21st Century Breakdown , the successor to American Idiot, turns 10 years old today.
In 2004, Green Day reached the peak of success and critical acclaim with the rock opera American Idiot . How to proceed, then, after reaching what seemed to be the highest point of their career? The band took 5 years to answer that question with 21st Century Breakdown , released exactly 10 years ago.
The group led by Billie Joe Armstrong produced yet another punk-rock masterpiece. This time, they toned down the drama and delivered a narrative that perfectly reflects the turbulence of the first decade of the century.
To provide historical context, 2009 was the last year of George W. Bush's Barack Obama was elected . The then-US president was being called a racist and a fascist, the police were killing citizens without a second thought, and Eastern countries were being swept by wars instigated by the Americans. It doesn't seem like things have changed that much in the meantime.
And Green Day was able to understand this feeling of confusion and helplessness and transform it into art. 21st Century Breakdown always works on two levels that constantly intersect throughout the listening experience: the inner and outer struggle.
Narratively, the album follows two characters across three distinct acts. Gloria and Christian embark on a kind of revolutionary hero's journey, while the band critiques the pillars of modern society. On an interpretative level – the most interesting aspect of the work – it discusses how an ordinary citizen can deal with their personal problems and still fight for society.
Gloria is an ideological revolutionary, the “Last Of The American Girls,” who “graffiti walls, goes on hunger strikes, and destroys Western society.” Christian is working class, tired of capitalist oppression and prone to violence. In “Last Night On Earth,” the couple falls in love and begins a revolution against the aristocracy of “Murder City,” another track on the album. This last one, in fact, was written on a drunken night when Billie Joe witnessed a police officer shooting a handcuffed boy.
Both characters believe in violent revolution as the only way out. The band defends this point of view in the hit “Know Your Enemy,” which points the finger at the oppressors in society. Among them are religion, capitalism and consumerism, and conservative politics personified by George Bush.
But how can one engage in a cause, even a noble one, when that same oppression consumes the human being? Gloria and Christian then go through problems with addictions, the loss of ideology, and the will to fight. Television blinds the population while medication blinds the protagonists. In "Restless Heart Syndrome," the narrative reaches its most critical point and changes the album's vision up to that point. "You are your own worst enemy," Armstrong sings. You are your own worst enemy.
The intertwining of the personal and the social is at the heart of the album. A very fitting theme for a socially engaged punk band that has always dealt with addictions and personal problems. Although it doesn't offer a solution, in "See The Light," the band seems to be saying that the important thing is to never lose awareness of what's happening to you and to others.
The feeling of light at the end of the tunnel, of limbo and transition, represents a sense of hope brought about by Obama's election, as the band has already stated. It also represents a step towards the psychological control the characters achieve after the exhaustion of the struggle.
Ten years later, especially considering that the world of "Murder City" still exists and on a seemingly worse scale, 21st Century Breakdown stands as a masterpiece. The setlist, which encompasses diverse rock influences, delivers powerful critiques of daily oppression without forgetting how it personally affects each individual.
Billie Joe Armstrong spoke about the anthem “21 Guns.” “A lot of people think the song is about world peace. But I think it’s also about kind of surrendering for a while and finding inner peace. Finding strength in silence. Stopping doesn’t mean giving up. Maybe it means you’re just trying to find some humanity.”
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