Green Day has received a lot of attention following their New Year’s Rockin’ Eve performance, as they changed a lyric in their 2004 song, “American Idiot.”
Why Did Green Day Change The “American Idiot” Lyric?
Instead of the usual “I’m not a part of a redneck agenda” line, lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong swapped it for “I’m not a part of the MAGA agenda,” as a diss towards Donald Trump.
This has since received pushback on conservative news outlets, who feel that politics shouldn’t have a role in rock music. This remark also had Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello chiming in.
Back in 2019, the band had changed the lyric in the same way during their iHeartRadio Music Festival set — so it really isn’t anything new. Armstrong had also expressed his thoughts about Trump on stage before that.
During an interview with Kerrang tied to their last album cycle, Armstrong expanded about his thoughts when it came to Trump. “I mean, I draw no inspiration from the President of the United States, because he’s just…” he said. “There’s nothing. Trump gives me diarrhea [laughs], you know? I don’t want to write a song about it!”
Recently, Green Day also released merch that featured Trump’s mugshot. The shirts’ proceeds benefitted the Greater Good Music Charity.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. .
