Line #154 Music/AmericanIdiot


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ameriandiaiddfefwe.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:''Nobody likes you\
3	Everyone left you\
4	They're all out without you\
5	Having fun.'']]
6
7	->''"Don't wanna be an American Idiot''
8	->''Don't want a nation under the new mania''
9	->''And can you hear the sound of hysteria?''
10	->''The subliminal mind-fuck America"''
11	-->-- '''[[TitleTrack "American Idiot"]]'''
12
13	''American Idiot'' is the seventh studio album by Music/GreenDay, released in 2004. The album was responsible for their commercial and critical comeback after the [[ToughActToFollow huge expectations]] created by their breakout album ''Music/{{Dookie}}'' (1994) remained unmatched by their next three albums, with their most recent release (''Music/{{Warning}}'') reaching all-time lows in commercial sales.
14
15	A RockOpera ConceptAlbum, ''American Idiot'' follows the ComingOfAgeStory of Jesus of Suburbia (or JOS for short), a lower-middle-class American adolescent AntiHero who spends the album maturing from a rebellious youth to a [[JadeColoredGlasses jaded adult]] through his experiences leaving his broken home for a new life in the city. With the journey of JOS, the album taps into the disillusionment of a generation of Americans that came of age in a time shaped by events such as 9/11 and the Iraq War.
16
17	The album was born from the ashes of the band's previously planned next release, ''Cigarettes and Valentines'', which was shelved after its master tapes were stolen. The band then opted to start over from scratch and create a biting, politically charged record that would throw back to their trademark punk sound while also exploring new ambitions and influences.
18
19	One of the most anticipated album releases of 2004, ''American Idiot'' won several awards, including two UsefulNotes/{{Grammy Award}}s for Best Rock Album and Record of the Year ("Boulevard of Broken Dreams"). It also received five more Grammy nominations, including Album of the Year.
20
21	Starting in 2009, ''Idiot'' received its own [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGkclalr4fU Broadway musical]] that won two Tony Awards for Best Scenic Design and Best Lighting Design, and was even nominated for Best Musical. The album version of it also won the 2011 UsefulNotes/GrammyAward for Best Musical Show Album. In turn, a documentary depicting the album's journey to Broadway was released in 2013 under the name ''Broadway Idiot''.
22
23	[[http://screenrant.com/green-day-american-idiot-movie-sandy-110665/ A movie was once planned]]; however, by 2020, [[https://www.nme.com/news/music/green-days-american-idiot-movie-has-been-pretty-much-scrapped-2606874 the film was scrapped for unknown reasons.]]
24
25	The album also provided the basis for the mashup album ''American Edit'' by [[{{Spoonerism}} "Dean Gray"]], which remixes tracks from the album with an extremely diverse range of other songs, ranging from Music/BryanAdams and Music/TheOffspring to Music/TheBeatles, Music/TheBangles, Music/{{Queen}} and the ''Series/DoctorWho'' theme. The band's label objected to it, but Billie Joe Armstrong supposedly heard it and [[ApprovalOfGod approved]].
26	----
27	!! Tracklist:
28
29	# "American Idiot"
30	# "Jesus of Suburbia" [[note]]I. "Jesus of Suburbia" II. "City of the Damned" III. "I Don't Care" IV. "Dearly Beloved" V. "Tales of Another Broken Home"[[/note]]
31	# "Holiday"
32	# "Boulevard of Broken Dreams"
33	# "Are We the Waiting?"
