Comparing Green Day and Other Bands

Although Green Day's early albums were similar in themes and musical style to the early punk rock bands, they have developed in many ways over the years. Many of their songs are under four minutes long. Their musical style is still essentially rock, but with more variety than the early punk rockers. The issues they write about have expanded from boredom and teenage angst and rebellion to much bigger social and political issues. While the early punk bands also wrote about social and political issues, Green Day's lyrics are not as basic and direct, with some of them quite poetic. Their songs have also become longer and more complex on American Idiot with several lasting nine minutes or so.

Bands with a social conscience

There have always been singers and musicians who use their music to raise awareness of social issues. In the 1960s in the USA, many singers such as Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, and Peter, Paul and Mary, showed their political beliefs in their music. Songs like "Blowin' in the Wind", "If I Had A Hammer" and "We Shall Overcome" were sung at protest marches and rallies, and also reached number one on the charts. When the USA and Australia became involved in the Vietnam War in the mid 1960s, many people opposed their government's decision and expressed their views in protests. Many of the early protest songs were by folk singers, and it took some time for pop and rock bands to write about such topics, although the Vietnam War produced many anti-war songs.

In the 1970s and 1980s, several musicians joined forces to raise money and to raise awareness of various causes. George Harrison held a Concert for Bangladesh (which had been badly flooded) and Bruce Springsteen and others held "No Nukes" which was to support a ban on nuclear weapons. In 1985, "Live Aid" was held to raise money for those affected by famine in Ethiopia, and it has been followed by similar fund-raisers such as "Farm Aid", "Wave Aid" (for the victims of the tsunami in Asia) and the enormous "Live 8" series of concerts in eight countries around the world.

Australia has one of the world's most famous bands with a social conscience, in Midnight Oil. Many of their songs are about war ("Short Memory", "Forgotten Years"), politics ("US Forces", "Power and the Passion"), Aboriginal land rights ("Beds are Burning"), and corporations' bad treatment of workers ("Blue Sky Mine"). Their lead singer, Peter Garrett, has now joined the Labor Party and is a Member of Parliament.

       

The Irish group U2 is probably the most famous in the world for the work of their lead singer, Bono, in arguing to increase financial aid to Africa and to reduce their debt. He was very heavily involved in last year's Live8 and the Make Poverty History campaign, and the group's songs often have social and political messages. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" is about the fighting in Northern Ireland; "Pride (In the Name of Love)" is about the assassination of Martin Luther King, "Love And Peace Or Else" is about war.

In the past few years Green Day's music has become more about social and political issues, although they always had some songs relating to these. The whole of their latest album "American Idiot" is devoted to social and political issues. This includes their opposition to the government's policies on the war in Iraq, the role of the media especially television, the difficulties for ordinary people, poverty and homelessness.

A few months ago, Green Day teamed up with U2 to make a record and video to support the victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. The song was "The Saints are Coming" and all proceeds go to the hurricane relief cause. This collaboration with U2 raises the profile of Green Day as an activist group even further.

Comparing Green Day to The Beatles

Firstly, I think it's safe to say that Green Day have been influenced by The Beatles in some way. The Beatles are probably the most famous and most influential group in popular music. Whether it's their writing style, or their choice of guitar chords, or their behaviour on stage, Green Day have most likely listened to The Beatles and gone 'This is what it's all about'.

Both bands have definitely made an impact on the world. With their socially-aware lyrics, catchy hooks and excellent publicity skills, both bands have been very successful. While Green Day is mostly a three-piece band, they have recently included a fourth member, and the Beatles always had four members.

There are some notable differences. The band members come from quite different backgrounds and social classes. For example, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison all went to grammar schools, whereas Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt were from poor working-class backgrounds and at one stage both lived in a squat.

Both groups wrote songs about everyday life, love, ups and downs. To begin with, their songs were short, simple and catchy. However as the years went by, their song-writing became more complex in its style and they wrote about current events and issues.

The Beatles were one of the first pop groups to make what has been called a "concept album", with "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" in 1967. The songs on it make sense on their own, but also link together in a loose storyline. Other bands such as The Who would take this further to create an entire "rock opera" album with "Tommy". Many critics have compared Green Day's most recent album "American Idiot" with both "Sergeant Pepper's" and "Tommy".

The Beatles' song 'A Day In The Life' mentions topics from current events: the death of a friend in a car crash, public reaction to a war movie, and a reference to 4000 potholes in Lancashire, which John was reading about in an item in the Daily Mail. In the song the item about the potholes is used to indicate the futility ("Although the holes were rather small, they had to count them all") of many everyday activities. After he left the Beatles, John Lennon wrote a number of anti-war songs ("Happy Christmas /War is Over", "Instant Karma"). Green Day's "Holiday" refers to current events such as the war in Iraq, homelessness and poverty.

Green Day's "American Idiot" is a critique of America's government and political system, as well as writing about social issues such as drug use and the impact of broken homes. Both "Sergeant Pepper's" and "American Idiot" went to number one almost immediately after release, showing that they struck a deep chord with the public.

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