Challenging authority and taking political stances are two of the linchpins of rock and roll music. Rock has always been about rebellion against accepted social norms and the promotion of an underground counterculture of freedom, expression, and usually sex and drugs. Of course, that is until recently.
Since Covid, many artists have chosen sides, and most sided with the establishment, often shilling for the vaccine and castigating those who chose to take their healthcare choices out of the hands of government officials. Kiss, Dee Snider, Rage Against the Machine, and others who were once considered as counter-culture as they come all fell in line with the approved narrative.
Naturally, most of the entertainers who have sided with the hard left are anti-Trump despite the fact that the economy, country, and world were in better shape under Donald Trump than under any president since Bill Clinton. Speaking of Bill Clinton, Green Day shot to popularity in the 1990s with a hard-edged brand of pop-punk that was unlike anything that was on the radio at the time.
Despite considering themselves a political band, Green Day took their name from their affinity for marijuana, and their songs have encompassed everything from politics to masturbation to failed relationships. When the 1990s gave way to the new millennia, Green Day saw their popularity fade. Perhaps it was a shift musically or the fact people were no longer interested in middle-aged men in eyeliner; the band had all but fallen off of the musical map.
In 2004, perhaps sensing the nation’s frustration with President Bush, the San Francisco band released “American Idiot” and reestablished themselves as players in the music scene once again. The album was a scathing commentary on American foreign policy and President Bush and led to the slightly less popular but still well-received “21st Century Breakdown” in 2009.
After relative obscurity during the Obama administration (predictably), Green Day once again resurfaced when President Trump won in 2016. It’s natural for aging bands to try to stay relevant by being bombastic and controversial, and Green Day was no different. In 2016, frontman and eyeliner aficionado Billie Joe Armstrong compared Trump to Hitler when he said: “The worst problem I see about Trump is who his followers are. “I actually feel bad for them because they’re poor, working-class people who can’t get a leg up. They’re just p—ed off, and he’s preyed on their anger. He just said, ‘You have no options, and I’m the only one, and I’m going to take care of it myself.’ I mean, that’s f—ing Hitler, man!”
Fast forward four years, and Trump actually did help poor, working-class folks and was an advocate for the average middle-class American that the Democratic party no longer had a use for. Now, nearly four years after losing the White House to Joe Biden, President Trump is gaining traction seemingly by the day in his quest for 2024, and Green Day doesn’t like it one bit.
On New Year’s Eve, during “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” special, the band took a swipe at what polls show is significantly more than half of America by changing the lyrics to “American Idiot.” Seizing the moment, Armstrong changed “I’m not a part of the redneck agenda” for the line, “I’m not a part of a MAGA agenda.” What the change lacked in creativity, it gained in criticism on social media.
Following the pandering performance, the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, took to social media to roast the aging punk rockers. Musk wrote: “Green Day goes from raging against the machine to milquetoastedly raging for it” while adding numerous laughing emojis. It was a one-sentence takedown of a band that clearly, at this point in their career, will say whatever keeps their name in the zeitgeist.
Fans claim that Green Day has always been anti-conservative, but also, in the same breath, fail to acknowledge that their latest single entitled ” The American Dream is Killing Me” is a scathing rebuke of the Biden Administration. Either way, it is clear that Billie Joe Armstrong and his middle-aged band members are willing to take shots at either side of the aisle if it will garner them likes, views, and streams. Elon Musk recognizes this and is willing to call it out, even if their remaining Gen X fans don’t.
