American Idiot (song)
| "American Idiot" | |||||||||
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| Single by Green Day | |||||||||
| from the album American Idiot | |||||||||
| B-side | "Too Much Too Soon" (7-inch single) | ||||||||
| Released | August 31, 2004 | ||||||||
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| Recorded | February 23, 2004 | ||||||||
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| Length | 2:54 | ||||||||
| Label | Reprise | ||||||||
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| Green Day singles chronology | |||||||||
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"American Idiot" is a song by the American punk rock band Green Day. It is the title track from the album American Idiot (2004) and released as the first single from it. 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 as one of the band's signature songs.
One of the two explicitly political songs on the album (the other being fellow single "Holiday"), "American Idiot" contends 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." 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." The song emphasizes strong language, juxtaposing the words "faggot" and "America", to create what he imagined would be a voice for the disenfranchised.
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