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Brain Stew / Jaded

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"Brain Stew" / "Jaded"
Single by Green Day
from the album Insomniac
B-side
  • "Do Da Da"
  • "Good Riddance"
ReleasedApril 10, 1996 (1996-4-10)
StudioHyde Street (San Francisco, California)
Genre
Length
  • 3:13 ("Brain Stew")
  • 1:30 ("Jaded")
LabelReprise
Composer(s)Green Day
Lyricist(s)Billie Joe Armstrong
Producer(s)
Green Day singles chronology
"Stuck with Me"
(1995) 		"Brain Stew" / "Jaded"
(1996) 		"Hitchin' a Ride"
(1997)
Music video
"Brain Stew" / "Jaded" on YouTube

"Brain Stew" and "Jaded" are two songs by American rock band Green Day, released as a joint single. The songs are transitional—"Brain Stew" segues directly into "Jaded". They appear as the 10th and 11th tracks on the group's fourth studio album, Insomniac, and were released as the album's third and final single in April 1996. One of the B-sides has an early version of the song "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)", with the song having a more sarcastic tone than the original. There is also a limited-edition CD single of the two songs in which the disc is in the shape of a brain.

Upon its release, "Brain Stew" / "Jaded" peaked at number three on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, number one on the Canadian RPM Alternative 30, and number 28 on the UK Singles Chart. Both songs 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. After the September 11 attacks, "Brain Stew" was placed on Clear Channel's list of post-9/11 inappropriate titles.[7][8]

Background

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"Brain Stew" is about vocalist/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong dealing with insomnia. According to Armstrong, "Brain Stew" was originally called "Insomniac" on demo (hence the title of the album on which it is featured),[9] and "Brain Stew" is a reference to Armstrong's long-time friend, James Washburn, who is nicknamed Brain Stew.[10]

Music video

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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.[11][12]

Live performances

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"Brain Stew" has been played at most Green Day concerts since its release and is one of the band’s most played songs live.[13] 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.

Track listing

[edit]
CD
No.TitleLength
1."Brain Stew" / "Jaded"4:43
2."Do Da Da"1:30
3."Good Riddance"2:03
4."Brain Stew" (clean radio edit; faded ending)3:13

Vinyl box set

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Brain Stew" / "Jaded"4:43
2."Walking Contradiction"2:31
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."Brain Stew" / "Jaded" (live at Sporthall, Prague, March 26, 1996)4:27
2."No Pride"2:20

Other versions

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"Brain Stew"

"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)"

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[27] Silver 200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
Japan April 10, 1996 CD Reprise [28]
United Kingdom June 24, 1996
  • CD
  • cassette
 [29]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Myers, Ben (May 26, 2005). Green Day - American Idiots & The New Punk Explosion. John Blake. ISBN 9781784189433. Archived from the original on April 9, 2023. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  2. ^ Sacher, Andrew. "unpopular opinion: Green Day's 'Insomniac' is their best album". Brooklyn Vegan. Archived from the original on April 29, 2022. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  3. ^ "20 Essential Green Day Hits". Fuse. Archived from the original on October 2, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
  4. ^ "The 96 Best Alternative Rock Songs of 1996". SPIN Magazine. August 31, 2016. Archived from the original on August 8, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  5. ^ Richin, Leslie (April 12, 2016). "20 Alternative Rock Music Videos Turning 20 in 2016". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 7, 2021. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  6. ^ Miller, Ted (October 28, 2020). "Unsung Against the Mold: Green Day's Insomniac and Warning Turn 25 and 20". Rock & Roll Globe. Archived from the original on January 17, 2022. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  7. ^ "It's the End of the World as Clear Channel Knows It". Slate. September 17, 2001. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  8. ^ Eakin, Marah (September 11, 2015). "Every Single Song Clear Channel Suggested Its Stations Skip Post-9/11". The A.V. Club. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  9. ^ "Green Day Community". Archived from the original on August 27, 2017. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  10. ^ "@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". Instagram. Archived from the original on December 24, 2021.
  11. ^ "Green Day: International Supervideos! (Video 2001) - IMDb". Archived from the original on September 18, 2022. Retrieved November 13, 2020 – via www.imdb.com.
  12. ^ "Kevin Kerslake". IMDb. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008. Retrieved July 26, 2009.
  13. ^ "Green Day Tour Statistics | setlist.fm". www.setlist.fm. Archived from the original on January 26, 2024. Retrieved January 26, 2024.
  14. ^ "The Upside Downs - Brain Stew 10 (official audio)". YouTube. April 16, 2021. Archived from the original on April 6, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  15. ^ "K.Flay - Brain Stew (Official Audio)". YouTube. December 8, 2020. Archived from the original on January 16, 2024. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
  16. ^ "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles Chart – Week Ending 19 May 1996". ARIA. Archived from the original on March 17, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2017 – via Imgur. N.B. The HP column displays the highest peak reached.
  17. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2913." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
  18. ^ "Top RPM Rock/Alternative Tracks: Issue 2883." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
  19. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  20. ^ "Green Day: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  21. ^ "Green Day Chart History (Radio Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
  22. ^ "Green Day Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
  23. ^ "Green Day Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved November 12, 2016.
  24. ^ "RPM Year End Alternative Top 50". RPM. Retrieved March 24, 2025 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  25. ^ "The Year in Music: Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 52. December 28, 1996. p. YE-76.
  26. ^ "The Year in Music: Hot Modern Rock Tracks". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 52. December 28, 1996. p. YE-78.
  27. ^ "British single certifications – Green Day – Brain Stew/Jaded". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved October 26, 2024.
  28. ^ "グリーン・デイ | ブレイン・シチュー" [Green Day | Brain Stew] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  29. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. June 22, 1996. p. 35.
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