OPINION: 20 years later, Green Day’s ‘American Idiot’ message remains strong
Photo via: Ava Jelepis
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of their Grammy-winning album, American Idiot, the punk rock band Green Day released a deluxe edition of the album on Oct. 25. The original punk rock opera concept album sold over 23 million copies worldwide after its release in 2004. American Idiot received two Grammy awards, was six times platinum and inspired a Tony-winning Broadway musical. On top of the album's awards and catchy songs, American Idiot is also a political protest album, and its message still remains strong 20 years later.
The album opens with its title track, “American Idiot,” a protest song criticizing President George W. Bush and his administration for their response after the September 11, 2001 attacks, leading America into the Iraq war. Green Day accuses the media and politicians of using propaganda to stir up fear in Americans during the post-9/11 world. Some of the song’s lyrics that express the feelings of the band include:
Don’t wanna be an American idiot
One nation controlled by the media
Information age of hysteria
It's calling out to idiot America
Though inspired by Bush and the Bush Administration, lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong wanted to make clear that he “would never think of American Idiot as being about the Bush administration specifically. It’s about the confusion of where we’re at right now.” Bassist Mike Dirnt also expressed his feelings on the meaning of the song, adding, “The world’s in a confused state, I’m pissed off, and I’m angry, and I feel like I’m not fully represented.” The song not only serves as one of the most influential political protest songs of the 2000s but also as the opening to the rock opera’s story.
The second track on the album introduces us to our main character and anti-hero “Jesus of Suburbia,” a lower-middle-class suburban teenager who wants to leave for the city. He introduces himself as “the son and rage and love.” The album follows his story, and his introduction song leads into the third track and another notable political song on the album, the band's 2005 single, “Holiday.”
“Holiday” is an anti-war protest anthem that shares common themes with American Idiot, such as the disapproval of how Bush responded to 9/11 and criticism of the media. While still following the Jesus of Suburbia, the song also intertwines with the band's own perspective.
The lyrics, “The shame, the ones who died without a name” comment on the thousands who died due to the Iraq War and who remain nameless to the average American. The song also points out the right-wing Christians and the irony of them using their religion to justify the war with the lyrics, “Can I get another 'Amen'? There's a flag wrapped around the score of men.” Another focus of the song is the band criticizing the corporate greed the country had during the war, caring more about money than lives. “And bleed, the company lost the war today.”
When asked about “Holiday,” Armstrong said, "I wrote that about how scary it was watching cable news, watching as the tanks were rolling in to search and destroy. It was the first time I really felt a big divide in our country. That song is just anti-war." Since the release of the album as a whole, I would say that the “big divide in our country” Armstrong talks about has only gotten worse.
Since 2016, Green Day has made it clear that they aren't fans of former President Donald Trump, who has arguably caused a “big divide in our country.” Armstrong has compared Trump to Adolf Hitler, saying in a 2016 interview with Kerrang, “I mean, that’s f—ing Hitler, man!” Their song “Holiday” also includes the lyrics “Sieg Heil to the President Gasman.” “Sieg Heil” is a phrase Nazi officers used to glorify Hitler, meaning “Hail To Victory.” The lyrics were targeted at Bush in 2004, but since Trump, Armstrong has changed his perspective a little, telling Kerrang that, “sometimes maybe I do over-exaggerate with Bush. But with Trump, I just can’t wait ’til he’s gone.”
When Trump was the president-elect in 2016, Green Day performed at the American Music Awards. While they were singing their single “Bang Bang,” Armstrong led a chant in the middle of the song, shouting the phrases, “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA.” A year later, in 2017, during the band's tour, Armstrong would shout “F*** you, Donald Trump!” during the band's performances of American Idiot.
The band continued to slam Trump during his presidency, and in Sept. 2020 during election season, Armstrong made a strongly worded Instagram post referencing their song from American Idiot ‘Wake Me Up When September Ends.’ However, Armstrong clarified in his post that he is “WIDE AWAKE IN AMERICA.”
The post, which included a video of the song American Idiot, was used to endorse then-presidential nominee Joe Biden. "TRUMP HAS GOT TO GO. America cannot afford another 4 years of Trump in office. Our democracy is at stake. Our earth is at stake.” The end of the post included a hashtag of the same chant from 2016, “ #notrumpnokkknofascistusa."
In 2023, after Trump was charged with attempting to interfere with the 2020 election process, the band sold a shirt featuring Trump’s mugshot with the word “nimrod” covering his face. This was in reference to the band's 5th studio album, Nimrod, the shirt reflecting the album cover. Green Day gave this shirt the title “The Ultimate Nimrod” and sold the shirt for 3 days, with the proceeds going to charity.
Besides chanting, Green Day is also not shy of changing their own lyrics to make statements, notably in their song ‘American Idiot.’ During their performance on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve in 2023, the band performed their song ‘American Idiot’ and decided to change the lyrics from “I'm not a part of a redneck agenda” to “I'm not a part of a MAGA agenda.” This wasn't the first time the band changed the lyrics in American Idiot, targeting Trump. In 2019, they changed the same lyrics at the iHeartRadio Music Festival. In 2016, during the MTV Europe Music Awards, they changed the song lyrics “subliminal mind-f*** America” to “subliminal mind-Trump America.”
Now, in 2024, we have Trump yet again as a presidential nominee, and Green Day has not kept quiet. On July 29, during the kickoff show of the band's “Saviors Tour” in Washington, D.C., a fan tossed a mask of Trump with the word “IDIOT” across its forehead. Armstrong held up the mask while singing ‘Jesus of Suburbia.’ Supporters of Trump were shocked at this stunt, which is ridiculous when you take into consideration how long Green Day has both actively been involved in politics and shown their distaste for Trump.
Green Day’s Armstrong, Dirnt and drummer Tré Cool have made a significant impact not only on the music industry but also on politics for years now and, I suspect, for years to come. Well, celebrating the success of American Idiot, I believe it's essential to not only be able to sing all of the lyrics but also to know what you’re singing about and what the band stands for. In an interview with Spin during the release of the original album in 2004, Armstrong said, “We always wanted our music to be timeless. Even the political stuff that we’re doing now.” 20 years later, I can wholeheartedly say that Armstrong's quote has stood the test of time, thanks to American Idiot.