I never really listened to music in the 90s, choosing sports as my primary source of entertainment, and it wouldn't be until 2003 / 2004 that I began to take a liking to Green Day. Like many artists, a lot of the band's songs have a left-leaning ideology and has caused controversy with, arguably, it's top single "American Idiot."
The song was released in the shadows of the September 11th attacks in 2004. At the time it came out, President George W. Bush was not seeing very favorable approval ratings and it caught on with the younger voters, who tended to favor Democratic candidate, John Kerry. Because of its success, Weird Al Yankovic climbed on board and parodied it song in his version, "Canadian Idiot."
Similar to Bruce Springsteen, through music Billie Joe put a lot of himself into the songs he wrote.
Jesus of Suburbia, the second song on the band's American Idiot album, has been described by fans as the millennial, punk-rock version of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." In "Jesus of Suburbia," Billie Joe takes fans through the life of a presumably young teenager through five sequences of the nine minute long song. Looking back, one could inference that Billie Joe was describing himself as the Jesus of Suburbia and his younger life growing up in northern California.
It was the first time Billie Joe has done this. A decade prior the band debuted "Basket Case," which Billie Joe later admits that he was high when he wrote this song. The following day he went an re-read the lyrics he wrote and thought it was was crazy. He asked the rest of his band mates if they should go through with it, and they said yes. With its catchy tune, "Basket Case" is about Billie Joe's anxiety attacks and how he would wake up in the middle of the night with increased panic and the only way he knew to alleviate those was to write about it. While probably not the most politically correct words to use, the way he wrote it made it more relatable to people who do suffer from anxiety and other anxiety disorders, because the song is so very real.
(Editor's note: "Basket Case" was the song that drew me towards Green Day after former camper, Sean, performed this at a camp talent show. All summer long Sean talked about his older brother teaching him to play the guitar and he wanted to show off the skills he learned and used this song as an example.)
The last song I want to mention is also on the American Idiot album is "Wake Me Up When September Ends." It's a very emotional song. The month of September has come to be known as an end period. The summer is ending. Kids are going back to school. Fall and winter are just around the corner. It's a surreal month and a time to "turn the page" looking at something new. Patriots fans can remember that this song was used to get the team through the first month of the 2016 when, then, quarterback Tom Brady was suspended for the team's first four games - for allegedly "being aware of" deflating footballs.
Personally, Billie Joe wrote this a memory to his father, who died of cancer when he was only 10 years old in the month of September.
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