Green Day: An Ode to Dookie

Last Monday, I read an article on pitchfork about Green Day transforming American Idiot into a rock-musical. This seemed like a natural (if depressing) move for a band that has so thoroughly overstepped their bounds, going from potty-mouthed punks to Bono-esque interpreters of the state of the world. The lyric, "Don't wanna be an American idiot," always struck me as a cheap attempt at political commentary by a band whose minds belonged in the gutter. Even an upsetting one, insofar as it circumvented complex issues with one shallow anti-American slogan. I remember watching in disappointment as hundreds of thousands of gleeful fans sang along to the song at Live8 in Germany. For political music, it was just too easy - like a band receiving roaring applause for shouting, "No one rocks harder than you, Cleveland!" when playing a show in Cleveland. Protest music was big after the Iraq invasion, and I felt like Green Day was cashing in, or suffering from delusions of grandeur, or both.

This is why it was especially weird realizing that American Idiot has become Green Day's seminal album - outselling all the others, winning more awards, and defining their new identity as a socially conscious punk band.  Many younger Green Day fans aren't even aware of the band's earlier output.  Though a little annoyed, I accepted this - we had our fun, stupid Green Day album, and a new generation has theirs.  I use the word "generation" because American Idiot came out a full decade after Dookie, meaning those of us who don't "get" American Idiot are just different.  We wore more flannel and our pants were looser.

I was going to write this post about a band that had sunk from unremarkable, to annoying, to borderline evil - insofar as they embody everything I hate about mainstream music today. I absolutely loved every bit of Dookie when I was twelve, but as was the nature of music consumption at the time, what I liked at twelve I hated by fourteen. Dookie quickly felt old, out of style, childish; it was fake punk for mainstream radio. I only gave it a second serious listen on Monday. 

That's when I realized it's still one of the greatest pop-rock albums ever made.

First of all, abandon any notion that Green Day is or ever was a band with rough edges. Rolling Stone nailed it in their original review of Dookie: "it's useful to remember that before mythic Brits such as the Sex Pistols and the Clash spewed distorted guitar and anarchic politics, punk essentially was the Ramones – that is, basically just the Beach Boys ultraloud and pissed off." That's what you get on Dookie - one killer hook after another, played through distorted guitars, with curse words.  

Here's one of the album's best songs, "Having a Blast," which I suspect would have been a hit single if the lyrics hadn't been about mass murder and suicide.  Turn up the volume; I dare you not to enjoy.

Here's another hidden gem - "Pulling Teeth."  Easily could have been a Weezer song if the lyrics were about Dungeons and Dragons or Japanese girls or whatever.  

The album's closer, "F.O.D.," live at Woodstock '94 (the one with mud, not fires).  Also a vivid illustration of what it was like when moshing was really popular.

And, of course, their gargantuan hit, "Basket Case."  If Billie Joe Armstrong's toolishness gets in the way of appreciating this song, I suggest closing your eyes and thinking about rollerblading.  That's how I first heard this song - I was in sixth grade, and the DJ at the rollerblading rink played it repeatedly because kids like me went absolutely apeshit over it.  (Yes, rollerblading rink).

I'm skipping over the other hits ("When I Come Around," "Longview," "Welcome to Paradise," "She") because we've heard them a million times.  But they're all equally deserving of a second chance.

If I can achieve something with this blog entry, it's to have at least a few people dig up Dookie and play it a couple times through.  At worst it will be a fun nostalgia trip.