Green Day Released The 'American Idiot' Album, On Today's History, September 21, 2004

Green Day (Sumber: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - On September 21, 2004, the punk rock band from the United States (US), Green Day, released the album American Idiot. Green Day's seventh studio album was produced by Rob Cavallo in collaboration with Green Day. Recording sessions for American Idiot took place at Studio 880, in Oakland and Ocean Way Recording in Hollywood between 2003 and 2004.

American Idiot has the title track of the same name. The music video for American Idiot itself had been released a month earlier, in August 2004. The single was considered politically charged and firmly entrenched on every tracklist in many major protests.

The song American Idiot was written when the US was under George W. Bush. Bush was leading the US into the Iraq War after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The vocalist, Billie Joe Armstrong, is believed to dislike TV news covering the war. At that time there was a lot of news on TV that showed wars such as war tanks and gunfights that must have occurred during the war.

American Idiot album cover (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Behind American Idiot

Many assume that the song also talks about a country controlled by biased new media and how Green Day is not part of the "Redneck Agenda." Redneck itself is a social class stereotype of white workers who are racist to people of color.

Redneck is also a term for people who are very politically conservative, narrow-minded, and intolerant. American Idiot was released during the US presidential election campaign, where George W. Bush was elected for a second term.

Nonetheless, Armstrong said the song wasn't just Bush. He said "I would never think of American Idiot about the Bush administration in particular. It's about the confusion of where we are now," Armstrong said, quoted by Radio X.

"The world is in a state of confusion," said Green Day bassist Mike Dirnt. "I'm upset, and I'm angry, and I feel like I'm not fully represented."

With Green Day itself revealing the song was written out of anger at not being represented by world leaders. It's not hard to see why American Idiot continues to be a song relevant to the state of the world.

In 2016, Billie Joe Armstrong again showed his anger at the political situation in the US and was very vocal about Donald Trump's election to the White House. "All my friends and family were terrified because they had just voted for a fascist to the White House for the first time in American history," Armstrong said.

US tanks in Baghdad, Iraq (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

According to Billboard, while performing at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas in September 2019, Green Day showed their distaste for Trump by singing American Idiot. This time, Green Day changed the American Idiot lyrics "I'm not a part of a redneck agenda" to "I'm not a part of a MAGA agenda." MAGA stands for Make America Great Again which is Donald Trump's motto.

Armstrong is one of the biggest anti-Trump musicians in the rock and metal community. Reacting to the Donald Trump administration on several fronts, including COVID-19, Billie Joe Armstrong has led his followers to vote for the Democratic Party in the 2020 US presidential election.

Another critical song on the American Idiot album is Holiday. Holiday has harsher language that takes aim at US conservatism. Armstrong felt that Republican politicians were "strategic" in alienating one group of people—for example, the gay community—to buy the votes of another. Armstrong then gave outright swearing at President George W. Bush.

In 2005, American Idiot won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album and was nominated in six other categories including Album of the Year. The album helped Green Day win seven of the eight awards it was nominated for at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, including the music video for 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams.'

American Idiot also won the Favorite Pop/Rock Album award at the American Music Awards. In 2006, American Idiot was awarded the Brit Award for International Album. American Idiot became a multi-platinum album and marked Green Day's unexpected victory. Until now, American Idiot is the best Green Day album ever.

*Read other information about TODAY's HISTORY or read other interesting articles from Putri Ainur Islam.

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