Line #125 Music/TwentyFirstCenturyBreakdown


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/21stCenturyBreakdown_1460.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:''"21st century breakdown\
3	I once was lost, but never was found..."'']]
4
5	->''"Sing us a song of the century\
6	Louder than bombs and eternity\
7	The era of static and contraband\
8	Leading us into the promised land\
9	Tell us a story that's by candlelight\
10	Waging a war and losing the fight\
11	They're playing the song of the century\
12	Of panic and promise and prosperity\
13	Tell me a story into that goodnight\
14	Sing us a song for me."''
15
16	''21st Century Breakdown'' is the eighth studio album by Music/GreenDay, released in 2009. It was released as a follow-up to their comeback album ''Music/AmericanIdiot'', produced by Butch Vig of Music/{{Garbage}} and ''Music/{{Nevermind\|Album}}'' fame, and is similarly a RockOpera ConceptAlbum.
17
18	The album follows [[BattleCouple two lovers]] named [[MeaningfulName Christian]] and Gloria as they witness the many new trials faced by the common man in the recent years of America (mainly told in first-person from the point of Christian).
19
20	Several of the themes looked at by [[AntiHero Christian]] (who is [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation most definitely not]] [[WesternTerrorists a terrorist]]) include [[CorruptChurch religion]], [[UsefulNotes/AmericanPoliticalSystem politics]], and [[BestServedCold vengeance]], along with being heavily involved in his relationship with Gloria. He is very cynical about most large organizations, and feels he and Gloria must stand up for TheEveryman. Gloria, meanwhile, is trying to hold onto her original beliefs while trying to help Christian as well.
21
22	The album saw the band's best chart performance to date, reaching #1 in various areas around the world such as America, the UK, and Europe. It additionally won the UsefulNotes/GrammyAward for Best Rock Album. Critics were generally favorable to the album, while nitpicking was common around the album's concept and its lingering sense of familiarity compared to ''Idiot''.
23
24	Several tracks, including "Know Your Enemy" and "21 Guns", are used in the [[TheatricalProductions Broadway production]] of ''American Idiot''.
25
26	The album is split into three acts: "Heroes and Cons" (from the title track to "Last Night On Earth"), "Charlatans and Saints" (from "East Jesus Nowhere" to "Restless Heart Syndrome"), and "Horseshoes And Handgrenades" (from "Horseshoes And Handgrenades" to "See The Light").
27
28	----
29	!! Tracklist:
30
31	# "Song Of The Century"
32	# "21st Century Breakdown"
33	# "[[Wrestling/WWESmackDown Know Your Enemy]]"
34	# "¡Viva La Gloria!"
35	# "Before The Lobotomy"
36	# "Christian's Inferno"
37	# "Last Night On Earth"
38	# "East Jesus Nowhere"
39	# "Peacemaker"
40	# "Last Of The American Girls"
41	# "Murder City"
42	# "¿Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl)"
43	# "Restless Heart Syndrome"
44	# "Horseshoes And Handgrenades"
45	# "The Static Age"
46	# "21 Guns"
47	# "American Eulogy" [[note]]A. "Mass Hysteria" B. "Modern World"[[/note]]
48	# "See The Light"
49
50	----
51	!! Bonus Track (Japanese Edition):
52
53	# "Lights Out"
54
55	----
56	!! Bonus Tracks (iTunes Pre-Order Edition):
57
58	# "That's All Right"
59	# "Like A Rolling Stone"
60
61	----
62	!! Bonus Tracks (iTunes Deluxe Edition):
63
64	# "A Quick One, While He's Away"
65	# "Another State Of Mind"
66
67	----
68	!!Principal Members:
69
70	* Billie Joe Armstrong - lead vocals, guitar, piano
71	* Tré Cool - drums, percussion
72	* Mike Dirnt - bass, backing and lead vocals
73
74	----
75	!! Tropes of the Century:
76	* ActionGirlfriend: Gloria.
