"Brain Stew," a track that is unusual in that it transitions directly into "Jaded," the track that follows it, was released in 1996 as the third single from Green Day's Insomniac. The titles of the album and song have personal significance to the band members - the group's singer, Billie Joe Armstrong, earned the nickname "Insomniac" after the birth of his first son, who kept him up at night with constant crying. The name "Brain Stew" came from the nickname for James Washburn, a longtime friend of the members of Green Day. In interviews, Armstrong claims that the song was written while not being able to sleep because his son, a baby at the time, cried throughout the night, however the song is also rife with references to drug use. "Strung out," "spun out" (which appears in the lyrics), and "geeked out" are all slang for being high on methamphetamines. The lyrics also mention "cross tops," which are tablets of amphetamine that are distinguished by two crossed grooves on the top of the pill. Many of the symptoms described by Armstrong are consistent with the use of amphetamines - numbness in the face, inability to sleep, dry mouth, hallucinations, etc. - further confirming the theory that the topic of the song is drug use.