This songs refers to the backlash the band received from the punk rock community once they hit superstardom, most specifically the California punk community and the club 924 Gilman Street, where Green Day got their start and built a following. Members of that scene in 1994-1995 vowed to assault Green Day on site should they ever attempt to return. Being "86'd" is to be ejected or kicked out of a particular establishment.
After Green Day's 1994 album Dookie, they could lay claim to the title "biggest punk band in the world," with an unprecedented crossover to the pop charts. With their next album, Insomniac, they stayed true to form with frantic rockers like "86." As lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong said: "You can take us out of our punk rock environment, but you can't take the punk rock out of us."
See your Spotify stats (with number of plays and minutes listened) and discover new music.
Music data, artist images, album covers, and song previews are provided by Spotify. Spotify is a trademark of Spotify AB.