The song I am going to do my podcast on is Holiday by American alternative-rock band Green Day. The song that intrigues me, other than the rock beat that I loved since I was a kid, are the lyrics. As a young kid, I didn’t understand the lyrics and the context behind them. Now as I embark on this project, I see this project as a way to look in-depth at the lyrics of the song and their context in regards to their “anti-war” protest. Billie Joel Armstrong is protesting against an oppressive government while he sings the vision of fighting for freedom.

This song to personally means a “holiday” as a day off from oppression and envisioning freedom. I think this song is important because it signifies the vision of a better tomorrow as today may not be the best. I am willing to dedicate 11 weeks of studying this song. As I gain more information and context about the song (as the weeks progress), I will grow a deeper understanding and appreciation of the song. And in turn, this will allow me to look at other lyrical songs critically in their context.

In terms to researching this song and its context, I will be looking at lyrics of this song in comparison to the time period where it was written (early 2000s). This song is written in light of Bush’s presidency from 2000-2008, and took a stab at the Republican party for alienating one group of American people (minorities – i.e. gay communities) to secure political gains from another group (Wikipedia). Looking at the context of the alternative rock genre, it is different than the normal rock that is heard by other bands, and musically is harsher in its instrumentation (instruments are loud, vocals are sung powerful and passionately).

In regards to this project, I feel that some roadblocks will arise when completing this project. Even though, it’s anti-American, Billie Joel Armstrong says it’s mostly anti-war. Trying to find lyrics that mean more against war instead of against America would be tough as those connections would have to be done with implying the lyrical context, but could be found using historical context surrounding the song.