holiday green day

During live performances, lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong liked to introduce this song with a political agenda as a reaction to the war in Iraq at the time. For example, on Green Day's CD/DVD Bullet in a Bible (2005), Armstrong announces: "This next song's a big 'f**k you' to all the politicians... This song is not anti-American, it's anti-war!"

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 portray several different characters. Billie Joe Armstrong plays the mentioned Representative of California, two fighting clients, and Weezer's Rivers Cuomo. Tré Cool plays a drunken priest, a patron, and a prostitute. Mike Dirnt plays the barman, a policeman, and a patron who tries unsuccessfully to toss nuts into his mouth. 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 VMA's in the same car, this time pimped out by James Washburn, a friend of the band.

Trivia

• When Green Day performs live, the lyric "the representative from California has the floor" is usually changed to reflect the show's venue.

• The German phrase "sieg heil" can be found in this song. One of the song's radio edits censors this phrase. The lyrics read "Zieg (sic) heil to the President Gasman / Bombs away is your punishment."

• In the lyrics, "President Gasman" is most likely a reference to president George W. Bush, and "pulverize the Eiffel towers who criticize your government" most likely refers to the anti-France sentiment held by the public at the time.

• The song is in the key of F minor, the same key signature as "Boulevard of Broken Dreams". Tré Cool's energetic drumming contrasts with the almost playful swing eighth notes in the vocals and percussion figures. The song's tempo is a moderately fast 142 bpm in 4/4 time.

• The song was used as background music for the 2006 Winter Olympic Games on T.V.

• The song has been used as the theme for Shaun Green on the New York Mets when he is up to bat.

• The song is used in Tony Hawk's American Wasteland video game, and in the 2006 feature-length film, Accepted.

• The instrumental riffs, and the way the lyrics are spoken are oddly similar to Iggy Pop's song "The Passenger".

• In the "Dean Gray" mash-up project American Edit, the song is mixed with Doctorin' the Tardis, by The Timelords (aka The KLF), yielding a track called Dr. Who on Holiday.

Charts

External links

• LyricWiki Main Page