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Here is the latest in a series of examinations into urban legends about music and whether they are true or false. Click here to view an archive of the music urban legends featured so far.

MUSIC URBAN LEGEND: The Green Day song “Stuck with Me” got its name by someone in the studio switching the labels on two songs.

Reader Scott K. wrote in with this one. He said:

A legend I’ve heard about Green Day is that the song “Stuck With Me” from their “Insomniac” album actually ended up having the name of a totally different song because the labels on the tapes got mixed up by the producer and it was too late to change it by the time anyone caught it. Any truth to that one?

There’s definitely some truth to this one, Scott, in that it is mostly all true!

Insomniac (released in 1995) was Green Day’s fourth studio album, and first since the band’s major mainstream hit album Dookie came out in 1994.

Their second single off of the album was called “Stuck with Me.”

Here’s a snippet of the lyrics…

I’m not part of your elite
I’m just alright
Class structure waving colors
Bleeding from my throat
Not subservient to you I’m just alright
Down classed by the powers that be
Give me loss of hope

Cast out… Buried in a hole
Struck down… forcing me to fall
Destroyed… giving up the fight
Well, I know I’m not alright

As you might notice, the lyrics don’t exactly suggest the name “Stuck With Me.”

Now, on the other hand, let’s take a look at some of the lyrics from a track from the album that did not make the album (but was released later) called “Do Da Da.”

Every time I’m fallin’ down
You take the reprecussions
Headaches and anxieties
Advancing my frustrations
Rushings of my depression
Sacrifice everything
Waste with me into nothing
Well now you’re stuck with me
Stuck with me
Stuck with me
Hand up your soul to my wrist
And I’ll vow my trust to you
Moving here I always thought
I realized you’ve imagined
Rushings of my depression
Sacrifice everything
Waste with me into nothing
Well now you’re stuck with me
Stuck with me
Stuck with me

Yep, it really is exactly how it sounds – the two songs were switched! The labels on the master tapes were switched up, and after it was discovered, it was either too late, or the band just didn’t mind the change.

The legend is…

STATUS: True

Thanks to Scott for the question and thanks to Ben Myers’ great book on Green Day, Green Day: American Idiots & The New Punk Explosion, for the confirmation!

Feel free (heck, I implore you!) to write in with your suggestions for future urban legends columns! My e-mail address is bcronin@legendsrevealed.com