The early 2000s was a fertile time in the alternative rock world. The explosion of the grunge movement in the 1990s culminated in many bands experimenting with different sounds. You had Linkin Park blending metal and rap, a sound they called “nu-metal,” to great success. With pensive and soulful lyrics by frontman Chris Carrabba, Dashboard Confessional was labeled “emo.” Ditto for the quirky Fall Out Boy. No Doubt married ska, jazz, and rock, enhanced by lead singer Gwen Stefani’s unique vocal style. Smack in the middle of this soundscape whirlwind was Green Day which mixed alt-rock, pop, and punk into a unique and satisfying package.
In 2004 Green Day released their most commercial and critically acclaimed album, American Idiot. The band dubbed the record a punk rock opera telling the story of “Jesus of Suburbia,” a disillusioned adolescent anti-hero. The album comments on the atmosphere of post-9/11 America, where the “war on terror” resulted in military action in Afghanistan & Iraq, and was critical of the crass commercialization of mass media, particularly cable news. It’s an angry collection of songs with a lot to say, resulting in several chart-topping singles. My favorite is the introspective mid-tempo ballad Wake Me Up When September Ends, which easily ranks as Green Day’s most accomplished music video.
The clip was helmed by commercial and music video director Samuel Bayer, a prolific director in the alt-rock subgenre. Bayer did the groundbreaking Smells Like Teen Spirit for Nirvana and has an impressive videography, including Blind Melon (No Rain), Melissa Etheridge (Come to My Window), Garbage (Stupid Girl), and most of Green Day’s entire catalog. And Bayer was ambitious when he worked on the video, treating it like a short film and recruiting rising young actors Jaimie Bell and Evan Rachel Wood to star. And Bayer crafted a story of a young couple, pledging never to leave each other, but the real world intervenes on that promise when the boyfriend joins the war effort and is shipped off to fight insurgents in the Iraq War. The long-form video features dialogue and dramatic scenes interwoven over Green Day’s song and have a decidedly anti-war bent.
The video sparked controversy, especially amongst conservative pundit circles. But band member Mike Dirnt brushed aside such concerns, describing the video about the core emotion of loss. The song was written by lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong, dealing with his father dying of cancer when he was a young boy. And while the scenario of the video is vastly different, the underlying emotion is the same.
American Idiot is still considered the apex of Green Day’s music legacy. It was nominated for several awards, winning the Grammy for Best Rock Album and a nomination for Album of the Year. And it was even adapted into a popular Broadway show in 2010.
Check out the video below, and let me know your thoughts in the comments.