Green Day in 2004. It had been seven years since “Nimrod,” their last hit album. 2000’s “Warning” did not make the splash that their previous works had. “Dookie” and “Nimrod” were hit machines, with plenty of their songs remaining relevant to this very day; one of the tracks from the latter, “Good Riddance,” was featured in the “Seinfeld” retrospective special that aired prior to the series finale. But in 2004, Green Day had been around for a while and their spirits seemed a bit stale. It was time for something new.
September 21, 2004. The seventh studio album by American rock band Green Day is released. It is immediately a hit, being the band’s first number-one album. And it’s not just big in their home nation: the album sees success in Britain, Canada and Australia. All of this success for an album named “American Idiot.” Hey, maybe that’s why it did so well overseas …
“American Idiot” is fascinating as a time capsule. Musically and stylistically, the narrative concept album holds up expertly by modern standards. Songs such as the title track, “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” “Holiday” and “Wake Me Up When September Ends” stand as classics today. The overall themes in regards to disillusionment with the government, war, propaganda and fame are universal and timeless. It’s the fact that the album was such a pointed attack on the Bush administration’s response to the attacks on September 11 and the Iraq War while being relevant for any place or time which makes it so impressive.
While only a handful of songs in the album dictate specific political beliefs, the overall theme of grief, apathy and disillusionment was driven by the band’s own feelings towards the state of the union as they wrote the piece. The concept album’s narrative deals with issues such as war, loss of love, divorce, and the fact that sometimes you convince yourself you should start a religion, and you have to fight that part of yourself. “Jesus of Suburbia” is an insane song and a plot line carried throughout the album.
The album had staying power, and remains popular to this day. The true mark of any album’s success is marketability to the general public; you can’t get more “general public” than an adaptation on the theatrical stage. On Broadway, the biggest center for American theater, “American Idiot” debuted in March of 2010 after a tryout in California the year prior. A musical synthesizing the songs and themes of the album of the same name alongside Green Day’s following work “21st Century Breakdown,” the stage musical was similarly a commercial and critical success, culminating in a nomination for Best Musical at the Tony Awards (they lost to the musical “Memphis”). This isn’t a case of selling out for mainstream success, though, as the band actively participated in the production of the musical, with lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong performing as the antagonistic St. Jimmy throughout the show’s New York run.
What does “American Idiot” mean in an age of even further political extremism and division? Well, according to the band itself, it’s pretty much the same deal. Green Day came under fire from Trump supporters for performing the song as a statement against the former president, which led to them doubling down by releasing merchandise of their album “Nimrod” with the former president’s face on it. Beyond the messages of the album, the music still resonates with fans; to commemorate the 20th anniversary, the band is touring across the nation performing the work in its entirety (alongside their 1994 album “Dookie” to celebrate its 30th anniversary as well).
Twenty years later, not much has changed: the youth are still disillusioned, war still ravages the world and Billie Joe Armstrong still doesn’t want to be an American idiot.
