"Nice Guys Finish Last" | ||||
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Single by Green Day | ||||
from the album Nimrod and Varsity Blues soundtrack | ||||
Released | March 23, 1999 | |||
Recorded | 1997 | |||
Studio | Conway (Hollywood, California) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:48 | |||
Label | Reprise | |||
Composer(s) | Green Day | |||
Lyricist(s) | Billie Joe Armstrong | |||
Producer(s) |
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Green Day singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Nice Guys Finish Last" on YouTube |
"Nice Guys Finish Last" is a song by American rock band Green Day. It is the opening track and the fourth and final single released from their fifth studio album, Nimrod (1997). The use of the song in the movie Varsity Blues helped propel it to hit status and earned it a nomination for an MTV Movie Award for best song from a movie in 1999. [3] [4]
AU single/Japanese EP:
Tracks 2-4 were recorded live at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
PopMatters listed "Nice Guys Finish Last" as the tenth best Green Day song, commenting "Blessed with a driving insistency and an acerbic, infectious chorus, "Nice Guys Finish Last" should've been way bigger than it actually was." [5]
The music video features the band as a mock football team (parodying the Green Bay Packers with Green Day). The stage set up for them is portrayed as analogous to a football playing field, and in the video, a number of concert scenes are shown in ways that simulate football game action; lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong is tackled by a fan, Mike Dirnt sprains his ankle when jumping, and a coach motivates them in a locker room midway during the song. The video itself, directed by Evan Bernard, humorously extends the analogy with a voice-over emulating that of legendary NFL Films narrator John Facenda.
Chart (1999) | Position |
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Australia (ARIA) [6] | 80 |
US Alternative Airplay ( Billboard ) [7] | 31 |
Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo, Patrick Wilson, Brian Bell, and Scott Shriner. They have sold 10 million albums in the US and more than 35 million worldwide.
Green Day is an American rock band formed in Rodeo, California, in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, with drummer Tré Cool joining in 1990. In 1994, their major-label debut Dookie, released through Reprise Records, became a breakout success and eventually shipped over 20 million copies in the U.S. Alongside fellow California punk bands Bad Religion, the Offspring, Rancid, NOFX, Pennywise and Social Distortion, Green Day is credited with popularizing mainstream interest in punk rock in the U.S.
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