When we listen to Green Day’s hit song ‘American Idiot’, we are used to hearing Billie Joe Armstrong sing “I’m not a part of a redneck agenda,” but at their show in Calabash, South Africa over the MLK Day weekend, Green Day decided to call out out Elon Musk with a lyric change to “I’m not a part of an Elon agenda” instead.
As you have probably heard, Elon Musk made some very questionable statements followed by a salute at a Trump rally. Green Day responded to this with a lyric change in their iconic song, along with Billie Joe Armstrong shouting “The US can have Elon, but South Africa can have Green Day!” at another show a few days later, and I would say the most ironic part of this whole situation is that South Africa is actually Elon’s home country. Green Day also changed the lyrics in their song ‘Holiday,’ changing the line “The money’s on the other side” to “The money’s on Elon Musk” at their show in Mexico City.
Green Day has done things like this before, being known for their political views and anti-dystopian and anti-red beliefs. For instance, at a show in 2016, Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt changed the lyrics of their song ‘Bang Bang,’ to include some strong anti-Trump language. Another example of this was at their New Year’s Eve performance in 2023, when Green Day called out Donald Trump with a lyric change to “I’m not a part of a MAGA agenda” and shouting “Biden 2024!” at the end of their show.
Elon Musk, in an attempt to defend MAGA, responded to this event with a Tweet accusing the band of going from “raging against the machine to milquetoastedly raging for it.” Apparently Elon thinks he can just make up words whenever he wants just because he’s rich and powerful.
Overall, this entire battle is really interesting to witness. I believe Green Day’s political stands are a big part of what makes Green Day unique and powerful, and it’s nice to see the band sticking up for what they believe in.