Singer Billie Joe Armstrong explained to Q magazine May 2009: "It's about how self destructive behaviour can overshadow parts of your ambition." He added: "A lot of people have a self-destruct button. I think for a lot of rock musicians, when you're celebrating, it turns into partying and then suddenly you're f---ing yourself up and you're destroying something you worked so hard to build up. There's this shiny red button that you just want to push."
The song's title was inspired by a story from The San Francisco Chronicle about Howard Dully, who recalled how his stepmother forced him to have a transorbital lobotomy when he was 12.
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