'American Idiot'

Green Day is a pretty amazing band. They got really famous during my high school days and Dookie was a massive album. I'm pretty sure every kid in my high school owned a copy of that album. There were successful albums after Dookie, but it wasn't until American Idiot hit that the band just became other-world massive. I saw Green Day at Lollapalooza when they were touring behind 21st Century Breakdown.

Green Day will tour again this summer. They happen to be playing in Cincinnati on my birthday and I'll probably go.

There's no better song for this day - this weekend - than "American Idiot." I thank Green Day for the best protest song of the past 20 years. We rise. 

Comments

[Dj]

I'll be seeing this tour too!! Love me some Green Day, whether or not you're a fan, they've done a lot for rock music in general and opened up a whole new audience to rock music. They've got some big hits, and a lot of great material. Listen to the lyrics from Jesus Of Suburbia, great songwriters.

[fletch]

the 'kid' I mentioned in my earlier post was one of, if not thee, hardest kids I've ever had to 'reach'. He was literally a feature or two away from developing Narcissistic Personality Disorder and I had only a time-limited frame to figuratively take him down from that level of thought process.

he lived with us for 3+ years and literally, on his 18th birthday (We offered that he could stay longer), he walked out of our door (with his dumb therapist in tow) with these parting words to me, "I've used you enough, I don't need you anymore".

So, when I write that he now comes back into the fold, tail halfway between his legs, singing the praises of fletch and [more importantly] what we (Cathy and me) gave him, I am confident that I took him on the right path of life.

Trust me...his 20's were not kind. Some cunt photographer exploited him, so did his drug dealer and a few rich sugar-daddy's. But, after all of that...he comes back here and thanks us for treating him well.

Perhaps...just maybe, Metalboy! (but more importantly, her employees) (who had worked with said kid) can wrap their collective heads around that and stop fligging mud in my direction, but say, "You know what fletch...perhaps we were wrong about you. we didn't understand where you were coming from. everyday is a learning experience. thank you for keeping it real."

aforementioned kid finally "got it". Why can't you?

we bonded over green day and I kept that going. I know what i'm doing. Why don't you?

[Him]

Sad to see you take a step back, Bob. But I can understand your point in doing so. Better to dodge the chatter and focus on the content. Though, again, I can see why someone might bow out.

Green Day? Hmm. I have an issue, not with their popularity, but with their Punk-goes-Pop aesthetic. They were part of a wave of bands that seemed to only listen to parts of their parent's punk tapes. What you get then is cross-over success with, to my ears, an ungodly sheen. It's Hot Topic Punk for the food court set (or was). And if that is your cup of watered down tea, fine. Maybe they will tour with Rancid and Operation Ivy.