The Band Called Greenday

Music is often considered “the universal language.” Throughout, history it has symbolized love, brought people together, and has been the cornerstone of many lives. In the 1950s, a new form of music entered American mass culture that drastically changed the culture of the United States (U.S.): rock music. In the U.S., it began as Rock ‘n’ Roll, a originally “black” music genre that was then taken and promulgated by white Americans. Post WWII, many Americans—especially teenagers—struggled with the newfound societal conformity and normalcy, and rock provided them a form of retaliation. From its beginning, Rock united the younger generation of Americans, stirring up a sense of community amongst teenagers and troubling many adults by their actions—heightening

I have chosen to write about one of my favorite alternative rock band, Red Hot Chili Peppers from Los Angeles, California. My decision was based upon two things; one being I like the band, while the other was to learn if some of their music is sending the wrong message to our young people. I personally would not consider myself music sappy; never have I really been given a chance to listen to music as I grew up, to find what I like. As of today, I don’t know who sings what song nor really know what the lyric’s mean. With today’s environment young people are given a chance to be inspired by different kinds of media; thus giving them the opportunity to actually find out what the artist is meaning behind the songs. After interviewing four participation;

The 1950’s brought about the beginning of teen culture. The phrase, “teenager”, had only recently been invented but the word was already developing more weight and meaning. To be a teen encompassed the soul of rebellion. The formative years were a warp in the usual fast pace of life, a pause between childhood and adulthood. That pause was uncomfortable and foreign. It gave kids a chance to think and feel before being thrust into The Real World. That small break was enough for the seed of self-expression to slip through, and music is the ultimate form of self-expression. The birth of rock and roll, the constant threat of the cold war, the inescapable prison of segregation, and the chance to stop

Punk rock music has been used for decades to express dissatisfaction with society, government, or any idea common in mainstream media. Yet punk rock is not simply a tangent of the mainstream, it is a dynamic and fluid genre with many distinct songs. Don Letts, a mainstay in the London punk scene during the 70’s and 80’s, went as far to say that hip-hop was essentially “black” punk. While punk and hip-hop music are stylistically different, the fundamental tone of the two genres is the same. Even throughout the decades, hip-hop has sang the same issues as punk, including the plight of the lower class, police brutality, and gang violence.

The impact music had on teenagers was significant. Teenager’s developed a new style of music called Rock ‘n’ Roll, because the lyrics reflected and embraced their lives. High school sweethearts, fast-cars, and rebellion against authority resembled what teenagers craved the most. Parents disliked the message and influence behind the lyrics of Rock ‘n’ Roll, because they believed it caused juvenile delinquency. Parents hated the sexuality of the songs, the performers,

Rivers Cuomo, Patrick Wilson, Matt Sharp, and Jason Cropper formed the alternative rock group known as Weezer in 1992 in Los Angeles, California. The band went through several names before lead singer Rivers Cuomo christened the band as Weezer after his childhood nickname due to his asthma.

“He [Pearson’s father] would freak out when he read the song titles to the cassettes that my friends and I would shoplift from the mall…He was certain that I’d become a Junkie if I listened to that kind of music. But with an alcoholic wife-beater father who didn’t give a shit about his son I was bound to avoid the cliched, nihilist aspects of punk culture” (Pearson 12).

     The time was in the mid-seventies, there was a void in the music industry that needed to be filled. This need for a new sound was aptly filled by punk rock, a new type of sound that had evolved from mostly rock and a little pop music. The focus of this paper is on punk rock and it’s ample beginnings, early pioneers of the new sound, punk rock listener’s cultural background and their ideas as a whole, bands influenced by the punk rock movement, and the state of punk rock today.

In order to prove that the Hip-Hop culture’s beliefs and goals have changed, I am mostly going to rely heavily on the culture’s music. Hip-Hop music has been the voice of the Hip-Hop culture since the beginning. It has been an outlet for those in the Hip-Hop culture to vent. To understand the changes in beliefs for the culture of Hip-Hop I must first distinguish what the original beliefs were. Then I must look at Hip-Hop music now to compare and contrast. This must be done using mostly first hand knowledge. This will give an actual inside look on the culture and eliminate preconception, lies or concealment.

Throughout this paper I will be discussing the band Nirvana and their history has a band. I will discuss how they became so popular and why. Furthermore, I will discuss how this mass popularity relates to the impact they had on the development of youth culture at the time. I have chosen two songs to discuss and compare. These songs are “Come As You Are” and “Lithium”. Both were written by Nirvana and were hits on their second album “Nevermind”.

Everyone has heard a Green Day song at some point in their life, from their hit “Holiday” to “American Idiot.” Green Day has been a popular band that started in the 1990’s. Being a punk band in the 90’s the artists quickly made an impact by being rebellious and speaking their true thoughts. They focus on the realities of life, rather than a fluffed-up version that may seem too good to be true. In some of their other hits they show how broken and defeated someone may be without ever noticing it. While “Jesus of Suburbia” is not one of their greatest hits, it is an influential song that almost spans ten minutes of a listener’s time. Green Days’ Jesus of Suburbia affects the punk rock crowd by displaying how desensitized our generation has become and the difficulties that our youth feels that it must go through in order to get by, depicted by repetition and exaggeration.

With the economic decline and availability of jobs with upward movement, a culture of youths formed in Britain that challenged the ideals and cultural norms of the generations that came before them. A consistent movement from traditional society through youth subcultures brings light through the eyes of the musicians that describe their generation’s feelings of homelessness in an era filled with unemployment, low wages, and violence. The insurgence of the counterculture movement, poor economic conditions, and the commercialization of previous Rock and Roll music in Britain directly led to the punk subculture because it allowed youths to speak up about their conditions and frustrations through an easily understood and accessible medium while maintaining a different stance than their predecessors.

Funk rock is a fusion genre that mixes elements of funk and rock. Many instruments may be incorporated into the music, but the overall sound is defined by a definitive bass or drum beat and electric guitars. 3 Another differences between Green Day and RHCP are the features of their songs and performance. In general, the introduction parts of Green Day’s songs are lyrical, and they change to the thumping beat at the middle part.

Green Day considered itself to be punk. Infact, many people consider them to be one of the greatest punk rock bands of all time, along with Blink 182 and Sum 41. Founding members Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt grew up closely associated with the punk scene near Berkeley, and for the first 15 years of its existence the boys pumped out top-40 three-minute hits about masturbating, smoking marijuana, and being pissed off. However, in 2004, Green Day showed it had matured immensely and changed style significantly with its release of the concept album “American Idiot.” A concept album is an album that tells a story throughout. This

The relationship between music and society is an exceptionally powerful and crucial one. In some cases, this relationship is viewed as one that is harmonious and beneficial to large communities of people. However, that exact relationship could also be scrutinized as one that is extremely discordant to other communities. Green Day happens to fall precisely in the middle of that musical spectrum, depending on who is asked. Regardless of opinion, songs are much more than just music and are essentially retained as pieces of history. These songs help showcase the trends, behaviors, and even struggles of different time periods. With that being said, one may ask “What all did the musical group Green Day contribute to society?”.