Over the past three decades, Green Day has experienced the good, bad, and ugly that the rockstar lifestyle has to offer. The iconic pop-punk rockers poured it all into their new single, “Dilemma,” out this morning, December 7. It’s the latest taste from Green Day’s Saviors, their forthcoming album announced alongside lead single “The American Dream Is Killing Me” on October 24.
“What is Saviors about, you ask?” Green Day captioned, in part, their Instagram album announcement. “Power pop, punk, rock, indie triumph. disease, war, inequality, influencers, yoga retreats, alt right, dating apps, masks, MENTAL HEALTH, climate change, oligarchs, social media division, free weed, fentanyl, fragility.”
“Dilemma” checks punk, mental health, free weed, fentanyl, and fragility from that list. The Ryan Baxley-directed black-and-white video starts with Billie Joe Armstrong pancaked on the floor. “Welcome to my problems,” he sings. “It’s not an invitation / This is my dilemma / And it’s my obsession.”
From there, we retroactively experience what landed Armstrong on the floor: A fast-paced, high-flying night out filled with endless alcohol, cocaine in the bathroom, and substance-based camaraderie. “I was sober now I’m drunk again,” Armstrong sings in the chorus. “I’m in trouble and in love again / I don’t want to be a dead man walking.” Inevitably, as the night wears on, Armstrong devolves until he finally breaks into someone’s home and topples their Christmas tree.
“‘Dilemma’ was one of those songs that was kind of easy to write because it was so personal to me,” Armstrong said in a statement, as per NME. “We’ve seen so many of our peers struggle with addiction and mental illness. This song is all about the pain that comes from those experiences.”
Watch the “Dilemma” video above.
Saviors is out 1/19/2024 via Reprise Records. Find more information here.
Green Day is a Warner Music artist. .
