Bobby Sox

"Bobby Sox" is a song by the American rock band Green Day from their fourteenth studio album, Saviors (2024). Released as the album's fifth single, the song was originally written by Billie Joe Armstrong as a love song to his wife, Lyds, but its lyrics evolved to instead reflect his bisexuality. "Bobby Sox" has received a generally positive reception from music critics, who praised its catchiness and declared it a "bisexual anthem". An accompanying music video for the song, directed by Brendan Walker and Ryan Baxley, was released on January 19, 2024. The song is included in the setlist of The Saviors Tour, the ongoing concert tour in support of Saviors.

Saviors, the band's fourteenth studio album, was conceived when Billie Joe Armstrong reconnected with producer Rob Cavallo, who had previously worked with the band on their albums Dookie (1994) and American Idiot (2004). The band subsequently went to RAK Studios in London to make the album, after learning that Liam Gallagher had recorded his 2022 studio album C'mon You Know there.^[1] Armstrong originally wrote "Bobby Sox" as a love song to his wife featuring the line "Do you wanna be my girlfriend?", but decided to switch "girlfriend" with "boyfriend" between verses to reflect his bisexuality.^[2][3]

"Bobby Sox" was first announced as the third song on Saviors on November 20, 2023, and was released alongside the album on January 19, 2024.^[4] The same day, the song was released as the fifth single on Saviors, alongside its music video.^[2] "Bobby Sox" later soundtracked the short skate film "Monsters & Saviors" released on August 14, 2024, alongside "Longview" and "American Idiot".^[5] The song was also released to modern rock radio on September 17, 2024.^[6]

"Bobby Sox"

A 22.5-second sample of "Bobby Sox", featuring the end of the first chorus and the beginning of the second verse. Armstrong switches from singing "girlfriend" to "boyfriend" between the segments, reflecting his bisexuality.

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"Bobby Sox" is a "fuzzed-out"^[2] pop-punk^[7] and power pop song,^[8] with Armstrong calling it "the '90s song that we never wrote". Jon Pareles of The New York Times called the song an "outright homage to Pixies",^[9] while various critics drew stylistic comparisons between "Bobby Sox" and songs by Weezer.^[a] The song begins with a quiet verse, before building up to a "big, thunderous hard rock chorus".^[9][14] During the chorus, Armstrong's sings with a "half-screaming" vocal delivery which has been compared to that of Chester Bennington,^[15] while the backing vocals sing a "sugary" falsetto riff.^[8][16]

Lyrically, "Bobby Sox" is a love song where Armstrong "sings to prospective partners".^[2] According to Armstrong, the lyric "Do you want to be my girlfriend?" stemmed from a "sweet nothing" which he frequently tells his wife; however, between the first and second verse, Armstrong instead sings "Do you want to be my boyfriend?" both to "play the character of the woman" within the song, and to reflect his bisexuality.^[17]

"Bobby Sox" received generally positive reviews from music critics, with Kelly Scanlon of Far Out concluding that the song "enjoys the romantic ambience of its own words while speaking to people from all walks of life".^[18] Both Chris Conaton of PopMatters and Andrew Sacher of BrooklynVegan praised the song's catchiness; Conaton further praised Armstrong's "surprisingly intense" vocal performance,^[8] while Sacher commented that the song's queer-affirming lyrics were "an even bigger blow to the ‘MAGA agenda'" than some of the band's previous, more directly-political songs.^[16] Both Stephen Daw of Billboard and Jason Brow of Us Weekly declared the song a "bisexual anthem",^[19][20] while Leah Thomas of Cosmopolitan compared "Bobby Sox" to the television series Heartstopper and called it one of the best love songs of 2024.^[21] Bria McNeal included "Bobby Sox" in her list of the 15 Best Summer Songs of 2024.^[22]

The music video for "Bobby Sox" was directed by Brendan Walker and Ryan Baxley, who have also directed the music videos of the previous singles off Saviors. Baxley explained how the music video for "Bobby Sox" is the last in a cycle starting from that of "The American Dream is Killing Me", which was entirely in black-and-white. The subsequent music videos for "Look Ma, No Brains!" and "Dilemma" then began to incorporate flashes of pink and full color shots, despite primarily being in black-and-white, before the music video of "Bobby Sox" ended this progression by being shot in full color.^[23]

Armstrong noted that the music video for "Bobby Sox" was recorded at an actual backyard party, with the band playing a short set before recording began. He commented that the music video was intended to reflect the desire for people to reconnect following the isolation of COVID-19 lockdowns, and called it one of his favorite videos because it "just felt very real".^[24] Baxley further explained how the music video represented the band's love of music and their fans.^[23] The music video was released on January 19, 2024, on the band's YouTube channel.^[2]

The music video features Green Day playing the song in a backyard during a "daylight rager". The video includes interspersed shots, some seemingly recorded on "shaky camcorder footage", of crowd members kissing, receiving tattoos, and singing along with the band.^[2][25] The video contains various punk musicians making cameos, including Anaiah Muhammad of Zulu, Lucia and Mila De La Garza of the Linda Lindas, and Violet Mayugba of Destroy Boys. Towards the end of the video, there is a "rapid-fire montage of kisses", including a shot of Tré Cool and Mike Dirnt simultaneously kissing Armstrong's cheeks.^[25]

Green Day debuted "Bobby Sox", alongside other songs from "Saviors", at their January 18, 2024 show at Irving Plaza as part of the Small Stages Series by Sirius XM.^[26] On April 2, 2024, the band played the song during the iHeartRadio Music Awards, alongside "Basket Case"; Armstrong wore a hot pink suit while Dirnt and Cool were dressed in black.^[7] The following day, the band played "Bobby Sox" at the Fillmore during a charity concert for the United Nations Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance.^[27]

"Bobby Sox" is included in the setlist of The Saviors Tour, the ongoing concert tour in support of Saviors that began on May 30, 2024.^[28] On July 26, 2024, Green Day played the song at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park Mall as part of Good Morning America's Summer Concert Series.^[29] The band later played "Bobby Sox" on September 16, 2024, with a recording of the song being broadcast on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that night.^[30]

Credits are adapted from iTunes.^[31]

Green Day

Production