Like a lot of fascism, it makes perfect sense if you understand the code words. “Inserting politics” or “getting political” means expressing a disallowed opinion that should be silenced. You’ll never hear this kind of language used about the approved opinions, only the to-be-silenced ones.
Exactly this.
Kneeling for the anthem is inserting politics into sports, playing the anthem before the game? Not at all inserting politics into sports.
Pride night? Not allowed. First responder (read: cop) Night? Totally cool.
“I stand for the flag. I kneel for the cross.” –A phrase uttered only by people who have never once knelt in front of a cross, ever.
I’ve also noticed a direct correlation between people who wave around “Blue Lives Matter” flags and people who think police officers should essentially be paid poverty level wages. They’re often the same group of people. And yes, the irony is completely lost on them.
Now I have to tell a story. And this actually happened. Eons ago, I got a wild hair and decided to run for my local city council. At that time, the city was pushing a small tax increase to fund raises for the police and fire departments, where the average salary was like $9/hr for a patrolman. It was not a great wage even then. I literally had people with “thin blue line” bumper stickers yelling at me because “I make $9 an hour. Why should they be paid better than me?” I quickly learned that there is a large – or larger than I would have expected – percentage of the population that supports the “police” as a concept as long as it means they get to feel morally superior. When it comes to actually supporting the people who are the police, they don’t give two shits.
It’s possible to think that police, firefighters, and other public servants in hazardous occupations should be compensated well AND be held to high moral and ethical standards. Mind blowing. I know.
For context, original lyrics:
Don’t wanna be an American idiot
Don’t want a nation under the new media
And can you hear the sound of hysteria?
The subliminal mind fuck America
Welcome to a new kind of tension
All across the alienation
Where everything isn’t meant to be okay
Television dreams of tomorrow
We’re not the ones who’re meant to follow
For that’s enough to argue
Well maybe I’m the faggot America
I’m not a part of a redneck agenda
Now everybody do the propaganda
And sing along to the age of paranoia
Welcome to a new kind of tension
All across the alienation
Where everything isn’t meant to be okay
Television dreams of tomorrow
We’re not the ones who’re meant to follow
For that’s enough to argue
Don’t want to be an American idiot
One nation controlled by the media
Information age of hysteria
It’s calling out to idiot America
Welcome to a new kind of tension
All across the alienation
Where everything isn’t meant to be okay
Television dreams of tomorrow
We’re not the ones who’re meant to follow
For that’s enough to argue
Super tame.
In the New Year’s show, they changed “a redneck agenda” to “the MAGA agenda”. Okay, little bit more explicitly partisan, but basically the same thing.
And yet, as a leftist redneck, I whole heartedly approve of the change.
Feel a little more seen, even if it doesn’t mean anything.
I’ve known many rednecks who were good people. If you aren’t hurting people, you do you, friend! Also, chunk those punkins!
In my experience, rednecks (chavs and bogans too) are at worst just really callous, well intentioned and imo would rather consider their opinion on something and try to make conversation to understand than someone intentionally aligning themselves with people who’re literally using some Austrian with a shitty staches manual.
“a redneck agenda” to “the MAGA agenda”
If MAGA as a name for these people had existed then, they would have used it. They’re the same people.
I think part of the problem (aside from people that don’t ever listen to the words in songs) is less that the song/green day is apolitical in their interpretation, but more that for a lot of people the word “politics” means partisan politics. Being explicitly about a party or one of their core issues is what makes something 𝓅𝑜𝓁𝒾𝓉𝒾𝒸𝒶𝓁 to them.
What is and is not political is defined by oppressors. Their crosses, punisher skulls, and blue lives matter stickers are not political. The atheist symbol, antifa arrows, and black lives matter stickers are political. A keffiyeh is a political statement, but an IDF shirt isn’t. “Political” functionally means “talking about your oppression or the oppression of others.”
It’s tame by today’s standards but at the time it got quite a few people in a tizzy
Hmm?
Referring to:
Well maybe I’m the [expletive] America
What were you asking about MSI? “Indulgence”, not ”Influence”, as I remember :)
Its usage in the song is not derogatory. It’s meant to highlight the offensiveness of it and to cast the speaker as one of the disenfranchised of America.
It’s controversial, I suppose, but it’s meant to make a point. Changing it would just diminish it.
As the other commenter said, it’s not derogatory. He’s taking a word that’s been used to belittle and dismiss him and people that share his views, owning it, and using it to fire back against those that would use it against him in that way.
