Green Day - American Idiot Lyrics

Green Day Lyrics

"American Idiot"

Don't wanna be an American idiot
Don't want a nation under the new mania
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

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Thanks to Safiullah khan, @idiot_and_proud, Katie for correcting these lyrics.

Writer(s): Billie Joe Armstrong, Frank Wright, Michael Pritchard

The first single and the title song of their album of the same name.

Billie Joe Armstrong was inspired to write this song after hearing a Lynyrd Skynyrd's song "That's How I Like It" with lyrics about being proud to be a redneck. He couldn't understand how could anyone be proud of that, shared his point of view with the rest of the band, and they agreed which started the writing process.

The song reflects the state of the United States at that point in time, particularly the presidential campaign of George W. Bush in 2004.