The freak show colloquially known as the U.S. presidency has inspired countless protest music over the past two years, and now, it's also shone a light on one of the most iconic protest songs of yesteryear: Green Day's "American Idiot."
The title track to the band's 2004 political punk opus first enjoyed a sales surge in the U.K. after a Twitter account called American Idiot For UK No.1 When Trump Visits campaigned to get the song to the top of the U.K. Official Charts in time for President Donald Trump's recent visit to the region. Although "American Idiot" only reached No. 18 on the overall Top 100 singles chart, it reached No. 2 on the Singles Downloads Chart and topped the Rock & Metal Singles Chart. It also reached No. 1 on Amazon's bestseller list.
News of the "American Idiot" campaign quickly spread across the pond, and the track debuted at No. 23 on Billboard's Rock Digital Song Sales chart this week with 2,000 downloads, a 320% increase over last week, Chart Data reports. Previously, the song peaked at No. 61 on the Hot 100 in 2004, and it topped the Alternative Songs chart the same year. The track also earned four nominations at the 2005 Grammy Awards.
American Idiot consummated Green Day's evolution from snot-nosed punks to political firebrands. Their frenetic stoner anthems ushered in the pop-punk explosion of the late '90s, and with their successful reinvention, they became one of the biggest rock bands of the 2000s. The rock opera earned Green Day their first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, went on to sell more than six million copies in the United States and won the Grammy Award for Best Rock album in 2005.
Frontman Billie Joe Armstrong originally wrote the album's title track to express his disgust with George W. Bush and the Iraq War, though the lyrics proved especially prescient:
Don't wanna be an American idiot
One nation controlled by the media
Information Age of hysteria
It's calling out to idiot America
Green Day have since released several chart-topping albums (including a second politically charged rock opera, 2009's 21st Century Breakdown) and continue to play arenas around the world. Still, they never quite captured the zeitgeist again like they did with American Idiot. Nearly 15 years after its release, fans still turn to the album and its title track to feel a sense of solidarity—and to enjoy one of the best punk anthems of the 21st century.
