My friend drove off the other day,
And now he's gone and all they say,
Is you gotta live cuz life goes on...
But now i see i'm mortal, too,
I can't live my life like you,
Gotta live it up, while life goes on.
And i think that it's all right,
That i do what i like,
Cuz that's the way i wanna live.
And so i give, and i'm still givin'...
And now i wonder 'bout my friend,
If he gave all he could give,
Cuz he lived his life like i live
mine.
If you could see inside my head,
Then you'd start to understand,
The things i value in my heart.
And i think that it's all right,
That i do what i like,
Find more lyrics at ※ Mojim.com
Cuz that's the way i wanna live.
And so i give, and i'm still givin'...
You know that...
I know that...
You're watchin' me!
And i think that it's all right,
That i do what i like,
Cuz that's the way i wanna
live.
And so i give, and i'm still givin'...
Gotta make a plan,
Gotta do what's right,
Can't run around in circles,
If you wanna build a life,
But i don't wanna make a plan,
For a day far away,
While i'm young and while i'm able,
All i wanna do is...
J.A.R. (Jason Andrew Relva) is the eighth track off of Green Day's third compilation album, International Superhits!(2001). Originally released on July 10, 1995, this song was featured on the Angus soundtrack.
Background
This song is written about Mike Dirnt's close friend Jason Andrew Relva, who died in a car crash at the age of 19. ("He was going 95, I think he committed suicide." -Dirnt)
In the song, the narrator is talking about his friend who's now gone and about what it makes him feel. He's saying that this death made him face the fact that he's mortal and his life could end any second. The narrator is saying that he's living life just like his friend did, but now his friend is gone and maybe he didn't give all that he could, but it's too late now.
Live
This song was considered for Dookie, and demoed during the sessions for the album. It made one live appearance in 1992, at 924 Gilman Street in November.
J.A.R. appeared live once on the Insomniactour, in Baltimore in November 1995.
The song made three appearances in 1998 on the Nimrod tour.
J.A.R. was performed more frequently on the Warning tour, making ten appearances in 2000 and 2001.
The song appeared three times in two weeks at the end of the American Idiot tour.
The song appeared several times in 2009, followed by a few more the next year, on the 21st Century Breakdown tour. An audio version featured on the Awesome as Fuck CD.
J.A.R. was played three times on the 99 Revolutions Tour.
The song featured at most of the shows in October 2016, as well as a few other shows later in the Revolution Radio tour.
In January 2020, Billie Joe Armstrong teased J.A.R. at a performance at the NHL All-Star Game.
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
My friend drove off the other day
Now he's gone and all they say
Is "you got to live cause life goes on..."
But now I see I'm mortal, too
I can't live my life like you
Got to live it up while life goes on
[Chorus]
And I think it's all right
That I do what I like
Cause that's the way I want to live
It's how I give, and I'm still givin'...
[Verse
2]
And now I wonder 'bout my friend
If he gave all he could give
Cause he lived his life like I live mine
If you could see inside my head
Then you'd start to understand
The things I value in my heart
[Chorus]
And I think it's all right
That I do what I like
Cause that's the way I want to live
It's how I give, and I'm still givin'...
[Bridge]
You know that...
I know that...
You're watchin' me!
[Chorus]
And I think it's all right
That I do what I like
Cause that's the way I want to live
It's how I give, and I'm still givin'...
[Outro]
Got to make a plan, got to do what's right
Can't run around in circles if you wanna build a life
But I don't want to make a plan for a day far away
While I'm young and while I'm able, all I want to do is...
Video gallery
- The song
- Live in Berkeley, California - November 18, 1992 (audio only)
- Live in Fresno, California - October 1, 2005
- Live in Kansas City, Missouri - August 12, 2009
- Live on the "Awesome as Fuck" CD - Clarkston (Michigan), August 2010 (audio only)
- Live in Providence, Rhode Island - April 9, 2013
- Live in Oakland, California (with fan playing the guitar) - October 12, 2016
- Live in Los Angeles, California - October 19, 2016
- Live in Sydney, Australia - May 11, 2017
- Live in Tampa, Florida (Facebook livestream) - September 5, 2017
- Live tease at the NHL All-Star Game 2020