Read Between The Frets: The Philosophy of Rock Music

Green Day, a “punk rock” band, when evaluated by the puerile⁴ album names, lacks any sort of philosophical depth. Yet this band sold over eight million copies of an album called Dookie in the U.S. alone and over eleven million internationally⁵. Then the band follows up with inane names such as Nimrod and American Idiot. Despite such charming names they have managed to escape obscurity. Therefore it can only be surmised that this band must either contain more content than meets the eye or that standards need improvement.

Sellout and Success

Green Day made its debut in 1987 with the EP “1000 hours”¹, but it did not obtain any recognition until the release of Kerplunk which they released with Lookout! Records, an independent record label. The acclaim following Kerplunk led to the band signing on with a major record label, Warner Bros., which some saw as a betrayal of Green Day’s anti-establishment theme.² Then the introduction of Dookie led to massive acclaim garnering the band mainstream status, Grammy Award for the best Alternative Music Album, and Diamond certification.  They proceeded on with Insomniac (1995), Nimrod (1997), Warning (2000) and finally American Idiot (2004).⁵

Themes and Popularity

Considering the name of the band refers to a day spent  smoking marijuana, one probably would not consider Green Day as something thoughtful.⁶ Then again perhaps some do. The album Dookie essentially consisted of all that was punk,” blame, self-pity, arrogant self-hatred, humor, narcissism,” and “fun.”³

And “On rave-ups like “Basket Case,” “Welcome to Paradise,” “Having a Blast” and “Longview,” Green Day’s lyrics score graffiti hits: “I don’t know you, but I think I hate you”; “She screams in silence”; “No time for motivation/Smoking my inspiration…for targets they substitute demonized moms and mall ennui for the jackboot brutality of the State, they render teenage wasteland politics with all the more accurate deadpan wit.”³

The popularity of these themes and lyrics are evinced by the astronomical sales of the Dookie album⁵. These simple themes are perhaps the reason for Green Day’s continued existence. Simple messages combined with frenzied and frenetic music have appeal.

“Basket Case” Video

The releases of Insomniac, Nimrod, and Warning were a commercial slow down for the band. Some songs were well received, but the financial and popular acclaim that Dookie had achieved was missing. This may have been due to the regression of their music to a “pure pop album peppered with punk ideals.”(Referring to Warning) ⁶

“Minority” Video

The invasion of Iraq was a fortuitous event for the band. The band was getting back to its feet after being prostrated by personal problem; also the members had been experimenting with new styles of music. The invasion manifested itself as the perfect subject matter for the new album.⁷ American Idiot:

“a fifty-seven-minute politically charged epic depicting a character named Jesus of Suburbia as he suffers through the decline and fall of the American dream. And all this from the boys who brought you Dookie”.⁸

Green Day’s Nihilistic Philosophy

The album’s success was distinctly linked to its nihilistic philosophy. With the election of George W. Bush and the Iraq there was a” … a new kind of tension/All across the alien nation.”⁸ Green Day set out on a crusade against the establishment essentially advocating the overthrow of the establishment with its not so subtle hints about redneck agendas, rebels, and rants about the media.

“American Idiot” Video

Nihilism refers to the rejection of laws and the establishment.⁹ This philosophy is distinctly political in nature (anarchism) and since the album came out at such an opportune time the themes of revolution, letter bombs, and rebels resounded deeply with listeners. The result of this resonance was a complete failure of its propounded themes, but rather substantial financial success, widespread acceptance, #1 on the Billboard charts, Grammy for Best Rock Album, and several MTV awards.⁵

It is rather ironic that for all its rage against the establishment and society, the band’s philosophy was eagerly accepted by the targets of their vehemence.

Still here

Green Day has now survived for slightly over two decades. Some people may consider this much too long and hope for its demise, but elitists aside, it has been a successful band. It has changed from angry kids ranting to a darker more mature kind of band.⁶ It has wide recognition, some good songs, earned plenty of money and is still intact. To have lasting appeal music must contain some form of content that is timeless and thoughtful. Without some kind of philosophy as a backbone Green Day would have fallen apart long ago. As such the nihilist philosophy of drastic change and rebellion has served this band well. Then again perhaps standards really have gone down.

¹ http://www.freewebs.com/testlol/biogd.htm
² http://www.greendayauthority.com/TheBand/articles/guitarlegends/page8.jpg
³ http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/greenday/albums/album/183188/review/5944114/dookie
⁴ http://thesaurus.reference.com//browse/puerile
⁵ http://www.greenday.net/thegreendaystory.html
⁶ http://www.lyricsfreak.com/g/green+day/biography.html
⁷ http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/how_green_day_conquered_the_world/page
⁸ http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/6489114/review/6477969?utm_source=Rhapsody&utm_medium=CDreview

⁹ “nihilism.” Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 26 Oct. 2008. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nihilism>.