When asked what Billie Joe hears when he listens to the record:
"I think we just took it to the next level after Nimrod. We just sort of waited for inspired moments and took our time. I have to say, we did try to go in and make the most classic Green Day record we possibly could, and you know, we didn't want to put any sort of filler or anything. It's always been sort of something we've stuck to since the beginning, and that's just to write good songs. That's what this record [Warning] is about."
Mike, when asked how Warning is different to previous albums:
"We didn't go to band practice and try and pound out songs. Billy really waited for inspired moments, especially lyrically inspired moments. And you know, we weren't forcing songs. When we'd have two, three songs, we'd start another one and we'd go, "Uh, that's not working today. Let's go work on the ones that do work." Whereas on the last record, we were just pounding songs out, as many as we could. Nimrod was like, "OK, let's record 40 songs and see what songs pop out and make an album." With this one it was kind of like, 'Hey, let's just see what songs pop out and make a record without forcing anything, and, you know, have an actual life to live and breathe through these songs.'"
Billie Joe on the over-the-top negativity in his lyrics:
"There's a lot of sarcasm in my lyrics because I don't think music is supposed to be taken seriously. It's a form of escape from the BS you have to deal with everyday."
Talking about American Idiot:
"Well, it's this culture war, and the country's divided, split right down the middle, and there's a lot of confusion. And to be a kid growing up nowadays has gotta be pretty scary, because there are lots of different things pulling you. Whether it's 'Wear this !@#$&^* deodorant or else you're gonna smell like *#!&' or 'Watch this reality TV show with this guy putting his head in a big vat of blood!' And this war that's going on in Iraq that's basically to build a pipeline and put up a Wal-Mart. It's a lot of information, and it's not only confusing for just my kids; it's confusing for adults too."
"American Idiot can be anti-Bush, but it's also a human story," he said. "If someone believes one thing, it turns into 'us versus them. I didn't want to make a Rage Against the Machine record. I wanted to make an album of heartfelt songs." (Billie Joe Armstrong quoted from Rolling Stone interview, 2005)
"Sounds kind of like American Idiot. There's definitely a theme and a story throughout the record. The album is also quite political. All my songwriting is about creating a statement and taking action. On American Idiot, it's reflecting on what's going on in the world right now." (Billie Joe, quoted in Guitar Player : Fear & Loathing in a Post-9/11 America)
The song "American Idiot" has been described by the band as their public statement in reaction to the confusing and warped scene that is American pop culture since 9/11. Armstrong has said that they chose to write this way because the band has obtained respect and sway in the music world, and that this social commentary is part of their natural evolution as a band. (quoted in Wikipedia article on American Idiot)
Reflecting on the decade since Green Day's debut Dookie, Billie Joe Armstrong was reported saying the Green Day song that he is most proud of was Jesus of Suburbia, in his words, "I'd have to say 'Jesus of Suburbia'. It always feels brand new, and with that song, we can say that we've done something that no one else has in rock music, that is make a nine-minute anthem that's considered punk rock." (Interview with Billie Joe Armstrong in Spin magazine)
Advocates for Self Government
Advocates of Liberty : Billie Joe Armstrong, Friend of Liberty
However, what fans may not know about Green Day's frontman, the funny and charismatic Armstrong, is that he is a registered Libertarian voter in California. And while Armstrong has not talked specifically about his libertarian beliefs, he has hinted at them. In Spin magazine (October 2005), Armstrong said, "Punk has always been about doing things your own way. What it represents for me is ultimate freedom and a sense of individuality." In an interview on Yahoo.com (December 10, 2000), Armstrong alluded to his dissatisfaction with Republicans and Democrats when he said, "There's a lot of people that [didn't] vote this year just because of a lack of a better selection."
In an interview with Great Britain's CMU Weekly (January 12, 2004), Armstrong broadened his criticism, saying, "There is a war on terror which is basically a war on fear. It is playing with our fear." Green Day also contributed a track to the Rock Against Bush album in 2004, and signed on to support the PunkVoter.com website, which encourages young people to vote.
In 2005, the band's ambitious punk-rock opera, American Idiot, won enormous critical praise, picked up a Grammy as Best Rock Album, and sold 10 million copies around the world. The title track decried the Bush Administration's "redneck agenda." Another song on the album, "Holiday," was described by Rolling Stone (November 17, 2005) as an "incendiary anti-government song in the tradition of [Bob] Dylan's 'Masters of War.'" The magazine also reported that at an October 16, 2005 concert in Nashville, Tennessee, Armstrong, referring to politicians, told the crowd, "They don't have the power! You're the [expletive] leaders! We elect these people into office! Don't let them dictate your life or tell you what to do!"