“I am not part of the MAGA agenda…” Warning: This article contains language that some people may find offensive.
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It's going to be a big year for US punk-pop band Green Day, and they've kicked off 2024 the only way they know how: with a controversial bang.
On top of that, the publication of theirs upcoming 14th studio album “Saviors” This year, on January 19th, the band celebrates both the 30th and 20th anniversaries of their debut “Dookie” (1994) and their critically acclaimed “American Idiot” album (2004).
And 20 years after the release of “American Idiot” and its title single, which originally contained the lyrics: “Well, maybe I'm the faggot, America/ I'm not part of a redneck agenda/ Now everyone's doing propaganda.” “And sing Along to the Age of Paranoia,” the band changed the lyrics to reflect the current political climate in the United States.
They did this during their appearance on Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve, changing the lyrics to read: “Well maybe I'm the faggot, America/I'm not part of a MAGA agenda/Now everyone's doing the propaganda.”/ And sing along to the age of paranoia.
Watch the moment below:
The song was originally written about the Iraq War, the uncritical cable coverage of the US invasion, and as an attack on George W. Bush; Now Green Day has Trump and his campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) in its sights.
And what better time to take a swipe at Trump as the former president prepares for a second run at the White House?
It's not the first time they've attacked Trump – most notably at the 2016 American Music Awards, when they chanted “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA” in protest against the then-presidential candidate. In 2018, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong told an audience at a Cannes Lions appearance: “I hate Donald Trump so much. I used to scream, “I hated George Bush.” This one is a little different. This is bad, it’s like acid gone bad.”
Pretty perfect that the band also released limited-edition merchandise last year that featured the former president's mugshot and dubbed him the “ultimate Nimrod” – a reference to the band's 1997 album Nimrod.
Following the lyric change on Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve, one person had something to say about it…
No, not Trump, but someone just as desperate to be heard and with a similarly large ego.
You guessed it: Elon Musk had to weigh in.
Musk accused the band of “going from anger against the machine to a milquetoast anger for it.”
How funny.
Musk, who has not supported either the Republican or Democratic parties in the past, has leaned toward conservative politics in recent years.
2023 was quite a year for Elon Musk, who retired the new name X; saw the valuation of the platform formerly known as Twitter fall halfway during his tenure as owner; its advertising revenue fell 89%; and cemented his status as a poster boy for online racists.
In fact, last November a new report from the… Center to Combat Digital Hate (CCDH)a nonprofit organization dedicated to combating misinformation and hate speech online, said that Media platform has increased significantly thanks to Musk.
Oh, and last year Musk also made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for having the largest net worth loss in financial history, at around $200 billion.