American Idiot by Green Day

"American Idiot" is a protest song by Green Day, released on August 6, 2004 as the first single from the band's album of the same name. It reached number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100. It went to number 3 in the United Kingdom and number 1 in Canada. It was nominated for four Grammy Awards in 2005.

Billie Joe Armstrong heard "That's How I Like It" by Lynyrd Skynyrd on his car radio. He read it as a song about redneck pride and the opposite of what he believed. He set out to answer it. The result is one of two plainly political tracks on the album, the other being "Holiday." Its central argument is that mass media stirred up paranoia and stupidity among the American public.

Armstrong aimed the song at cable news coverage of the Iraq War. Reporters rode in tanks beside soldiers and narrated the action like a sports broadcast. In his view American news had turned into reality television, with violent footage cut together with advertisements. The title points at the audience for that coverage: a country fed by a loud, biased media and reacting without much thought.

The song's format and cadence borrow from "US Forces" by Midnight Oil, a track Armstrong learned about through his wife. In the studio he was reluctant to play a guitar solo. He worried it would sound corny. He recorded it anyway. He wanted the album to feel like being fifteen and playing rock music in front of a mirror.

Bassist Mike Dirnt had his own view of the track. He expected many listeners to feel insulted at first. He thought they would come around when they saw a call for individuality rather than pointed anger. He believed the blunt wording, a slur set next to the word "America," would speak for people who felt shut out.

Green Day first recorded a different album, Cigarettes and Valentines, and finished twenty tracks. The master recordings were then stolen. The band talked with producer Rob Cavallo about what to do. The songs were not their best work. They chose not to redo them and wrote a new set of material. Sessions for American Idiot ran from April 2003 to March 2004 at Studio 880 in Oakland and Ocean Way Recording in Hollywood. Cavallo produced it together with the band. He had produced their major label records since they signed.

The single came out about six weeks before the album. The album arrived on September 21, 2004 on Reprise Records. The single reached the airwaves during the 2004 presidential campaign. George W. Bush won re-election that November.

The chart numbers are modest in the United States and larger elsewhere. The number 61 peak on the Hot 100 was the group's first entry on that chart. It came just before Billboard began counting internet download purchases in its Hot 100 data. On the rock charts it did better: Billboard's 2004 year-end lists put it at number 40 on Mainstream Rock Tracks and number 24 on Modern Rock Tracks. Abroad, it became Green Day's first top-five single in the UK at number 3. It debuted at number 1 in Canada, their only number 1 there. In Australia it reached number 7, and it placed 22nd on Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2004.

The song was nominated for Record of the Year, Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, Best Rock Song and Best Music Video at the 2005 Grammys. At the MTV Video Music Awards, its video won the Viewer's Choice Award and was also nominated for Best Art Direction. The album went on to win the Grammy for Best Rock Album and was nominated for Album of the Year. In his acceptance speech, Armstrong paid tribute to rock and roll.

The title track was the first of five singles from the record. The others were "Holiday," "Wake Me Up When September Ends," "Jesus of Suburbia" and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams." The last of those won the Grammy for Record of the Year. "American Idiot" was the first song released from the album. It is fast and loud. It names its target. Anyone who wants to play it can check its key and BPM before starting.