Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Inside the Lyrics in 'American Idiot
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Inside the Lyrics in 'American Idiot
Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, drummer Tré Cool and guitarist and backing vocalist Jason White. Green Day is one of the worlds best-selling groups of all time, selling over 75 million albums worldwide. They are best knowen for their realease of the song "American Idiot" on September 20th 2004 which can be found on their "American Idiot" Album. American Idiot quickly became popular worldwide and created a lot of contrivercy because people believe that it is anti-American due to its title and harsh sarcastic comments throughout the song. However, if you pay attention to the lyrics you may see that in many ways the song is highly patriotic.
Green Day began in the town of Rodeo, California, just 15 miles north of Berkeley. There, ten-year-old Billie Joe Armstrong and Michael Pritchardin met in their school cafeteria. Neither of them had had a good home life. When Billie Joel Armstrong was ten his father passed away, fragmenting his family. Armstrong found solace in his new friend and in music. He used music as an escape from his everyday life. Dirnt, was born into a family who abused drugs, and because of that he was soon adopted by a Native American mother and father who divorced when he was seven. When his mom moved north when Dirnt was 15, causing Dirnt to moved in with fellow band member Billie Joe Armstrong. The harsh life that these boys had to deal with growing up made them very aware of serious political issues and what's happening in the world, and it shows in their music.
The most well known member for Green Day is Billie Joe Armstrong mainly because he composes all of Green day's songs ...
... middle of paper ...
...eryday life. Green day makes us really reflect on our everyday lives and makes us dig deep to see if we ourselves are letting the media tell us what kind of person we should be. We are all guilty of losing ourselves, or trying to change ourselves to try and fit in better socially at some points at our lives, weather its in school, our job or our personal life. We are constantly seeking to be accepted by our peers to feel loved, and it's sad that we would go to the extreme of changing who they truly are just to seek this acceptance without even noticing we are doing it. I feel some people did find this song offensive because it is very straight forward, harsh and honest. There is no beating around the bush with the message potrayed in this song. Billie Joe Armstrong is telling us that we are a brainwashed generation and are turning into complete idiots because of it.
College football is one of the most exciting sports organizations in the sporting world. Not only is it thrilling on the field, but also off the field as well. This particular sport organization brings in a ton of money that benefits itself, as well as other sports organizations at the college level. There is a huge demand for success for this organization and if the standard of winning is not there, even for a year, anyone working for that particular school may lose their job. A job I aspire to have is being a college football coach. This job is extremely thrilling as well as displeasing compared to any other job in the organization. The spotlight is not only on the players, but also it is on you as a coach. It is very difficult to keep a job in this organization if as a coach you do not produce a winning record. College football may be the best sports organization to work in and also the worst at the same time.
Billie Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan on April 7, 1915 in Baltimore, Maryland. She was born to Sarah Fagan, who was just thirteen years of age when she gave birth to young Billie. Her father was Clarence Holiday, who was also only fifteen at the time of her birth. Also a musician himself, Clarence
Billie Holiday was an African-American and she was born in April, 7, 1915 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She had no formal music education when she was step into the stage of the club platform to sing. She had an amazing voice and several producers appreciated her talents and promoted her to become a recognition jazz singer. Her addiction of drugs and alcohol ultimately damaged her liver and heart. She was pledged to guilty in court when the police found a possession of an illegal substance in her New York City apartment. She passed away in the hospital near the Upper East Side due to liver failure.
The music addresses and brings attention to our culture and society’s current issues with the purpose of advocating for change. The music intendeds to drive home some type of message as a voice of the times that we are living in. Green Day’s song “Holiday” is a song of the modern protest music. The chorus of the song, “This is the dawning of the rest of our lives / On holiday” embodies the purpose of modern protest music (Green Day). Today, protesters are using music to advocate for change, but the government and society are sitting back and not doing anything as if there are no problems. This is just like what the chorus to “Holiday” means. People should be out protesting and making a difference instead of sitting back as if they are on vacation. If we don’t hold anyone accountable and no one takes responsibility nothing will change. In modern America, protest music is a way to advocate against and for today’s current issues by driving home some type of
The Song “American Idiot” by Green Day uses techniques to engage the audience to interoperate the issues. Green day through their style of music convey issues such as the medias over powering effect on society, greed and the division of the United States of American over political issues. Green Day’s negative stance on the issues through these techniques conveys the audience to agree with the main issues being focused.
I believe that American Idiot by Green Day is a significant cultural artefact because it changed the way people saw America. It changed people’s minds about George Bush and his war on
Born on the Fourth of July in 1900, Armstrong was delivered in a cabin in a ddilapidated black slum in the Back o' Town section of New Orleans. Armstrong's father was a laborer named Willie Armstrong, and his mother a domestic and most likely a part-time prostitute named Mayann. Just after his birth, his father abandoned his family, and his mother decided to move into an area of town that was reserved for black prostitutes. Armstrong had no choice but to live with his grandma, Josephine, until he moved back with his mom, after she had moved to Storyville a few years later. At the time, Storyville was a tawdry, rundown, neighborhood or "brothels, cribs, seedy dance halls, and honky-tonks frequented by black laborers and some whites" (Kernfield 27). At such an early age, Armstrong was poorly cared for by his mother and spent much of his early years deprived physically, mentally, and emotionally to an extensive degree. Although his early life may have seemed rough and difficult, he grew up listening in the dance halls and clubs to what was then the blues and the new hot music emerging from the musical period of ragtime (Kernfi...
