Green Day's "Holiday" as an Anti-War Protest Song

For the topic of Protest Music, I thought about a lot of the rock bands who have commented on politics and the world around us in their music. From Muse's Uprising, to the multitude of songs by bands like Rise Against, there was a lot to choose from when looking for a song to share.

The song Holiday by Australian band Green Day illustrates some very clear anti-war ideas as the lyrics twist from the viewpoints of the people, to soldiers, to religious leaders, and to politicians. It speaks to the general outrage towards global conflicts decided upon by leaders who send out soldiers to die for seemingly no cause. It speaks to the unrest felt by citizens who are also fighting amongst themselves about these issues and inevitably making the situation worse while their elected leaders continue making all the decisions while they are distracted with each other.

"Hear the sound of the falling rain,
Coming down like an Armageddon flame, (hey!)
A shame,
The ones who died without a name."

This first verse illustrates the general distaste for warmongering, and alludes that most people won't even know the names of those who died (on either side) fighting for a cause - most likely this song was a commentary on the American war on Terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Hear the drum pounding out of time,
Another protester has crossed the line, (hey!)
To find, the money's on the other side."

This verse speaks more about the citizens fighting with each other about the issues that face their society, it could mean between political parties, between social and economic classes, and different protest groups against the establishment. In the end they find that the money being funneled into the war effort has more effect on the situation than their voices - even if every voice combined and spoke out against it.

Green Day themselves have been outspokenly anti-war, and have been interviewed several times about the song and the album it's on. In fact, the album in its entirety can be a sequential story about their stance. Holiday  is on the album "American Idiot" and the album begins with that song. It quite literally speaks about those who wish to be informed or rebel from the establishment, or about those who think they are well-informed who are not. Jesus of Suburbia is the second song and talks about a young person who is in a terrible place in life, drugs and alcohol, poverty, and thinking that it's all normal. He eventually figures out for himself that this is not the way life should be, and that there are better things, so he leaves that area. Then, Holiday, would be the continuation of his story, where he is now out in the world and finding that it isn't just his home town that is messed up, it's the whole country, the whole world even. What a shame it all is.

Holiday segues directly into the song Boulevard of Broken Dreams, which is entirely melancholy and dark, the supposed protagonist feeling absolutely alone and hopeless. The album wraps-up with the songs Wake Me Up When September Ends and Homecoming, which also mention the characters of the Jesus of Suburbia and St. Jimmy who was the titular character of another of the album's songs.

Overall the song and the album paint a picture of frustration, but it must at least hope to be a reflection of how the majority of society feels. They can take solace in knowing that they are not the only souls to feel such things.

Module 13 Example: Measuring Up with Comic Capital

PROMPT

For this week, you will perform a mini-article analysis on a fandom that you participate in (that is, something you are a fan of: a sport, a TV show, an activity, a hobby, a music genre, etc).     Articles must meet the following criteria:

1. A minimum of 12 pages of text
2. Published in an ACADEMIC journal.
3. Published after 1970.
4. An actual article (not a book review or editorial).

For your post, you will include

1. A full MLA citation at the start of the post.
2. A discussion of what the article is about and what it is arguing (1 paragraph).
3. A discussion of your critical thoughts on the article (1 paragraph).
4. A discussion of how the article has enhanced your understanding of the particular fandom that you explored (1 paragraph).

Relevant Labels/Tags:  Fans, fandom, mass audience, fan community, journal article, [name of said fandom]


EXAMPLE
Brown, Jeffrey A. "Comic book fandom and cultural capital." The Journal of Popular Culture 30.4 (1997): 13-31.

Brown uses the concept of cultural captial in connection to comic fandoms.  The term, cultural capital, is derived from Pierre Bourdieu that relates to the various capital that one accumulates within his or her life that is not of a fiscal nature.  For instance, education and knowledge range, position within culture, understanding of and relation to cultural practices, etc.  He explores how meaning is made among comic fans as it relates to their knowledge of the industry and the value generated in that knowledge and how it relates to collecting comics.  Additionally, he explores the different places where cultural capital is exchanged such as in comic book stores, magazines, conventions, etc.  

He explores how all of this interacting and exchange influences the comic book industry in terms of the most popular titles and also the price of the most prestigious comics (e.g. Action Comics #1, Detective Comics #27; first appearance of Superman and Batman respectively).  Brown then devles into the history of comics fandom and recognizes that historically, there was very little cultural capital be attained from comics since it was seen a culturally-depriving rather than enhanced (such as the 1940s-1960s and especially after Frederic Wertham's influence on the industry).  

Brown notes that the rise of the counter-culture brought with it the return of some cultural capital to comics.  He also considers how comic fandom is affiliated with mass culture, where the accumulation of many comics is more significant than cultivating just a few elite selections.  He also illustrates that despite cultural critics who say popular culture has no canon, comics indeed has a canon of famous and important works and creators.  

This establishment by fans of a canon has also influenced how the comic publishing industry represents itself and publishes works.  Ultimately, Brown presents an interesting intersection wherein comic fans achieve their status by being so deeply vested in comics, something that is considered non-elite, and yet in doing so, mimic aspects of cultural elitism that is a cornerstone of cultural capitalism.  

I rather like this article in that it helps to explain how deeply vested we are as individuals in our fandoms and some of the reasons we get deeply invested in our fandoms (notice the economic terminology!). In particular, I think this article shows the ways in which fans negotiate meaning and value in their fan cultures and that process has an impact on the content producers.