- Holiday (Green Day song)
Infobox Single
Name = Holiday
Artist =Green Day
from Album =American Idiot
Released =March 28 ,2005
Format =Digital download ,CD single , 7" vinyl
Recorded =
Genre =Punk rock ,pop punk
Length = 3:52
Label = Reprise
Writer =Billie Joe Armstrong
Producer =Rob Cavallo , Green Day
Last single = "Boulevard of Broken Dreams"
(2004)
This single = "Holiday"
(2005)
Next single = "Wake Me Up When September Ends "
(2005)"Holiday" is a song by the American
punk rock bandGreen Day , released as the third single off of their seventh studio album "American Idiot" (2004). Though the song is a prelude to "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", "Holiday" was released as a single later on, in the spring of 2005. The song achieved considerable popularity across the world and performed moderately well on the charts. In the U.S., it reached number nineteen on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and number one on theHot Modern Rock Tracks andHot Mainstream Rock Tracks charts. It debuted at number eleven in the UK and at number twenty-one inCanada ."Holiday" features a spoken word segment during the bridge that is unique to Green Day songs. While it caused controversy, this speech is generally regarded as anti-fascist, with Green Day accusing
George W. Bush of being a fascist.During live performances, lead singer
Billie Joe Armstrong liked to introduce this song with a political agenda, or alternatively, a disclaimer. For example, on Green Day's CD/DVD "Bullet in a Bible " (2005), Armstrong announces, "This next song's a big 'fuck you' to all the politicians. This song's called Holiday! This song is not anti-American; it's anti-war!" Which some consider to be similar to the way in whichBono ofU2 would introduce "Sunday Bloody Sunday"; "This is not a rebel song..."."Holiday" was played in the movie "
Accepted " and parts of the song were played in the movie "Surf's Up". The song is also featured in the video game "Tony Hawk's American Wasteland ".Track listing
CD 1
#"Holiday"
#"Holiday" (live)
#"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (live)CD 2
#"Holiday"
#"Minority" (live)7" picture disc;Side A
#"Holiday";Side B
#"Minority" (live)*(live tracks recorded September 21, 2004 at Irving Plaza, New York)
Music video
The first half of the video takes place in a car (a
1968 Mercury Monterey convertible), whereBillie Joe Armstrong ,Mike Dirnt andTré Cool are partying around the town. In the second half, they are cavorting in a bar, where each of the band members portray several different characters. Billie Joe Armstrong plays the mentioned Representative ofCalifornia , two fighting clients, andWeezer 'sRivers Cuomo . Tré Cool plays a drunken priest, a patron, and a prostitute. Mike Dirnt plays the barman, a policeman, andSid Vicious fromThe Sex Pistols . There are also scenes featuring seemingly worn-downcan-can dancers. At the end of the video, the car smokes to a halt in the field that "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" begins in. Like the video for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", this video was directed bySamuel Bayer .The band arrived at the
2005 MTV Video Music Awards in the same car, this time "pimped out" by James Washburn, a friend of the band.Political references
*The spoken bridge of the song makes references to
Nazi Germany ,George W. Bush andFrance 's refusal to support the2003 invasion of Iraq :::"Zieg Heil to the President Gasman/Bombs away is your punishment/Pulverize the
Eiffel Tower s/Who criticize your government/Bang bang goes the broken glass/Kill all the fags that don't agree/Trials by fire setting fire/Is not a way that's meant for me"American Idiot sleevenotes, Reprise Records and Billie Joe Armstrong 2004] .Charts
References
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