The 1960s was the era of rebellion. It was a time when views of many people started to change dramatically as unexpected things were happening from the Cold War to the assassinations of nation’s leaders. So within this disturbed era, many citizens started to rebel and question the authorities saying that they were ruining the country. The younger generation, especially, stood firmly in front to lead the action to change the ideas of the older generation. One of the main methods they used to speak their opinions was through music and we can see the power it had on the people through one of the main protest anthems called “Fortunate Son” by Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1969. The song speaks out to the elite controlled America and becomes one of many instances of the younger generation questioning and rebelling against the authority in the late 1960s. They send people a message that the citizens of United States do not live in a fair world and the authorities are not doing their jobs. By creating images through the comparative and descriptive lyrics such as who “waves the flag” , and “some folks are born with silver spoons in hand”, its repetition of the chorus “it ain’t me” and the instrumentation of the song which sounds like the cry of the working class to signify that the Vietnam War is a rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight, this song by the Creedence Clearwater Revival shouts to the world that the elite-controlled America is unfair as it can get; and becomes a big part of the counterculture movement. However, contrary to the message of the song, challenges to authority and privilege did not come exclusively from the working class. Rather, members of the upper class were also involved in opposition movements, for instance vi...
The Rolling Stones are one of the most well known hard rock bands. They have a distinctive history that separates them from other similar rock bands. Their unique sound formed the basis of rock and roll. The band had a huge influence on British music through things such as their fashion, fusion of obscure genres, and attitude. Over the course of the last fifty years, The Rolling Stones unique history, sound, and overall look still has an influence on modern British bands.
at age four, and then eventually he was the lead singer and front man of the family band.
Billie was born to the name, Eleanora Fagan on April 7, 1915. She was born in Philadelphia but grew up in the Fell's Point section of Baltimore. Her mother, was just 13 at the time of her birth; her father, was 15. Holidays' teenage parents, Sadie Harris (aka Fagan) and probable father, Clarence Holiday, never married, and they did not live together for a long time. Clarence, a banjo and guitar player worked with Fletcher Henderson's band in the early 30s. He remains a shady figure who left his family. Clarence would often be away from home, and during the stay with Henderson, which lasted until 1932, the guitarist severed connections with the Fagans. Billie was an angry chile who lived a hard life. She was raped at the age of 10 soon she dropped out of school at an early age and began working as a prostitute with her mother. She was sent to a home for wayward girls, and soon was arrested and served four months in prison for prostitution. “Somebody once said we never know what is enough until we know what’s than enough”(billie holiday)
This song implies that individual’s are violating the norms and values of society. They start the song with a verse that expresses this concern. “What’s wrong with the world, mama/ People livin’ like they ain’t got no mamas…” (lines 1-2). This makes one aware of the disobedience of values that are held in the family. Values are “standard[s] of judgment by which people decide on desirable goals and outcomes.” (Newman, 32) Another verse in this song that illustrates how society is defying norms and values is when they sing: “People killin', people dyin'/ Children hurt and you hear them cryin/ Can you practice what you preach/ And would you turn the other cheek…” (lines 50-53). These lines utter that society has failed to act in a sane and coherent way that society once viewed as correct. The actions affirm that individuals are not living up to society’s norms. Norms are similar to “rules of conduct” and suggest how an individual “should” act. (Newman, 34) In the song they question the acts that would be taken that violate certain norms. Another example of the infringement of society’s norms and values is expressed when the s...
The American rock band Nirvana impacted American culture and society by paving the way for the punk rock subculture into mainstream corporate America. Punk rock music stems from the rock genre but has its own agenda. The crux of punk rock is that it is a movement of the counterculture against the norms of society. Punk rock in itself is made up of a subculture of people who rejected the tameness of rock and roll music during the 1970s. (Masar, 2006, p. 8). The music stresses anti-establishment and anti-authoritarian ideas in its lyrics as well as scorns political idealism in American society. Before Nirvana unintentionally made punk rock a multi-million dollar commercialized genre of music, underground rock paved the way for the punk rock genre by creating core values that punk rockers drew upon.
The Beatles were a Liverpool, England based rock and roll band consisting of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Richard “Ringo” Starkey. They began as a small skiffle-band called the Quarrymen, and in the early 1960’s, their popularity soared to an unforeseen degree, transforming them into an international phenomenon and permanent rock icons. (BeatlesTributeBand.co.uk) A band that has been known, loved and praised for over half a century; The Beatles pushed and broke American cultural boundaries as they promoted peace and love through their masterful lyrics and powerful music throughout the time of the Vietnam War. Despite being of British Origin, the Beatles greatly affected the thinking, culture and actions of many Americans.
Imagine if every band in the world was the same. Green Day and Blink 182 are definitely not. Green Day had a very tough time following in the footsteps of their huge hit album while Blink 182 used their success as fuel to start off their career. They both have huge fan bases but unlike Green Day’s, Blink 182 doesn’t have the loyalty it deserves. Humor is very important in show business and Blink 182 has enough to last a lifetime and could probably afford to give some to their fellow punk band Green Day. At the end of the day when we compare all of the differences these two bands have, there will be one massive similarity. These two bands love what they do and take their music very serious no matter what form it is in. They accomplished what almost everyone accomplished, their dream.