77	* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: In "Last of The American Girls":
78	-->''"She's a sucker for all the criminals breaking the laws"''
79	* AmericanTitle: "American Eulogy".
80	* AuthorAvatar: WordOfGod has confirmed that both Christian and Gloria are {{author avatar}}s.
81	* AxCrazy: Christian may or may not be this.
82	* TheBigDamnKiss: As seen on the album cover. It gets re-enacted in the "21 Guns" video.
83	* BookEnds: Both the opening songs are echoed in the last tracks: "Song Of The Century" is replicated in the intro to "American Eulogy", and "See the Light" revolves around the guitar intro to "21st Century Breakdown".
84	* BigYes: After a SubduedSection, "East Jesus Nowhere" ends with all the instruments ramping up while Billie Joe shouts "YEEEEAAAAHHHH!"
85	* {{Bowdlerise}}: Averted. Wal-Mart attempted to get Green Day to record a censored version of the album, as the store does not sell explicit albums. The band refused.
86	* BrokenBird: Gloria, possibly. She certainly sounds like one in "¿Viva la Gloria? (Little Girl)".
87	* ClusterFBomb:
88	** We get five in "Horseshoes and Handgrenades".
89	** The rest of the album is pretty clean, save for one F-bomb in "Before the Lobotomy" and "The Static Age" each.
90	** "American Eulogy" would be the next dirtiest song, with one F-bomb, one S-bomb and one use of "nigger", which caused screams of outrage among black Green Day fans.
91	** "East Jesus Nowhere" drops one swear ("goddamn").
92	* CoolPeopleRebelAgainstAuthority: {{Deconstructed\|Trope}} the same way it was on ''Music/AmericanIdiot''.
93	* CoverVersion: All the iTunes bonus tracks. "That's All Right" is an Music/ElvisPresley cover, [[Music/Highway61Revisited "Like A Rolling Stone"]] is a Music/BobDylan cover, "A Quick One, While He's Away" is a cover of Music/TheWho (from the album ''Music/AQuickOne'') and "Another State Of Mind" is a Music/SocialDistortion cover.
94	* DarkReprise:
95	** "¿Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl)" is obviously one on "¡Viva La Gloria!"
96	** "American Eulogy" for "Song of the Century".
97	* UsefulNotes/{{Detroit}}: Quietly implied to take place there, as stated in "Peacemaker" ("Oh I am a killjoy, from Detroit...") and "Murder City" (a play on its most famous nickname, the Motor City).
98	* {{Expy}}: Christian and Gloria can be seen as either these or a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute for [[Music/AmericanIdiot Jesus of Suburbia and Whatsername]], although there are shades of difference: Christian is smarter and more insane; Gloria is more world-weary.
99	* FadingIntoTheNextSong / SiameseTwinSongs: "Last of the American Girls" --> "Murder City", with a Morse code connecting them.
100	* IAmSong / ImageSong: Several, most obvious being the title track.
101	* IronicEcho: "Know Your Enemy," echoed near the end of "Restless Heart Syndrome."
102	* LoudnessWar: As with ''American Idiot'', it's really badly clipped.
103	* MetalScream:
104	** "Know Your Enemy" has one:
105	---> Well, violence is an energy, oh ay, oh ay
106	---> Well, from here to eternity, oh ay, oh ay
107	---> Well, violence is an energy, oh ay, oh ay
108	---> Well, silence is the enemy
109	---> So gimme, gimme '''[[BigWordShout REVOLUTION!]]'''
110	** Used more so during "Horseshoes and Handgrenades."
111	* NonAppearingTitle: "Last Night on Earth", "East Jesus Nowhere", "¿Viva la Gloria?", and "Restless Heart Syndrome".
112	* NWordPrivileges: Gets dropped in "American Eulogy".
113	* PrecisionFStrike: Pretty tame compared to other Green Day albums, but still enough to warrant a Parental Advisory sticker.
