I believe an appropriate song for our times is “American Eulogy” by Green Day. I chose this song not only because I’m a huge Green Day fan, but because I feel it addresses many issues and problems in the United States today.
The first section of the song addresses political issues in the United States. The first verse makes references to the old, more inaccurate color-coded terror alert index and the “hysteria” and panic that it could cause. It also describes the confusion the alert index causes as being a “feeding ground” for the media and others who use the index to cause fear and anxiety by emphasizing when the threat level goes up. The second verse makes references to class differences and civil unrest. Unemployment is mentioned, as are riots and “class war” or conflict between the rich/Wall Street and the less well off. The third verse says that “America is falling,” representing that, while we are still a world power, we are gradually losing our power to other developing countries.
The first verse of the second section of the song is less about politics and more about feelings of unhappiness and dissatisfaction with the “modern (U.S.-centric) world” and the many problems it has. In this section the bassist and lead vocalist each sing from differing viewpoints about “the modern world” and are arguing back and forth with each other. This is shown when lead vocalist responds to and disagrees with the previous assertions about the “modern world” being a bad thing, saying to “deny the allegation” that it is and that everything bad that was said about it is “fuckin’ lies.” The bassist comes back with a counter-argument about the modern era being shallow, and how too much emphasis is put on being “up to date” and having fancy gadgets and “high definition,” and not on “the value of your mind,” or how smart or what kind of person you are.
Finally, the choruses of the two sections, “I don’t want to live in the modern world” and “mass hysteria” are blended together and static noise is added, creating a confusing section where there is conflict between the two opposing parts to be heard over the other.
The first section of the song addresses political issues in the United States. The first verse makes references to the old, more inaccurate color-coded terror alert index and the “hysteria” and panic that it could cause. It also describes the confusion the alert index causes as being a “feeding ground” for the media and others who use the index to cause fear and anxiety by emphasizing when the threat level goes up. The second verse makes references to class differences and civil unrest. Unemployment is mentioned, as are riots and “class war” or conflict between the rich/Wall Street and the less well off. The third verse says that “America is falling,” representing that, while we are still a world power, we are gradually losing our power to other developing countries.
The first verse of the second section of the song is less about politics and more about feelings of unhappiness and dissatisfaction with the “modern (U.S.-centric) world” and the many problems it has. In this section the bassist and lead vocalist each sing from differing viewpoints about “the modern world” and are arguing back and forth with each other. This is shown when lead vocalist responds to and disagrees with the previous assertions about the “modern world” being a bad thing, saying to “deny the allegation” that it is and that everything bad that was said about it is “fuckin’ lies.” The bassist comes back with a counter-argument about the modern era being shallow, and how too much emphasis is put on being “up to date” and having fancy gadgets and “high definition,” and not on “the value of your mind,” or how smart or what kind of person you are.
Finally, the choruses of the two sections, “I don’t want to live in the modern world” and “mass hysteria” are blended together and static noise is added, creating a confusing section where there is conflict between the two opposing parts to be heard over the other.
This was a good song to pick because many of these problems are really faced by many Americans. Green Day does seem to speak the mind of many Americans.
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