Holiday (Green Day song)

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"Holiday"
Single by Green Day
from the album American Idiot
Released March 14, 2005 (2005-03-14) (United Kingdom)
May 7, 2005 (2005-05-07) (United States)
Format Digital download, CD single, vinyl
Recorded March 26, 2004
Genre Punk rock, pop punk
Length 3:52
Label Reprise/Warner Bros
Writer(s) Billie Joe Armstrong / Green Day
Producer(s) Rob Cavallo, Green Day
Certification Platinum (RIAA)
Green Day singles chronology
"Boulevard of Broken Dreams"
(2004)		 "Holiday"
(2005)		 "Wake Me Up When September Ends"
(2005)
Audio sample
file info · help

"Holiday" is a song by the American punk rock band Green Day. It was released as the third single from their seventh studio album American Idiot. The song is in the key of F minor. Though the song is a prelude to "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", "Holiday" was released as a single later on, in the spring of 2005. The song achieved considerable popularity across the world and performed moderately well on the charts. In the U.S., it reached number nineteen on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks and Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks charts. It debuted at number eleven in the UK and at number twenty-one in Canada. The song has been featured in the 2006 comedy film, Accepted. The Vancouver Canucks of the NHL once used it as their goal song.

Background

One of two explicitly political songs on the album (the other being fellow single "American Idiot"),[1] "Holiday" took two months to finish writing, as Armstrong continually felt his lyrics were not good enough. Aided by the encouragement of Cavallo, he completed the song.[2] "Holiday" was inspired by the music of Bob Dylan.[3] Armstrong wanted to write something stronger than "American Idiot", with harsh language to illustrate his points. The song takes aim at American conservatism. Armstrong felt that Republican politicians were "strategic" in alienating one group of people—for example, the gay community—in order to buy the votes of another.[4] He later characterized the song as an outspoken "fuck you" to Bush.[5] Armstrong for the first time imagined how he would perform the songs he was writing, and envisioned an audience responding to his lyric "Can I get another Amen?"[6] The song's bridge, which Armstrong hoped to be as "twisted as possible," was designed as a "politician's worst nightmare."[3]

The chorus's refrain—"This is our lives on holiday"—was intended to reflect the average American’s ambivalence on the issues of the day.[7] Armstrong characterized the song as "not anti-American, it’s anti-war."[8]

Live performances

In live performances, video screens would display footage of helicopters dropping bombs.[8]

Personnel

  • Billie Joe Armstrong- Lead vocals, lead and rhythm guitar
  • Mike Dirnt- Bass, backing vocals
  • Tre Cool- Drums, backing vocals

Music video

The first half of the video takes place in a car (a 1968 Mercury Monterey convertible), where Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool are partying around the town. In the second half they are cavorting in a bar where each of the band members portrays several different characters. Billie Joe Armstrong plays the mentioned Representative of California, two fighting clients, a punk rocker and a nerd. Tré Cool plays a drunken priest, an arrested patron, and a female prostitute. Mike Dirnt plays the barman, another punk, and a policeman. There are also scenes featuring seemingly worn-down can-can dancers. At the end of the video, the car smokes to a halt in the field that "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" begins in. Like the video for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", this video was directed by Samuel Bayer.

The band arrived at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards in the same car, this time "pimped out" by James Washburn, a friend of the band.

Track listing

CD 1
No. Title Length
1. "Holiday"   3:53
2. "Holiday" (live) 4:07
3. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (live) 4:24
CD 2
No. Title Length
1. "Holiday"   3:53
2. "Minority" (live) 6:01

7" picture disc

Side A
No. Title Length
1. "Holiday"   3:53
Side B
No. Title Length
1. "Minority" (live) 6:01

Vinyl Boxset

Side A
No. Title Length
1. "Holiday"   3:53
2. "Wake Me Up When September Ends"   4:45
Side B
No. Title Length
1. "Letterbomb"   4:06
2. "Governator" (non-LP track) 2:32
  • Live tracks recorded September 21, 2004 at Irving Plaza, New York

Charts

Chart precession and succession

Preceded by Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks number-one single
May 7-21, 2005		 Succeeded by
"The Hand that Feeds" by Nine Inch Nails
Preceded by Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks number-one single
June 4–18, 2005		 Succeeded by
"Remedy" by Seether

Cover versions

"Holiday"
Single by Scuba Dice
Released March 13, 2006 (2006-03-13)
Format Digital download
Recorded 2006
Genre Punk rock
Length 3:44
Label Independent
Writer(s) Billie Joe Armstrong
Producer(s) Rob Cavallo
Scuba Dice singles chronology
"—" "Holiday"
(2006)		 "Made"
(2006)

The song was first covered by the Irish pop punk band Scuba Dice in 2006 and charted at No. 8 on the Irish charts, No. 2 on the download chart that week, and went on to be 42nd best selling single of 2008 for an Irish artist.[12]

Hayseed Dixie also performed a bluegrass cover of the song on their album A Hot Piece of Grass.

The song "Dr. Who on Holiday", from the mash-up album American Edit, combines "Holiday", The KLF single "Doctorin' the Tardis", and the original theme from the television show Doctor Who, while the intro juxtaposes George W. Bush with the Daleks, a race of monsters from the aforementioned British television series.

Notes

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Winwood 2010, p. 50.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 200615 into search.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Sources

  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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