The beloved 2000s punk rock band is facing some backlash.
Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong has never been shy about his political leanings. The 53-year-old has been very vocal about his disdain towards former President Donald Trump, and didn’t even tone it down after the assassination attempt on the 45th (and now 47th) President’s life in Butler, Pennsylvania last summer.
Billie Joe Armstrong actually held up a “Trump Head” at a concert just a couple of weeks removed from Trump’s incredibly close call.
To be frank, being anti-establishment and anti-government is kind of the band’s brand, and yet, somehow they continue to side with the mainstream “establishment” when it comes to the political world. Say what you want about his policies or his personality, but Kamala Harris and career politician Joe Biden are much more “political establishment” than Donald Trump ever was, or ever will be. He’s clearly not easily controlled… it’s why so many people in politics hate him.
But over the years, Green Day has been known to tweak the lyrics to their hit song “American Idiot” to display their hatred for politicians… Trump in particular. During a performance last year, in the part of the verse where Armstrong sings “part of the redneck agenda,” the band substituted “I’m not a part of the MAGA agenda.”
As you can see here:
Green Day, performing in DC, tweaks the American Idiot lyric to “I’m not a part of a MAGA agenda” pic.twitter.com/nUaVHTKVvu
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) July 30, 2024
And listen… as angering as that may be to some, that’s kind of what a punk rock band is supposed (and expected) to do. Being quiet about politics would be going against the core identity of Green Day, and punk rock at large.
The trend of modifying old lyrics to fit in with the present day political climate continued for Green Day during a recent show. They were playing at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia when they broke into their hit “Jesus of Suburbia.” Later on in the song, also known as “Part IV: Dearly Beloved,” the lyrics are supposed to go something like this:
“Oh therapy, can you please fill the void?(Ooh) am I r*****ed, or am I just overjoyed?(Ooh) nobody’s perfect, and I stand accused(Ooh) for lack of a better word, and that’s my best excuse.”
Despite the “r-word” being considered a slur in 2025 (especially by those on the Left… Oh, the irony), the band has continued to keep it in the song when they play it live. Based upon this latest video, they’ve actually managed to weaponize it a bit. When it came time to sing that portion of “Jesus of Suburbia,” Armstrong and Green Day altered the message a bit to sing:
“Am I r*****ed, or am I just JD Vance?”
Am I r* or am I just JD Vance? pic.twitter.com/E2eQ1YtpN4
— Green Day Inc. (@GreenDayInc) March 2, 2025
As the TikTok caption describes, there’s not much of a crowd reaction to the slight change in lyrics. Could that be because they didn’t hear Billie Joe Armstrong clearly? Was the music too loud to where people in attendance couldn’t make out what the lead singer said? Or could it be that these people live in Australia and probably don’t care all that much about American politics?
Any of those possibilities – or a combination of all three- could be true. And as you might imagine, some people are upset that Green Day would take a swing at the Vice President like that. He reportedly also took shots at Elon Musk and Donald Trump. And as you might also imagine, Green Day and Billie Joe Armstrong have yet to respond to the criticism that is currently ramping up online.
Probably because that wouldn’t be very punk rock of them…
The post Green Day Changes “Jesus Of Suburbia” Lyric To Slam The Vice President: “Am I Re****ed Or Am I Just JD Vance?” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.