe . 28 October 2020 . 29 April 2022 . 17 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220117112837/https://rockandrollglobe.com/pop/unsung-against-the-mold-green-days-insomniac-and-warning-turn-25-and-20/ . live .
7. Web site: Green Day Community. 2017-12-12. 2017-08-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20170827024618/http://www.greendaycommunity.org/uploads/monthly_2016_12/IMG_0049.JPG.e9e0d292a055e83cd12bdacfd91c3b34.JPG. live.
8. Web site: @gzbaebe shared a video on Instagram: "IT'S BILLIE JOE! #greenday #billiejoearmstrong #billiejoe #bj #bja #beej #twodollarbill #mikedirnt #mikepritchard #michaelpritchard…" • Sep 5, 2017 at 1:07am UTC. https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/s/instagram/BYo-tHXA3X0 . 2021-12-24 . limited. Instagram.
9. Web site: The Upside Downs - Brain Stew 10 (official audio) . . 2022-04-06 . 2022-04-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220406214513/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMU81UFGtAY . live .
10. Web site: K.Flay - Brain Stew (Official Audio) . . 2024-01-16 . 2024-01-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240116010408/https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=qNt5MCUiPRRUvRN5&v=HnviaF0tyDs&feature=youtu.be . live .
11. Web site: Green Day Tour Statistics setlist.fm . 2024-01-26 . www.setlist.fm . 2024-01-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240126161350/https://www.setlist.fm/stats/green-day-13d68939.html . live .
12. Web site: Green Day: International Supervideos! (Video 2001) - IMDb. www.imdb.com. 2020-11-13. 2022-09-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20220918160232/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0476242/reference. live.
13. Web site: Kevin Kerslake. IMDb. 2009-07-26. 2008-03-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20080327133354/http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0449989/. live.
14. Web site: The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 19 May 1996. Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). August 11, 2017. 17 March 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220317041500/https://i.imgur.com/UQOpAhU.jpg. live. N.B. The HP column displays the highest peak reached.