ok i dont want to start an argument up but im gonna set some facts strait. george bush did not choke on a pretzel it was cheney. second whoever said we gave iraq the WMD's to kill the kurds wtf, the united states doesnt even use that type of nerve gas, and third it was proven that iraq had connections with al-quada but they were not harboring terrorists. and bush did not cheat to become president if i remember correctly gore wanted the recount and a supreme court with a more democrats than republicans ruled it unconstitutional.ohh and by the way green day rocks

I am anti bush and i totally LOVE this song!!!!!! Green Day kicks republican ass!

\\// Peace

I interpreted this entire album and it took me days to do it. Every song fits in exactly where it's supposed to fit in.

American Idiot - Bit of a 'prequel' to the rest of the disk...basically, before Jesus is introduced, it talks about the bulk of today's youth being a bunch of conformists. The media owns the people, and these people are basically idiots. Jesus does not want to be one of these people...

Jesus of Suburbia - Intro to the main character, Jesus. The 'Son of Rage and Love'...basically, he grew up in a home where his father was hard on him and his mother loved him (reminds me of that 70's show), he basically turns to drugs and alcohol to stay sane in that home.

City of the Dead - Basically shows Jesus's life outside of his home. 'Graffiti in the bathroom stall'...'Holy scriptures of a shopping mall'...people are talkign about him...he's confused.

I Don't Care - Coming to grips with what's going on in the world, Jesus basically decides he doesn't care about anything if no one else cared...driving him to the point of suicide

Dearly Beloved - No one's listening, he's confused, does he kill himself or does he run...he doesnt know

Tales From Another Broken Home - 'To live, and not to breath, is to die, in tragedy'...suicide is to tragic...so what does lil jesus do...RUN'S AWAY! He leaves home...what else do you need to know?

Holiday - I've heard some say that this song doesn't fit in with the story, when in fact it does. Jesus has left the protection of Mommy and Daddy...he now sees the real world, and what's goin on in the real world right now? THE WAR ON TERRORISM!!!! I also thing it has something to do with Arnold Schwarzenneger 'The representative from California has the floor'...but hey, what do i know?

Bvld. Broken Dreams - By far the best song on the album, Green Day probably would have released this first but who wants to release a power ballad for your first song in four years? Basically, it's really self-explanatory, Jesus is alone and confused...Hey, wouldn't you be to if you were alone?

We Are the Waiting - Not the best song on the album, but certainly the most anthemetic. This is Jesus's transformation from who he really is to who he needs to be to survive in the world - St. Jimmy. 'The Jesus of Suburbia is a lie'...he lies about his old life, he hates his old life...

St. Jimmy - Look what Jesus has become since he left home...the punk rock rebel we all know as St. Jimmy...everyone loves Jesus now...everyone but Jesus...

Give Me Novocaine - DRUGS!!! PAIN-KILLERS!!! Who wants an alternate reality, Jesus sure does, he wants to be St. Jimmy, it's who he evolved into, it's who he is now...he needs a numbing, welcome to your new life Jesus

She's a Rebel - Enter Whatshername, she's a rebel, she's a saint, she's the salt of the earth and she's dangerous! Well, Jesu--oops--St. Jimmy, meets her, begins to fall in love, sees her as a revolutionary, blah blah blah...but who does Whatsername want - Jesus or St. Jimmy?

Extraordinary Girl - lol trippy drums! Anywho, basically St. Jimmy is holding her up on a pedestal, as most guys do to the girl their in love with...and he would do anything to make her happy...but she's super sad

Letterbomb - Well, Whatsername and Jimmy are together...but not happy...Whatsername doesn't want Jimmy, she likes what he was, who he should be. This song actually has A LOT of depth. however, you can figure out this whole song and tie up any lose ends in the previous tracks. 'Your not the Jesus of Suburbia, and St. Jimmy is a figment of, your fathers rage and your mother's love, your now the idiot America...' and at the end when it says Whatsername is leaving. He's not Jesus anymore, he left who he was because he was scared. St. Jimmy is just an alter-ego made up by all Jesus had when he was growing up...his Fathers rage and his mothers love...and finally, think back to 'American Idiot'...what is Jesus...just an idiot...nobody likes him, everyones left him, there all out without him, having fun! THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TRACK IN THE ALBUM'S STORYLINE!!!

Wake Me Up... - Love this song, no matter how heavy Green Day gets, every soft song they make is a knock-out...especially this one. Basically, what does Jimmy have left, Whatsername is gone...it's been seven years since he left, what does he have, where can he go. Obviously this takes place in September, and he's hoping that everything will be better by October...this song has a lot more death and it's even tied into rumours about Billie Joe's dad dying.

The Death of St. Jimmy - So what does sad, little, left with nothing St. Jimmy do? HE DIES!!! WELCOME BACK JESUS!!!! St. Jimmy is how Jesus spent most of his life, it was how he learnt how to live, love, and believe. Basically, the alter-ego St. Jimmy was the only thing he could turn to when Jesus was alone, dreamless, hopeless, so it's what he became.

IMPORTANT - Some might argue that St. Jimmy was infact not an alter-ego of what Jesus becomes, but infact was his sort of 'guide' out in the world, think about the last lines..."In the state, of mind, it's my own private suicide..."Basically, he just kills that state of mind, he is Jesus again.

