Green Day is a punk band, yes, and this song would be classically labelled as a punk pop song. But in another sense, Green Day’s new single, is in my view, one of the few great “folk” songs of the year. One line of thinking in folk music is that it’s the lyrics that matter most. Woody Guthrie famously quipped to the effect of, “make the song slower, or make it faster, and change some of the words, and you got a new song.” Whatever you think about this radical view on “owning” a song, it reveals that lyrics are at the heart of folk music.

As of early 2024, there is a revival of “folk” music in Los Angeles, many of which are smaller showcases featuring extremely talented artists at venues like The Hotel Cafe. Some of you who live in the area may have heard of young folk and country artists coming up in this scene. Although the aesthetics have returned, and many young artists are in fact inspired by the likes of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, the “anger as a manifestation of care for the world around them” does not run through the lyrics of these artists.

If it’s the lyrics that are most essential to the folk song, then in one sense, “The American Dream Is Killing Me” is more of a folk song than many of the solo acoustic songs sung these days.

Some of the key lyrics are direct and terse, like “Bulldoze your family home/Now it’s a condo.” Others are even more overt, and maybe too much so, like “we’re pedophiles for/The American Dream (is killing me).” Yet even in such a blatant line, one can draw deeper connections to the political debate used on the political right accusing some of pedophilia in Hollywood and in Washington D.C. Oliver Anthony, who became a darling for a few weeks of the political right (which he has disavowed) likewise had lyrics that bought into the pedophilia narrative. Billie Joe Armstrong, the lead singer and writer of Green Day, very likely had this connection, and possibly the goal of subverting this trope, in his subconscious (if not conscious) mind.

It’s a bit of a drag when the best “folk” lyrics of the year have to come outside the typical genre, but any sincere protest music is a breath of fresh air these days.