I believe some of the best stories are told through songs and an important story told through a concept album is “American Idiot” by Green Day.
Dubbed a punk rock opera, “American Idiot” tells the story of an apathetic man named “Jesus of Suburbia” also going by his alter ego, “Saint Jimmy.” Jesus grows apathetic in a society of blind sheep and gains followers including a girlfriend called “Whatsername,” who leaves him.
The album was created during the post-9/11 George W. Bush-era United States where Americans were getting dumber and even giving up their freedoms to have the illusion of safety. “American Idiot” is ultimately a response to the growing herd mentality of the United States at the time. I feel the album is even more relevant now than it was back in 2004 with the American conservative herd mentality getting worse and worse each year.
At first, Jesus starts out not caring how terrible society is. He grows nihilistic about everything and just waits for the downfall. This can be heard in the track “Jesus of Suburbia” where he states everyone is born and raised by hypocrites. He even tries to convince others to listen to him and leaves home. However, he does not stay nihilistic for long as he is consumed by the emotions of rage and love. Even though this song is nine minutes long it goes by super fast leaving me wanting to re-listen to it. The song is broken up into five sub-songs and I feel that is an amazing way to have the story continue.
In the track “St. Jimmy” you can see Jesus’ transformation into Jimmy who is so filled with conflicting feelings of rage and love that he just wants to go back to not caring. This song expresses the rage Jesus feels as he turns into Jimmy with an incredible beat to rock out to. The track “Give Me Novacaine” explores how he wants to go back to apathy because the feelings are too much for him. I like this song because it has a melancholic yet hopeful tune and fantastically continues the story.
Saint Jimmy turns back to Jesus of Suburbia in the track “Homecoming” where Jimmy “blew his brains out into the bay,” meaning he has given up his alter ego. In the rest of the track Jesus goes over his past mistakes and releases nobody likes him and he tries to better himself and “come home again” after he left said home at the beginning of the story. “Homecoming” is also a nine-minute song broken into five sub-songs and I feel it is even better than “Jesus of Suburbia.” It is a wonderful conclusion to the opening even though both songs are the second and second-to-last songs.
The track “Whatsername” ends the story by going more in-depth as he forgets about the girlfriend who left him but still remembers glimpses of her. I do like this song and while I think “Homecoming” is a better conclusion to the story it makes more sense to end with this song because “Jesus of Suburbia” made for a better start but was also the second song.
I love the religious imagery within the album. Nothing blasphemous is stated, but it was obviously used to enrage ultra-orthodox religious conservatives who are way too serious about religion.
Having the main character be named Jesus may sound comical at first, but to me, it is very clearly a statement that Jesus Christ himself would not support what American conservative “Christian” nationalists are doing in his name.
As Christ said in Matthew 10:14-16, “And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, as ye go forth out of that house or that city, shake the dust off of your feet. Verily I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city. Behold, I send you forth as sheep in midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”
Christ says if a person does not willingly convert to Christianity then leave them be and God will handle them himself. He would not want people in the government enforcing his religion.
Nico Brazill can be contacted at
nbrazill@kscequinox.com
