Jakarta (ANTARA) - Lagu "Welcome to Paradise" yang dipopulerkan oleh grup musik punk rock asal Amerika Serikat Green Day pertama kali muncul dalam album kedua mereka "Kerplunk" yang dirilis pada 1991 melalui Lookout Records.

Lagu itu direkam lagi dan dirilis ulang pada 1994 sebagai lagu kelima untuk album ketiga "Dookie", salah satu album Green Day yang mencetak kesuksesan meraih sertifikat "Diamond" dari Asosiasi Industri Rekaman Amerika Serikat (Recording Industry Association of America/ RIAA) untuk penjualan lebih dari 10 juta kopi.

Vokalis Green Day Billie Joe Armstrong bercerita pengalaman pribadi hidup di kawasan West Oakland, California, yang terkenal keras, sebagai pemuda yang baru pindah dan tinggal sendiri pada lagu "Welcome to Paradise".

Meskipun pada awal masa tinggal merasa ingin pindah, namun, enam bulan kemudian, Armstrong merasa kerasan.
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Dalam sebuah wawancara dengan majalah Rolling Stone, Armstrong mengatakan bahwa penggalan lirik "A gunshot rings out at the station/Another urchin snaps and left dead on his own" secara akurat menggambarkan lingkungan barunya saat itu.

Lirik Green Day "Welcome to Paradise"

​​​​​​​Dear mother,
Can you hear me whining?

It's been three whole weeks

Since that I have left your home

This sudden fear has left me trembling

Cause now it seems that I am out here on my own

And I'm feeling so alone

Pay attention to the cracked streets

And the broken homes

Some call it the slums

Some call it nice

I want to take you through

a wasteland I like to call my home

Welcome To Paradise

A gunshot rings out at the station

Another urchin snaps and left dead on his own

It makes me wonder why I'm still here

For some strange reason it's now

Feeling like my home

And I'm never gonna go

Pay attention to the cracked streets

And the broken homes

Some call it slums

Some call it nice

I want to take you through

a wasteland I like to call

my home

Welcome To Paradise

Dear mother,

Can you hear me laughing

It's been six whole months

Since that I have left your home

It makes me wonder why I'm still here

For some strange reason it's now

Feeling like my home

And I'm never gonna go

Pay attention to the cracked streets

And the broken homes

Some call it the slums

Some call it nice

I want to take you through

a wasteland I like to call my home

Welcome To Paradise