'Punk' Band Changes Lyrics to Hit Song to Take Swipe at Trump on 'Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve'
Green Day, the politically charged pop-punk band that rose to prominence in the 1990s, rang in the new year by debuting a slightly different version of its 2004 hit “American Idiot.”
The small but noticeable change came during the band’s performance on Sunday in the annual “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” on ABC.
The original lyrics of the 2004 song go as follows: “Well, maybe I’m the f*****, America. I’m not a part of a redneck agenda.”
As heard in the X clip below and by whoever was tuning in to ABC on New Year’s Eve, Green Day lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong opted to swap out the term “redneck agenda” for “MAGA agenda.”
Just now on ABC’s New Years Bash with @RyanSeacrest — @GreenDay sings “I’m not a part of the MAGA agenda”, changing the lyrics of ‘American Idiot’. #RockinEve pic.twitter.com/asqEfPyfOi
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) January 1, 2024
Conservatives largely derided the lyric change, which took aim at former President Donald Trump and his supporters.
Conservative outlet Citizen Free Press blasted Armstrong on X, calling the frontman “not a punk rocker but just another tired, listless vessel for the corporate political agenda.”
Babylon Bee spinoff site Not the Bee called out the band for desperately trying to “prove they’re still cool.”
The outlet incredulously questioned the lyric change, saying, “Middle-aged rockers stumping on behalf of the vast government bureaucracy, backed by trillions of dollars and history’s most powerful military, that wants to protect itself from guys with red hats from West Virginia who are tired of being sucked dry by the elites?”
X owner Elon Musk agreed with that assessment.
“Green Day goes from raging against the machine to milquetoastedly raging for it,” he said, adding a pair of laughing emojis.
Green Day goes from raging against the machine to milquetoastedly raging for it 🤣🤣
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 1, 2024
Others on social media noted that this attack from Green Day shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone since the California band has attacked Trump before.
In a November 2020 interview with British magazine NME, Armstrong complained that the then-president was contesting the results of the general election.
Before that, in 2016, the band performed at the American Music Awards and chanted “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA” in the middle of the song “Bang Bang.”
Most recently, Green Day attempted to co-opt Trump’s famous mugshot to raise money for Maui wildfire victims, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
In an ironic twist, the most insulting thing about “American Idiot,” at least to Trump supporters, might be that the song was originally penned during the George W. Bush administration and was meant to call out the “confusion” that administration brought with it, according to American Songwriter.
Trump has had a well-documented rivalry with the Bush family ever since he feuded with former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush during the 2016 GOP primary, and being a second consideration to them in anything — even a pop star’s jabs — likely won’t sit well with the former president.
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