Song Blog: "American Idiot"

American Idiot is a rock opera by the rock group Green Day that is based on their 2004 album of the same title. The Broadway musical focuses on a group of disillusioned twentysomethings affected by post-9/11 times.

According to SongFacts, Green Day's lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong was inspired to write the title track after hearing Lynyrd Skynyrd on his car radio. The song expressed pride in being a redneck. "Why would you be proud of something like that?" Armstrong asked at the time.

Armstrong immediately wrote the lyrics of "American Idiot" upon arriving at the studio. His bandmates Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool wrote the music. "And it started the ball rolling," Armstrong says.

The entire album and play is told through the eyes of its protagonist, Johnny, or Jesus of Suburbia. He is seen as a saviour figure amongst rebels living in fictional Jingletown, USA. He ventures into an unnamed city and discovers a nation "controlled by the media." It's during his time in The City that he witnesses Americans blindly following what the media has to say, as well as polarizing government policies and lack of individuality.

The "redneck agenda" is his criticism of US president George W. Bush and his administration's war on Iraq. Coincidentally, the American Idiot album was released on September 21, 2004, exactly three years and 10 days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"American Idiot" topped the US Modern Rock Tracks Chart in 2005. It also reached #1 in Canada. "American Idiot" was Green Day's first top 5 hit in the UK, peaking at #3.

Weird Al Yankovic turned "American Idiot" into a "Canadian Idiot" for his 2006 album, Straight Outta Lynwood. He uses his parody to send up Canadian stereotypes, and common American attitudes towards Canada in general. It created a minor stir in Canada at the time, since he has a large fan base in this country. When he and his band performed "Canadian Idiot" live in Winnipeg, he said, "thank you for not killing us."

Green Day formed in East Bay, California in 1987, and they have released eight studio albums to date. American Idiot is their seventh and most successful album thus far. "It's the best thing we've ever done," Armstrong says.

Rolling Stone picked the album's title track as the 13th best single of the 2000s. Its parent album received the 2005 Grammy for Best Rock Album.

Song Blog: "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)"

To say that the world has changed a lot since September 11, 2001 is an understatement. The traumatic effects of the terrorist attacks 10 years ago in the US are still being felt. However, there is still one song that carries a healing power that transcends what happened on the day now known as 9/11. Country star Alan Jackson wrote "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)" shortly after the events unfolded on that infamous September day. While the song is about that day, the real message behind it is that love is the greatest gift of all.

Best known for '90s hits like "Don't Rock the Jukebox" and "Chattahoochee," Jackson wanted to write a song that expressed his thoughts on 9/11. He agonized over how it should be written until one Sunday morning in October. When the lyrics and melody came to him, he immediately got out of bed and sang them into a hand-held recorder so he wouldn't forget them. He skipped church that morning so he could complete the song.

Jackson uses the song to sum up his feelings about 9/11 before paraphrasing a Biblical passage from St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:13; the exact words St. Paul writes are, "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love" (NIV).

Jackson initially hesitated about releasing "Where Were You," thinking that it would exploit the tragedy. Everything changed once his wife and producer heard it, and they encouraged him to record a master. Jackson went a step further once it was cut in the studio, and he debuted it during the Country Music Association (CMA) Awards broadcast (November 7, 2001).

I remember watching that performance live on TV, and like most other viewers, it made an immediate impact. Radio agreed, and "Where Were You" went into heavy rotation. When the studio version was released, it spent five weeks at number one on the Billboard Country Chart. It also reached the number 28 position on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Jackson's highest-charting pop single to date.

In late 2002, "Where Were You" won the CMA Award for Best Single. In early 2003, it garnered Jackson his first (and so far only) Best Country Song Grammy.

Jackson's reaction to the song was published in an article for USA Today (November 21, 2001). He said, "I think it was Hank Williams who said, 'God writes the songs, I just hold the pen.' That's the way I felt with this song."