Holiday (Green Day song)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Holiday" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Single by Green Day | ||
| from the album American Idiot | ||
| Released | March 2005 (North America) | |
| Format | Digital download (U.S.) CD single (Elsewhere) |
|
| Genre | Punk rock | |
| Length | 3:52 | |
| Label | Reprise | |
| Writer(s) | Billie Joe Armstrong | |
| Producer(s) | Rob Cavallo, Green Day | |
| Certification | Gold (RIAA) | |
| Chart positions | ||
| Green Day singles chronology | ||
| "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (2005) |
"Holiday" (2005) |
"Wake Me Up When September Ends" (2005) |
| American Idiot track listing | ||
| "Jesus of Suburbia" (2) |
"Holiday" (3) |
"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (4) |
"Holiday" is a punk rock song by Green Day, released as the third single off of their seventh studio album American Idiot (2004). 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 debuted at number eleven in the UK and at number twenty-one in Canada. Holiday features a spoken word segment that is unique to Green Day songs.
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 'fuck you' to all the politicians. This song is not anti-America; it's anti-war!"
[edit] 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.
[edit] Trivia
- When Green Day performs live, the lyric "the representative from California has the floor" is usually changed to reflect the show's venue. In Bullet In A Bible, for example, Billie Joe Armstrong said "The representative of the United Kingdom now has the floor." Note that he says "now", but in the original song he doesn't. This is presumably to anote the fact that the verse is altered.
- 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 was used as background music for the 2006 Winter Olympics on TV.
- 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.
- During the music video, Tre Cool can be seen throwing his drumsticks out of the car at the very beginning yet later on he is with his drumsticks in his hands.
- In the videoclip, you can see a building that is similar to one that is used in "Godzilla vs King Ghidorah" season in Godzilla series.
- During the bar scene, you can see a picture of Billie Joe with dynamite attached to him on the bar where Mike is serving.
- Since 2006, the San Jose Sharks have played this song whenever the team scores a goal at home games.
[edit] Charts
| Chart (2005) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Pop 100 | 18 |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 1 (3 weeks) |
| U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 1 (3 weeks) |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40 | 5 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Ringtones | 35 |
| U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40 | 8 |
| UK Singles Chart | 11 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 13 |
| Canadian Singles Chart | 21 |
| Canadian BDS Airplay Chart | 3 |
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart | 24 |
| Japanese Singles Chart | 38 |
| German Singles Chart | 50 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 13 |
| Preceded by "Be Yourself" by Audioslave |
Billboard Modern Rock Tracks number-one single May 7, 2005 |
Succeeded by "The Hand that Feeds" by Nine Inch Nails |