114	* ProtestSong: Pretty much everything that's not a love song or a BSODSong.
115	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Mike Dirnt has speculated that Armstrong wrote "The Last of the American Girls" about his wife, Adrienne.
116	* RebelliousSpirit: The narrator is clearly one of those.
117	* RecurringRiff: Several, being one of the main differences between this and ''American Idiot'' (Along with the fact that several songs were [[SubduedSection written for piano]]). The "Song of the Century" parts, along with the guitar pattern at the beginning of [[BookEnds "21st Century Breakdown" and "See the Light."]]
118	** The tune to the "Restless Heart Syndrome" chorus is also played at the start of "¿Viva la Gloria? (Little Girl)", which is the song before it.
119	* SecondPlaceIsForLosers: Discussed in the chorus for "Horseshoes and Handgrenades".
120	* SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll: Many references to "pills and alcohol," along with the following part in "Before the Lobotomy"
121	---> I'm not stoned
122	---> I'm just fucked-up
123	---> I got so high
124	---> I can't stand up
125	* ShoutOut:
126	** As listed in the {{Homage}} trope-page, the line "I once was lost, but never was found" is a shout-out to [[AmazingFreakingGrace "Amazing Grace"]].
127	** "Last of the American Girls" could be a shout-out to the Music/TomPetty song "American Girl".
128	** And let's not forget the [[ArcWords several mentions]] to Music/JohnLennon's "Working Class Hero" (which the guys happened to do a cover of themselves, so this one was more obvious).
129	** The line "Last one born and the first one to run" is a shout-out to Music/BruceSpringsteen, and "The Static Age" also musically references "Music/BornToRun"'s iconic intro and chromatic solo.
130	** Perhaps in 21 Guns, the line "when it's time to live and let die" is a shout out to Music/PaulMcCartney's song from the ''Film/JamesBond'' movie ''Film/LiveAndLetDie''.
131	** Also, the line "My Generation is zero" that precedes "Never made it as a Working Class Hero" is a shout out to Music/TheWho's "My Generation", which they covered on their ''Kerplunk'' album.
132	** In an unintentional example, ''NME'' made a blog post after the album's cover was revealed, [[http://www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/green-day-artwork-have-they-stolen-from-blur accusing the band]] of plagiarising from the cover of Music/{{Blur}}'s ''Think Tank'', which shows a couple wearing diving helmets embracing, drawn by Banksy. The cover artist [[http://www.nme.com/news/green-day/42691 denied]] any intentional similarities, saying that the cover was based on a photo of a couple within his social circle kissing at a party, rendered as a stencil.
133	** "East Jesus Nowhere" gets its name from a phrase in the film ''Film/{{Juno}}''. Had Billie Joe not gone and seen it, the song would've been called "March of the Dogs".
134	* StepUpToTheMicrophone: Mike Dirnt sings lead vocals on "Modern World".
135	* SubduedSection: The two "Song of the Century" sections, "21 Guns," "Last Night on Earth," the beginnings of "Restless Heart Syndrome", both versions of "Viva la Gloria", and "Before the Lobotomy."
136	* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: It's Music/GreenDay. You should expect this by this point. However, not as much as previous works.
137	* WhamLine:
138	** "Restless Heart Syndrome" changes Gloria's entire image with the line: "Know your enemy."
139	** In "Last Night on Earth", compare the normal and final choruses.
140	-->'''Normal''': "My beating heart belongs to you / I walked for miles 'til I found you / I'm here to honour you / If I lose everything in the fire / I'm sending all my love to you"
141	-->'''Final''': "...I'm here to honour you / If I lose everything in the fire / Did I ever make it through?"
142	----
143	->''"Sing us the song of the century\
144	It sings like American eulogy\
145	The dawn of my love and conspiracy\
146	Of forgotten hope and the class of '13\
147	Tell me a story into that goodnight\
148	Sing us a song for me."''

Context Music / TwentyFirstCenturyBreakdown