34	# "St. Jimmy"
35	# "Give Me Novacaine"
36	# "She's a Rebel"
37	# "Extraordinary Girl"
38	# "Letterbomb"
39	# "Wake Me Up When September Ends"
40	# "Homecoming" [[note]]I. "The Death of St. Jimmy" II. "East 12th St." III. "Nobody Likes You" IV. "Rock and Roll Girlfriend" V. "We're Coming Home Again"[[/note]]
41	# "Whatsername"
42
43	!! Bonus Track (Japanese Release):
44
45	# "Favorite Son"
46
47	!! Bonus Tracks (iTunes Deluxe Edition):
48
49	# "Too Much Too Soon"
50	# "Shoplifter"
51	# "Governator"
52	# "Jesus Of Suburbia (Music Video)"
53
54	!!Principal Members:
55
56	* Billie Joe Armstrong - lead vocals, guitar
57	* Tré Cool - drums, percussion, backing and lead vocals
58	* Mike Dirnt - bass, backing and lead vocals
59
60	----
61	!! Boulevard of Broken Tropes:
62	* AdaptationExpansion: The musical adds onto the JOS plot with stories of his two best friends. There's Will, who wants to leave but has to stay home with his pregnant girlfriend, and Tunny, who initially goes to the city with JOS but then ends up joining the army.
63	** The musical also has many songs from the successor ''Music/TwentyFirstCenturyBreakdown''.
64	* AllThereInTheManual: A special hardcover-book edition of ''American Idiot'' contains journal entries not featured as lyrics; these served as the dialogue for the musical.
65	%% commented out as Administrivia/ZeroContextExample * AntiHero: According to WordOfGod, JOS.
66	* AnAesop:
67	** Yes, slavishly following the government and media is a bad thing, but mindless, causeless rebellion against the establishment is just as bad, if not worse.
68	** You ''think'' you know what life has to teach you at 18. You don't. You've still got some growing to do. The Jesus of Suburbia learns this through heartache; but ultimately comes out of it a jaded, but functional adult.
69	* ArcWords: Inevitable, given the storytelling aspect of the album, but a few stand out, especially in "Homecoming".
70	** Part 2 bears resemblance to the 'I Don't Care' part of "Jesus of Suburbia", acting a bit like BookEnds as JOS returns home.
71	** Also, Whatsername's 'Nobody likes you' taunt shows up quite a bit, possibly to imply thoughts going around JOS/ Jimmy's head during the song.
72	** 'Rage and Love'. Originally used by JOS himself (referring to his upbringing) while introducing himself to the audience in "Jesus of Suburbia", he also mentions that it's the 'story of my life' in "Are We the Waiting", and he has the words (rephrased as 'your father's rage and your mother's love') spat back in his face as part of Whatsername's TheReasonYouSuckSpeech during "Letterbomb".
73	* BangFlagGun: Used in the musical version during [[spoiler:St. Jimmy's suicide.]]
74	* BittersweetEnding: Both the album itself, and the musical.
75	** The album: [[spoiler: JOS eventually overcomes Jimmy's destructive influences and ultimately moves on with his life. However, Whatsername leaves him and disappears without a trace, which still haunts him long after the events of the album, and everything JOS tried to accomplish during his time in the city ultimately ended in failure, leaving him more or less where he started.]]
76	** The musical: [[spoiler: Tunny loses his leg in the war but falls in love with the Extraordinary Girl. Johnny and Will have lost the women they love but are finally getting their acts together, have their friends back, and Heather is letting Will see his baby again.]]
77	* BookEnds:
78	** The riff used in "St. Jimmy" makes a return in [[spoiler:"The Death of St. Jimmy".]]
79	** The drums in the intro to "Rock 'n Roll Girlfriend" from Homecoming are the same ones as in American Idiot.
80	** Whatsername's little song from the intro to "Letterbomb" is extended in "Nobody Likes You" from Homecoming.
81	** In the musical, Whatsername's last appearance, after she has left Johnny's life, happens in front of the same wall in which she first appeared and kissed him. Even the lighting is the same.
82	* BreakUpBonfire: Mentioned in "Whatsername":
83	--> ''I made a point to burn all of the photographs,''\
84	''She went away, and then I took a different path.''
85	* BreakupSong: "Letterbomb", which plays when Whatsername gets fed up with her and St. Jimmy/JOS's punk life and tells him that there's no point to living like this.
86	* CallBack: "American Idiot" gets called back to twice.
87	** In "Letterbomb":
88	--> ''Made me the idiot America!''
89	** And in "Homecoming", in the background of "Rock and Roll Girlfriend":
90	--> ''Don't wanna be an American Idiot!''
