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"Homecoming"
Song by Green Day
Album	American Idiot
Released	21 September 2004
Recorded	23 February 2003-January 2004
Genre	Punk rock, Pop punk
Length	9:18
Label	Reprise
Writer	Billie Joe Armstrong, Tré Cool, and Mike Dirnt
Producer	Rob Cavallo and Green Day
American Idiot track listing
"Wake Me Up When September Ends" (11) "Homecoming" (12) "Whatsername" (13)

"Homecoming" is the second of two "rock opera" songs on Green Day's seventh album, American Idiot. It is a full nine minutes and eighteen seconds long, and is made up of five movements. While frontman Billie Joe Armstrong writes most of the songs, this compilation features one part written and sung by drummer Tré Cool (entitled Rock and Roll Girlfriend), and another part written and sung by bassist Mike Dirnt (entitled Nobody Likes You).

This first section narrates the story of how Jesus of Suburbia disposed of his alternate personality St. Jimmy , as in the line, "Jimmy died today/he blew his brains out into the Bay".

The second section talks about how Jesus of Suburbia is filling out papers at the facility on East 12th St. There is a police station located at East 12th Street in Oakland, California, where Billie Joe Armstrong once had to fill out papers for a DUI, leading us to believe JoS has been arrested for some charge of his past deeds or something not mentioned in the song. The track Shoplifter is billed as a "non-album track", but it may be explaining the reason why St. Jimmy or Jos had to do that paperwork. Alternately, the section could be explaining to the listener how Jesus has chosen to settle down and get a job after the demise of his alter ego.

Written and sung by Mike Dirnt, this song was one of the thirty-second songs the band mates wrote to relieve stress while working on the album. It fits into the storyline by showing the mental processes of Jesus of Suburbia and the mental abuse that he inflicts upon himself, slowly pulling himself back into the mindset of meeting the same fate of his alternate personality. Many also believe that this has little to do with the story, and was just put in as a segue into "Rock and Roll Girlfriend". The song is a short about a man, that while staying up late into the night, watching Spike TV and drinking coffee, starts reflecting on his own social life ("nobody likes you, everyone left you, they're all without you, havin' fun"). These lyrics also form the intro to the song in the same album Letterbomb, where they are sung by Kathleen Hanna in the voice of Whatsername, in which she breaks up with Jesus of Suburbia.

Written and sung by Tré Cool, and reportedly based on his own lifestyle, This song is in the form of a postcard sent to Jesus of Suburbia by an old friend, signed as "Tunny" (this postcard appears in the album art of American Idiot). The postcard seems to state that Tunny is leading his ideal life; has nothing to do with Jesus's problems; and doesn't want to hear about them (the last line is "So get off of my case!") although interpretations of the meaning of this song may vary. When Tré says "I haven't drank or smoked nothin' in over 22 days so get off my case", Billie Joe sings, "Don't want to be an American Idiot" in the background.

The final part of the song is a chant about how Jesus of Suburbia decides to return to his hometown after his ex-girlfriend Whatsername sends him a letter (Letterbomb). However, the mood of this song isn't depressed and angry. It sounds like Jesus of Suburbia is pleased to finally return home. As a note, you can hear the screaming of St. Jimmy at the end of the song. Perhaps he seems angry, and may reflect on how Jesus looks back on his life, and chooses to ignore Jimmy.

Another interpretation is that the first section is Jesus talking about how he's changed and trying to convince others in St. Jimmy's group to leave the city and come back home with him, and each following section is the story of a member he asks (perhaps a disciple). This might fit more with the last section "We're Coming Home Again" which is plural, as Jesus and his desciples are coming home. It could also be about Jesus and The Underbelly—his group of friends.