Basically, “Call me gay* (ok, like that’s supposed to be a bad thing? Watch me call myself gay lol) but at least I’m not a dumb idiot follower of the redneck/MAGA agenda.”
To me, it’s like a more sophisticated “I know you are but what am I?”, if you will. He’s so unphased by the label that he uses it for himself with little hesitation, thus stripping its power as an insult against him. Hence why he fires back with a new, more critical put-down. It’s meant to hit them (someone that would call someone else gay or a faggot* as an insult) where it hurts, in the same way that person has meant to hurt others by using those terms derogatorily. He’s literally naming and shaming the bigotry of the time.
*And yes I know the term faggot has some nasty origins, but it was colloquially just a much more rude/derogatory way to say “gay person” when this song came out. I highly doubt the majority of people that used it were actually thinking that critically about it. The song itself at least very clearly does not mean it in the original sense.
It’s the rage against the machine all over again. Shows how truly dumb people are. Like do they even listen to the lyrics?
Nah, I’ve got a family member who voted for trump and loves RatM. They honestly think the lyrics support conservative ideals, and advocate for violence against people who would change the country from the “good ol’ days.”
I hope you don’t mind Unix systems, cuz you should avoid Windows after a statement like that.
I die a little inside every time someone gets offended by Money For Nothing.
But he’s wearing an EAR RING AND MAKE UP!!!
That’s his own hair, for Christ sakes!!!
Politics? In my Green Day?
It’s more likely than you think.
It’s funny - I agree with Green Day in most ways politically, but stopped listening after American Idiot because so much of their music was blatantly political. That’s what they were going for, it is CLEAR and OBVIOUS to anyone listening to their music, where they stand. I am all for it, I would just rather be escaping the world’s issues while listening to music :)
Dude, they’re a punk band, or at least they were. That’s literally the point of the genre
I listen to punk because of the politics lol. Rage against the machine, green day, the offspring, etc. Love them all
I quit listening to Green Day because it was impossible to escape When September Ends. Couldn’t go out in public without hearing it somewhere.
I’ve never been more sure that someone wasn’t around in 1994.
Radio stations were practically airing Dookie on a loop.
What was baby shark speaking to politically? “What does the fox say” about interest rates?
I get what you mean, it’s just funny to apply that to obvious nonsense music lol
It’s funny to me…I didn’t say they were bad, I didn’t say I didn’t like them, I didn’t say anything except for that they clearly took their music in a more in your face, political direction. That’s fine, I support them making that choice. I get that punk is inherently political, and that most music has hints of it. When I started listening, when 1039 came out - I was too young to understand what the music was about. Then came kerplunk and dookie. Dookie has many songs that are just about boredom, wasting time, or girls. Same thing for Insomniac and Nimrod. You cannot argue that EVERY song on those albums was political, it’s just not true. They became a pop-punk alternative band. That’s great, they still make great music, I just choose other styles and genres. Downvotes aren’t hurting me, but it seems excessive for sharing my thoughts.
For the record, I was a ride or die fan in the 90’s. 5 shows, one of them I waited by the outdoor stage for 3 hours to get a good spot. I had my art featured on the earliest version of their website, back in the AOL days. I still love the music I grew up with. Bands style, peoples preferences change…I just don’t want to think about the broken world when I listen to music anymore.
It’s like they interpret music as just a noise that sounds appealing with no meaning.
Fuck you I won’t do what you tell me!
No idea on the rest of the lyrics, something about forces and crosses. I wasn’t really listening. I like crosses! Woo, Trump!
I guess this is the best place for this comment: about two years back my friend (who is a hardcore conservative, just not trump is God crazy and he doesn’t know about qanon), myself and two other guys (they’re all moderate or liberal) went to go see Rage Against The Machine for like the first time in 20 years. During one of the songs where he raps about humans living shitty lives because they can get ahead, there were posters all over saving things like "save the kids ". “feed the children”.
My conservative buddy looked at me during the time the posters were up and was he like "WTF is this shit?*
Hence former House Speaker and Ayn Rand-lover Paul Ryan’s favorite band being Rage Against The Machine
This is also why the Snyder Superman movies are bad.
Superman is an illegal alien who learned the value of kindness and hard work from his adopted parents, uses his powers to help people because it’s the right thing to do, and spends the time that he’s not being Superman to do investigative journalism that exposes corruption.
Snyder is an objectivist who understands precisely 0% of any of that, and that’s why his Superman movies completely fail to be about anything.
I dont see that as an issue so long as you aren’t gonna attempt shaming them. I have songs I just listen to but couldn’t tell you a single lyric or who it is.