91	* CerebusSyndrome: Who knew the punks from "Basket Case" and "Longview" were so serious!
92	* ComingOfAgeStory: For JOS.
93	* CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority: Deconstructed, as Jimmy is just nothing more than a slacker who accomplishes nothing who decides to rebel against society and still accomplishes nothing.
94	* CoverDrop: "She's a Rebel" ("She's a symbol of resistance, and she's holding on my heart like a hand grenade"). Interestingly enough, the line was inspired by the cover art, [[https://genius.com/611358 rather than the other way around]].
95	* CreatorCameo: Billie Joe occasionally played St. Jimmy in the musical during its original run.
96	** In the "Jesus of Suburbia" video, [[ShamelessSelfPromoter JOS watches Green Day on TV.]]
97	* DearJohnLetter: [[spoiler: The premise of "Letterbomb".]]
98	* DespairEventHorizon: "Are We the Waiting" for JOS, as he starts going into SanitySlippage and questioning who he is.
99	-->''The Jesus of Suburbia is a lie''
100	* DidNotGetTheGirl: "Whatsername". In the musical, this applies not only to Johnny, [[spoiler: but to Will as well, although Heather is at least letting him be a part of his daughter's life]].
101	* DoubleConsciousness: Depending on interpretation, St. Jimmy might be Jesus's destructive split personality rather than his toxic best friend.
102	* DoubleMeaningTitle: "American Idiot" at first appears to only refer to the vapidity of mainstream American society, but it also turns out to refer to [[spoiler: the ineffectuality of the punk movement.]]
103	* DownerEnding: The video for "Wake Me Up When September Ends". [[spoiler: The boyfriend enlists in the army, going against his vow of never leaving his girlfriend, and is ambushed by insurgents as he sees his comrades getting wounded, as their fate, as well as his, is unknown (it's implied that it may not end well for the boyfriend).]]
104	* DreamSequence: "Extraordinary Girl" in the musical.
105	* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:St. Jimmy]] in "Homecoming".
106	* EpicRocking: The two multipart tracks, "Homecoming" and "Jesus of Suburbia", are over 9 minutes long containing several movements.
107	** "Homecoming" actually started as the opposite: a few MinisculeRocking tracks which were then stitched together.
108	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Each IAmSong (see below) on the album is dedicated to this.
109	** The music video features a scene of Jimmy and his mom sitting in their living room.
110	--->'''Mom:''' "What's the matter with you?"
111	--->'''Jimmy:''' "... Your face."
112	* FadingIntoTheNextSong:
113	** "Holiday" → "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (accompanied by the music video).
114	** "Are We the Waiting" → "St. Jimmy"
115	** "Give Me Novocaine" → "She's A Rebel"
116	** The static at the end of "Extraordinary Girl" transitions into "Letterbomb".
117	** The musical added a lot more of these, since it has a more clearly flowing story.
118	*** "Favorite Son" → "Are We the Waiting" → "St. Jimmy"
119	*** "She's A Rebel/Last Of The American Girls" → "Last Night On Earth"
120	*** "Before The Lobotomy" → "Extraordinary Girl" → "Before The Lobotomy (Reprise)"
121	*** "21 Guns" → "Letterbomb"
122	* FlippingTheBird: All over the place in the musical.
123	* FormerTeenRebel: JOS in "Homecoming"
124	* FreudianTrio: Jimmy is the ID, JOS is the ego, and "Whatsername" is the superego (considering that she's the only one who ever calls JOS out).
125	* GenreDeconstruction: Of the Punk movement as a whole. JOS becomes a self-absorbed, self-destructive rebel without a cause who ultimately accomplishes nothing and according to "Letterbomb" is the real American Idiot. This creates the interesting social commentary in that rather than (just) turning people into mindless drones, the alienation and paranoia of modern American society creates self-destructive rebellion.
126	* GoingHomeAgain: This is how the MythArc plot ends. JOS, after being stuck in a dead-end job and becoming a rebel without a cause, ends up going home and forgetting about his old girlfriend, Whatsername.
