2004 single by Green Day
"
American Idiot
" is a
protest song
[2]
by the American
rock
band
Green Day
. The first single released from the album
American Idiot
, the song received positive reviews by critics and was nominated for four
2005 Grammy Awards
:
Record of the Year
,
Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
,
Best Rock Song
, and
Best Music Video
. It is considered one of the band's
signature songs
.
[
not verified in body
]
Background
[
edit
]
One of the two explicitly political songs on the album (the other being fellow single "
Holiday
"),
[3]
"American Idiot" says that mass media has orchestrated paranoia and idiocy among the public. Citing
cable news
coverage of the
Iraq War
,
Billie Joe Armstrong
recalled, "They had all these
Geraldo
-like journalists in the tanks with the soldiers, getting the play-by-play." He felt with that, American news crossed the line from journalism to
reality television
, showcasing violent footage intercut with advertisements.
Armstrong went on to write the song after hearing the
Lynyrd Skynyrd
song "
That's How I Like It
" on his car radio.
"It was like, 'I'm proud to be a
redneck
' and I was like, 'oh my God, why would you be proud of something like that?' This is exactly what I'm against."
[6]
Songwriter Mike Dirnt felt many people would be insulted by the track until they realized that, rather than it being a finger-pointing song of anger, it could be viewed as a "call for individuality".
[7]
The song emphasizes strong language, juxtaposing the words "
faggot
" and "America", to create what he imagined would be a voice for the disenfranchised.
In a 2004 interview with
Q Magazine
, the three members of Green Day discussed the idea of
flag desecration
in relation to their song, with Armstrong and Dirnt being the most supportive: "It means nothing to me. Let's burn the fucking thing."
[9]
Composition
[
edit
]
A 15-second sample of "American Idiot"
"American Idiot" was written in the key of
A
♭
major
. The song is composed of four chords, the I-IV-
♭
VII-IV-I-
♭
VII progression, while the chorus and solo share the IV-I-V-I progression.
[10]
The song is classified as a
punk rock
[11]
[2]
[12]
and
pop-punk
song.
[13]
The musical style of the song has been cited as a mix of the
melodic punk
of
Social Distortion
and the hard rock of
Joan Jett
.
[14]
Armstrong plays a
1956 Les Paul Junior
on the song, switching to a reissued 1959 flame-top Les Paul for the double-tracked guitar solo. Armstrong was initially reluctant to pursue recording a solo, fearing it to be corny. He eventually decided against this, as he hoped for the album to be "about being 15 and rocking out in front of a mirror."
The song's format and cadence was influenced by the
Midnight Oil
song "
US Forces
", which Armstrong was introduced to through his wife.
Release
[
edit
]
Billie Joe Armstrong
touches on the idea that
mainstream media
has caused
paranoia
among the American public in a post-
9/11
world. Armstrong also suggests that these same media outlets are
brainwashing
their viewers through
propaganda
and
subliminal messaging
.
[15]
[16]
[17]
Released in 2004, the single peaked at number 61 on the
Billboard
Hot 100
, becoming Green Day's first
Billboard
Hot 100 chart entry.
[18]
The appearance of "American Idiot" on the US singles charts occurred just prior to
Billboard
's inclusion of Internet download purchases into their
Billboard
Hot 100 chart data, which would have made a significant difference in the song's peak had it benefited from the new chart tabulation system.
[19]
"American Idiot" became Green Day's first top-five single in the United Kingdom, peaking at number 3, and it debuted at number 1 in Canada, their only #1 single there. In Australia, the song reached number 7 was ranked number 22 on
Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2004
. Green Day performed the song at the 2005
Grammy Awards
.
[
citation needed
]
"American Idiot" has sold 1,371,000 copies as of July 2010.
[20]
Ian Winwood of
Kerrang!
said that "Green Day did for their generation, and their country, what the
Sex Pistols
did for the United Kingdom in 1977, for a nation sick with love for a parasitical royal family."
[3]
Live version
[
edit
]
Green Day's 2011 live album
Awesome as Fuck
contained a live rendition of the song, featuring an extended
guitar solo
, recorded in
Montreal, Quebec
, Canada, on the
21st Century Breakdown World Tour
. It was also featured in their 2005 live album
Bullet in a Bible
, set at
Milton Keynes Bowl
.
Music video
[
edit
]
The music video for "American Idiot" shows the band playing in a warehouse against a green American flag (a reference to the name of the band), which only has 48 stars. In the middle of the video, the band is seen playing at different speeds (fast, slow-motion, and normal speed). During the bridge, the stripes of the flag melt onto the floor. The band is then sprayed by a green liquid from amplifiers next to the flag. At the end, the band drop their instruments and leave.
[21]
The song's video was directed by
Samuel Bayer
. At MTV's
Video Music Awards
, the video won the
Viewer's Choice Award
and was also nominated for
Best Art Direction
.
