I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know where it goes
But it's home to me and I walk alone

I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Where the city sleeps
and I'm the only one and I walk alone

I walk alone
I walk alone

I walk alone
I walk a...

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
'Til then I walk alone

Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Aaah-ah,
Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Ah-ah

I'm walking down the line
That divides me somewhere in my mind
On the border line
Of the edge and where I walk alone

Read between the lines
What's fucked up and everything's alright
Check my vital signs
To know I'm still alive and I walk alone

I walk alone
I walk alone

I walk alone
I walk a...

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
'Til then I walk alone

Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Ah-ah, Aaah-ah
Ah-ah, Ah-ah

I walk alone
I walk a...

I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
Where the city sleeps
and I'm the only one and I walk a....

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
'Til then I walk alone ...

Legend:

Alliteration (same first letters) in blue - I used different shades of blue when there was more than one letter alliterating in a line

Assonance (same vowel sound) in green

Rhyme in purple (usually at the ends of lines but is sometimes in the middle)

The letter "l" in words in pink

Note: I did not mark every occurrence of these devices as many of them overlap and it was difficult to show with the colours.

Analysis of the use of poetic devices

This analysis aims to show how Green Day's lyrics have become more complex and sophisticated. I will focus on the use of poetic devices in these lyrics to demonstrate that although they are using fairly simple language, the writing is not as simple as it seems.

Most of the verses use both end-rhyme and internal rhyme:

I'm walking down the line
That divides me somewhere in my mind

All of the verses use a lot of alliteration, for example:

My shadow's the only one that walks beside me
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me

This verse has the repetition of the "sh" in "shadow" and "shallow" (which also rhyme with each other); the "th" sound (5 times); and the "s" ( a total of 8 times in the verse).

Assonance, where the same vowel sound is repeated, is also used, perhaps most strikingly in the first verse:

I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know where it goes
But it's home to me and I walk alone

This has a total of nine times when the "o" sound is repeated, giving it the feeling of an echo. The same effect of an echo is in the repeating of the words "I walk alone" throughout the song, at the end of every verse and as a kind of chorus.

The sound of the letter "l" is repeated frequently through the song, which makes it seem more musical. While not exactly a "lullaby", this song is slower and more acoustic musically than many of their others.

Anaylsis of the meaning

The song is about a person who is walking the streets, probably homeless, and lonely. The repetition of "I walk alone" emphasises his loneliness, as it does that he has to walk the streets while the "city sleeps", setting him apart from ordinary people. The title uses a metaphor, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", using the longer and more poetic word "boulevard" rather than "street". This suggests that his dreams have failed or been destroyed, leaving him with nothing. He says he only has his shadow to walk beside him, but this song is set at night, when shadows could not be seen, other than a shadow which represents some sort of darkness inside him. I think it is referring to the loneliness of people who are poor and homeless, with no family or friends.

In the context of the story within "American Idiot", "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" occurs when Jesus of Suburbia leaves home and wanders the streets of the city. In the song "Jesus of Suburbia" there is a verse which says:

City of the dead
At the end of another lost highway
Signs misleading to nowhere
City of the damned
Lost children with dirty faces today
No one really seems to care

The terms used ("city of the dead / the damned", "lost highway", "nowhere") make us feel that the city is a bad place, where people are lost and others don't care. The main character has left one form of loneliness in the suburbs only to find another in the big city. Perhaps his problems are within him rather than to do with his surroundings. The reference to his "shallow" heart may mean his heart is beating fast (or shallow - a transferred epithet), or it may also mean that he is finding himself to be a shallow person. However there is still some hope - in the last verse he hopes that someone will find him.

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