127	* GrowingUpSucks: JOS' life is not easy.
128	* HardTruthAesop: There are some things in life you're only going to truly understand after making painful mistakes.
129	* IAmSong: This album has several tracks devoted to {{Establishing Character Moment}}s. JOS has "Jesus of Suburbia" (doubles as an IWantSong), St. Jimmy has "St. Jimmy", and Whatsername has "She's a Rebel", which has her being described from JOS's perspective.
130	* ItIsDehumanizing: A California Congressman who rants towards the end of "Holiday" makes a point of mocking President Bush's hawkish stance on Iraq by sarcastically insulting the masculinity of anyone who's a dove and using "that" instead of "who" when referring to them.
131	--> ''Kill all the "fags" that don't agree!''
132	* JukeboxMusical: The musical is an odd variant, given that it was based on a RockOpera to begin with.
133	* LeavingTheNestSong: "Jesus of Suburbia Pt. IV: Tales of Another Broken Home" is about running away from the "hurricane of...lies" that the protagonist finds at home, but he also acknowledges that "there ain't nowhere you can go, running away from pain when you've been victimized." Two tracks later, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" follows up with a sobering portriat of the result of JoS's exodus from home...
134	* LoopedLyrics: The chorus of "Are We the Waiting", as well as the "Nobody Likes You" section of "Homecoming".
135	* LoudnessWar: Pretty badly. Even the ballads like "Wake Me Up When September Ends" are clipped.
136	** Some of the HD releases of the album are a lot better, though. The [=HDTracks=] release has [=DR9=] compared to the CD's [=DR5=].
137	%% commented out as Administrivia/ZeroContextExample, Administrivia/ExamplesAreNotArguable * LovesMyAlterEgo: Depending on interpretation.
138	* LyricalDissonance: The first segment of "Homecoming" picks up the guitar riffs of "St. Jimmy", which generally still sounds pretty energetic, even when slowed down. [[spoiler:Quite ironic when the lyrics describe how St. Jimmy "blew his brains out into the bay".]]
139	* MoodWhiplash: In the musical. "When It's Time" is a slow, quiet love song played on the acoustic guitar. It is immediately followed by "Know Your Enemy", a loud, uptempo rage song.
140	* MyCountryTisOfTheeThatISting: "American Idiot" and "Holiday" are critical of the United States' politics, especially referring to the 2003 war in Iraq.
141	* NamedByTheAdaptation: JOS is given the name "Johnny" in the musical.
142	* NewSoundAlbum: Not only does it have the grandest sound of any of their albums up to that time, but it differed greatly from the LighterAndSofter near-pop rock of their previous album ''Music/{{Warning}}''.
143	* NoNameGiven: Whatsername. Come the end of the album, JOS has repressed her real name. The album booklet has her name scribbled over or a little note saying "Whatsername" taped over it. [[spoiler:You can vaguely make out that her name ends with the letter "A".]]
144	** Same for the Extraordinary Girl.
145	* OneDrinkWillKillTheBaby: PlayedForLaughs in the musical when the visibly pregnant Heather drinks Will's beer during "Give Me Novacaine".
146	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Not out of character, but out of concept: "Wake Me Up When September Ends" has nothing to do with the plot, but is about Billie Joe Armstrong coping with the loss of his father who died when he was only a child.
147	* ProtestSong: "American Idiot" and "Holiday" both heavily criticize the state of America under the Bush administration.
148	** Shortly after Donald Trump was elected president, "American Idiot" made it back into the charts.
149	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: "Letterbomb" as a whole, which is directed by Whatsername towards St. Jimmy. The intro (later quoted in "Homecoming") is [[LyricalDissonance set to a cheery,]] [[IronicNurseryTune nursery rhyme-like tune]].
150	--> ''Nobody likes you''
151	--> ''Everyone left you''
152	--> ''They're all out without you''
153	--> ''Having fun.''
154	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Certain songs and themes were inspired by the band's growing dissatisfaction with the UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush administration and their politics regarding the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
155	* RebelliousSpirit: The protagonist is a rebel without a cause.