East 12th Street - This is what Jesus is now, no St. Jimmy, he is now just Jesus...workin in some office 'Filling out Paperwork'...but he's still not happy...he still wants out...

Nobody Likes You - What do you think...Jesus is the American Idiot with nothing to do but drink coffee and watch spike tv...boring huh?...whered everyone go? wonders Jesus...

Rock and Roll Girlfriend - I don't know when or where this fits in exactly, but I know it does cuz everything does. I'm tired of everyone saying this song sucks, it's not Green Day, blah blah blah...I personally like it...I think it sounds old school jazz rocky! but anyway, my guess is that it's one of Jesus's old friends, named TUNNY,...first of all it's addressed to St. Jimmy, which Jesus's friends probably still believe he goes by...and that by staying where he was and working he got the ultimate rock and roll life, while poor Jesus is all alone.

We're Coming Home Again - After seeing everything he missed, Jesus goes home...is there much more to it?

Whatsername - Some would think that the last song would be the conclusion, but in this case, i don't believe it is. All Jesus is doing is remebering Whatsername...and thats it.

That's my opinion, in short, it's a story about not running from your problems...can I get mor specific.

*This is my interpretation of the album, please do not believe the same thing because you heard it here, but make of it what you make of it.*

*rolls eyes* green day is kicking as much democratic ass as republican ass in this song.
He's becoming and 'Idiot' which by the greek definition means "One who does not partake in voting or public affairs" which i believe is what is meant by this song. He's rejecting all forms of political partisanship, hell if you listen to it closely enough you can see thats he's insulting those who have party affiliation or believes everything they hear by the media and parties.

Green Day rocks cause they are making people argue like this over their song.

((btw hedge, it was bush who choked on the pretzel, while he was at his Texas Ranch.))

wow canadian idiot uv really done ur research!!

wow canadian idiot uv really done ur research!!

sry but mad it was cheney while giving a speech in the 2000 election campaign i was there

mad meerkat my mistake cheneys was potato chips bush did choke on a pretzel i apologize

thanks mad, people take the time to write their little political input instead of the meaning to the song in their mind, my reccomendation to all that are on their own political prostitution ramble to buy the album, or the special journal edition of the album from the website and understand the REAL meaning of the song.

o ya, the order of the album so you can justify it for yourself

1. american idiot, 2. jesus of suburbia, 3. holiday, 4.boulavard of broken dreams, 5. are we the waiting, 6. st. jimmy, 7. give me novicane, 8.she's a rebel, 9. extrodinary girl, 10. letter bomb 11. Homecoming 12. whatsername

and another thing, because he choked on a pretzel is how your gonna decide the next leader of the free world?

i think this song is great

the lyrics suck, and i am sick of people who are in hollywood, or the music industry telling people who to vote for, how to think etc

its a hypocritical song, he is bashing hte media but he is doing the same thing

and BTW the above opinion fits for any artist whether probush or pro kerry

i say to the them shut the hell up

i love the song... but it really should be rewritten so its anti-kerry then it would make it great :)

Bush is power, Kerry is weekness. Do you want a week USA so the European Union can take over. Remember the past World Wars have been started by Europe. All you liberal punks are making Europe very happy!

Rock needs some more conservative views.

Oh yeah, don't say FDR was a Democrat either. He was not a Liberal Democrat and his time was way before the liberal revolution let by hippies (like Kerry).

bleh, i knew i was forgetting a song, #11 is Wake me up when september ends.

this comment box has kinda flipped out.. by far

by the way, its weak, not week, and kerry is neither

by the way, its weak, not week. and kerry is neither

Nice discussion and great song! :) Greetings from the european union.

The singer (whose name I temporarily forgotten after having my mind liquidised by three hours of Green Day and Blink 182 videos) said in 'making the video' that he doesn't agree with the current establishment, nor the way the country is run by both the politicians and the media . . . I have to go lie down now. Damn you, MTV2!

ehm, just btw.... does the expression 'alien nation' make any sense? to me it sounds like 'idiot nation', which would fit better into the context in my opinion. listen to the chorous carefully and you'll see.
oh, sry if some1 wrote that before, was to tired to read all that stuff above! ^^
and yeah, billy said it wasn't a anti bush song but against the current state of the US. in my opinion that's the same :D and they just don't want to become a subject of censorship!
it's more than obvious that somethings wrong in and with america right now and that this song criticizes that fact.

so far ;)

Just thought I'd point out that it isn't necessarily disssing the bush administration. It could just as easily be talking about the average american population, regardless of the government.

Green day just totally ruined themselves!!they used to be a kick-ass band and now they go and make this stupid crap....Just because they don't like Bush...they need to be a little more educated on him first of all...censorship isn't even done by the government it's done by company labels....I'm really republican and I can argue any one all day long...Green Day was just trying to look cool and appeal to those teenagers who don't really know how censorship works...they just lost their qualities that make them great..

"It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag who gives that protester the freedom to abuse and burn that flag."
- Sen. Zell Miller

Yeah, this song is anti-Bush and maybe even anti-american-but it can be and thats whats great about the US-they can say whatever they want even if we dont like it

Otherwise-great song

thats true but even if this wasn't about Bush I still think green day sucks now...they used to rock....i just don't like it and yeah i am partialy biased cuz i like pres. bush but still green day lost their touch