Formed in 1986 by lead singer and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day is an American pop rock band from East Bay, California. Though they are most known for their three major hits, they are known for bringing the late 70’s sound of punk to the “younger generation” primarily through their 1994 first major-label album “Dookie” and a decade and many albums later, their Grammy winning album “American Idiot”. The members of Green Day include Billie Joe Armstrong (vocals/guitar), Mike Dirnt (bass), Al Sobrante (original drummer), and now Tre Cool (current drummer). From 1994-2004, Green Day hit the top of the American modern rock charts for 5 weeks with their song “Basket Case”, for 7 weeks with their song “When I Come Around”, and sold 15 million copies of their album “Dookie” internationally and over 10 million in America. In 2004, Green Day decided to take their album “American Idiot” and promote it a different way; through aggressive rock opera which became a huge success. This album became a chart-topper globally, a multi-platinum Grammy winner, and easily the best-reviewed album of their career. In 2009, “American Idiot” was adapted for the stageand became a musical which was well received globally. Most recently, Green Day was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.
One of Green Day’s biggest hits “American Idiot” on their album “American Idiot” is considered to be one of two of the most explicitly political songs on the album. The song implies that mass media usage and technology have orchestrated paranoia and idiocy among the public. Within the song, Green Day cited cable news coverage of the Iraq War. Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong felt that American news had crossed a line from journalism to reality television i.e. showing violent footage mixed in with advertisements. Additionally, songwriter Mike Dirnt felt that many people would take offence to the song however, the song was less of “a finger pointing song of anger” and more of a “call for individuality”. While the song contains strong language, for example juxtaposing the words “faggot” and “America”, Green Day intended to create a “voice for the disenfranchised”. Later in 2004, the three members of Green Day were interviewed on the idea of the flag desecration in relation to their song. All three members were in support and one even said “It means nothing to me. Let’s burn the fucking thing”. Still to this day, this is one of Green Day’s most reputable songs. Just this year, a campaign to get “American Idiot” to the top of the song charts in the UK was released prior to Donald Trump’s visit in July, 2018. According to the Official UK Charts as of July 13, 2018, the song became number twenty five on the UK Singles Chart and number two on the UK Downloads Chart.
Written By Rachel Anello
Politics Through Rhythm 