156	* RedOniBlueOni: St. Jimmy and JOS. "St. Jimmy" sorta references this near the end.
157	-->''It's comedy / and tragedy''
158	* SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll: A running theme of the album. "Jesus of Suburbia", "Give Me Novocaine" and "Homecoming" all feature heavy themes of drug use and, to a lesser extent, sex, and how abuse of these things ultimately fail to fill Jesus' life with meaning.
159	* SmallTownBoredom: The plot of "Jesus of Suburbia", where JOS gets [[HatedHometown bored of his suburban lifestyle]] and runs to the city.
160	* SoreLoser: In the different booklet to the limited edition vinyl re-release of the album, the lyrics to "Letterbomb" were followed by typical St. Jimmy style [[CapsLock all capital letters]]:
161	--> '''I NEVER LIKED YOU EITHER!'''
162	* StealthPun: "Homecoming" is about JOS coming home, not a school homecoming.
163	* StepUpToTheMicrophone: Tré Cool and Mike Dirnt sing the parts of "Homecoming" they wrote ("Rock 'n Roll Girlfriend" and "Nobody Likes You", respectively).
164	* SubduedSection: The "Dearly Beloved" section of "Jesus of Suburbia", "Nobody Likes You" in "Homecoming".
165	* SurprisinglyGentleSong: "Wake Me Up When September Ends". While it's not necessarily a ''quiet'' song, it's still the gentlest and most emotive song on the album, due to it being a song about Billie Joe's late father.
166	** When "Homecoming" starts with just an electric guitar and a voice singing a bittersweet song through what sounds like a telephone, you know the mood is about to change.
167	* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: "American Idiot", "St. Jimmy," "She's A Rebel," and are on par with previous Green Day songs.
168	* TroubledButCute: Johnny, writing to Will about Whatsername: "She knows I'm full of shit but at least she thinks I'm cute."
169	%% commented out as Administrivia/ZeroContextExample ** Everyone.
170	%% commented out as Administrivia/ZeroContextExample
171	* TvHeadRobot: The musical often has images of people with televisions for heads painted in the background.
172	* WanderlustSong: "Tales of Another Broken Home", the last section of "Jesus of Suburbia."
173	* VillainSong:
174	** "St. Jimmy" serves as the introduction to... well, St. Jimmy, who serves as the antagonist of the story, tempting JOS to engage in destructive behavior.
175	** "Know Your Enemy" from the stage version as well, which culminates in St. Jimmy encouraging Johnny to kill Whatsername when she tries to stop him from doing drugs.
176	* WarIsHell: The video to "Wake Me Up When September Ends", which is about a soldier sent off to Iraq. In the end the girlfriend cries in despair over the news.
177	* WhamLine: One of the final verses in "Letterbomb":
178	--> You're not the Jesus of Suburbia
179	--> [[TomatoInTheMirror The St. Jimmy is a figment of]]
180	--> Your father's rage and your mother's love
181	--> [[NotSoDifferentRemark Made me the idiot America!]]
182	** This verse from "Homecoming":
183	-->Jimmy died today
184	-->He blew his brains out into the bay
185	-->In the state of mind
186	-->It's my own private suicide
187	* WhyCantIHateYou: Hinted at in "Nobody Likes You".
188	--> Everyone left you
189	--> Nobody likes you
190	--> They're all out without you
191	--> Having fun
192	--> [[DidYouThinkICantFeel (Where'd you go?)]]
193	* YouAreWhatYouHate: Whatsername points this out in "Letterbomb", but the entire album deals with this. Jimmy is a lazy, hypocritical rebel without a cause, and at the end of the day, he returns home having achieved nothing. He is really just another ''American Idiot''.
194	--> Where have all the riots gone?
195	--> As the city's motto gets pulverized?
196	--> What's in love is now in debt
197	--> On your birth certificate
198	--> So strike the fucking match to light this fuse!
199	* YouWontFeelAThing: "Give Me Novacaine":
200	--> ''Tell me, Jimmy, I won't feel a thing...''

Context Music / AmericanIdiot