[22]
Accolades
[
edit
]
"American Idiot" was ranked the number 13 Single of the Decade by
Rolling Stone
magazine in 2009.
VH1
also placed the song at number 13 on its Top 100 Songs of the 2000s in 2011.
[23]
Rolling Stone
ranked it number 432 of
The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time
in 2010, the only Green Day song on the list.
[24]
The song is certified Gold in the United Kingdom for sales of 400,000.
[25]
Use as a protest song
[
edit
]
In advance of
Donald Trump
's
visit to the UK in July 2018
, a campaign to get "American Idiot" to the top of the UK song charts was launched.
[26]
On the Official UK Charts dated 13 July 2018, the song re-entered the
UK Singles Chart
at 25 and the
UK Singles Downloads Chart
at number 2.
[27]
In 2019, Billie Joe Armstrong began changing the lyric "I'm not a part of a redneck agenda" to "I'm not a part of a
MAGA
agenda" during live performances. The lyrical variation received renewed popular attention following Green Day's televised performance at
New Year's Rockin' Eve 2024
. Armstrong has been strongly critical of Donald Trump, comparing him to
Adolf Hitler
.
[28]
[29]
Track listings
[
edit
]
Europe single (CD 1)
Title
|
---|
1.
| "American Idiot"
| 2:54
|
---|
2.
| "Too Much Too Soon"
| 3:33
|
---|
Europe single (CD 2)
Title
|
---|
1.
| "American Idiot"
| 2:54
|
---|
2.
| "Shoplifter"
| 1:52
|
---|
3.
| "Governator" (lyrics written by
Mike Dirnt
)
| 2:31
|
---|
7-inch picture disc
Side A
Title
|
---|
1.
| "American Idiot"
| 2:54
|
---|
Side B
Title
|
---|
1.
| "Too Much Too Soon"
| 3:33
|
---|
DVD Single
Title
|
---|
1.
| "American Idiot" (music video)
| 3:02
|
---|
2.
| "American Idiot" (live at the
Grammy Awards
in 2005)
| 3:17
|
---|
Personnel
[
edit
]
Personnel adapted from
American Idiot
single liner notes
[30]
Production
Charts
[
edit
]
Weekly charts
[
edit
]
|
Year-end charts
[
edit
]
|
Certifications
[
edit
]
Release history
[
edit
]
5 Seconds of Summer version
[
edit
]
Australian
pop rock
band
5 Seconds of Summer
covered the song and released it on June 11, 2014.
[71]
The song was released as part of
Kerrang!
'
s tribute album to
American Idiot
, marking the record's 10-year anniversary.
[72]
It was also included on their
Amnesia
EP.
[73]
The band performed the track live on
The Howard Stern Show
.
[74]
Critical reception
[
edit
]
The cover was met with mostly positive reviews from music critics. Haley Blum of
USA Today
called the track, "pretty good." She stated, "The guys, who play their own instruments [...] produce a pretty faithful rendition of the track."
[75]
Fuse.tv
remarked, "The cover is fairly faithful, but it does have 5SOS flair."
[76]
Michelle McGahan of
PopCrush
praised the band's harmonies on the track.
[77]
Carolyn Menyes of
Music Times
gave a less positive review, criticizing the band's use of autotune and vocal distortion that "make this song sound not quite as biting as the Green Day version" and the track's overproduction.
[72]
Charts
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
"American single certifications ? Green Day ? American Idiot"
.
Recording Industry Association of America
.
- ^
a
b
Ensminger, David (July 4, 2020).
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.
PopMatters
.
Archived
from the original on May 17, 2021
. Retrieved
August 31,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
Ian Winwood (May 9, 2012). "The Secrets Behind The Songs: "American Idiot"
".
Kerrang!
(1414).
London
:
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.
ISSN
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.
- ^
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.
Q
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on July 13, 2014
. Retrieved
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2021
.
- ^
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: 52?53. June 18, 2005.
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.
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.
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a
b
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.
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. Retrieved
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. Retrieved
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2011
.
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- ^
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.
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. YouTube.
Archived
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. Retrieved
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- ^
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
"
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Updates "500 Greatest Songs" List"
.
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
Certified Awards
-
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, February 6, 2013
- ^
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.
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.
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
Myers, Justin (July 13, 2018).
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.
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.
Archived
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. Retrieved
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.
- ^
Atkinson, Katie (September 20, 2019).
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.
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.
Archived
from the original on July 9, 2023
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
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.
Louder
. January 20, 2021.
Archived
from the original on July 9, 2023
. Retrieved
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2023
.
- ^
American Idiot
(CD single liner notes).
Green Day
.
Reprise
. 2004.
{{
cite AV media notes
}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (
link
)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
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.
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