[2] Green Day vocalist/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong said "Basket Case" is about his struggle with anxiety; before he was diagnosed with a panic disorder years afterward, he thought he was going crazy.

"[3] "Basket Case" was one of the songs producer Rob Cavallo heard when he received Green Day's demo tape.

[5] Green Day and Cavallo recorded the version of "Basket Case" released on the trio's major label debut Dookie between September and October 1993 at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley, California.

[23] In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton wrote, "Something of an instant classic [...] it is certainly one of the most alternative Top 10 smash since Radiohead's "Creep".

As to where it goes next it is hard to tell but it could potentially open the door for a flood of the post-Nirvana young American rock bands who are currently making waves on the other side of the Atlantic.

"[24] Andrew Mueller from Melody Maker commented, "Green Day themselves are an enthusiastically rockin' kind of act who've learnt a neat trick or two from The Buzzcocks and The Ramones and are the sort of band I'm regrettably likely to think are the future of rock'n'roll if I've drunk enough to stun an ox.

"[27] Upon the re-release, another NME editor, Andy Richardson, praised it as "an irresistible punk snort, a ripping three-minute blast or the ultimate good mood record to play before you go out, depending which way you look at it.

"[28] Paul Evans from Rolling Stone declared it as a "rave-up", noting that Green Day's lyrics "score graffiti hits".

He wrote, "Their last single 'Welcome to Paradise' grazed the top 20 here but this is the one to make your mum hammer on your bedroom door 'cos it sounds like you're smashing up your wardrobe.

[33] It was filmed in an actual mental institution called Agnews Developmental Center in Santa Clara County, California, at the request of the band members.

[37] In 2006, on Mike Davies and Zane Lowe's Lock Up Special on BBC Radio 1, the listeners voted "Basket Case" the Greatest Punk Song of All Time.

Hugh McIntyre noted that the song "somehow managed to blend the ferocity and fury of punk with top 40-ready hooks, making the angsty tune an unlikely, and rollicking, hit.