Next Album Anticipation Thread....Chapter 2

[Verycool99]

7 hours ago, GDFan2019 said:

So, do you guys think we’ll finally get an announcement this week, especially since August 1st is Thursday?

No

 

[Beerjeezus]

8 hours ago, neverdone2000 said:

I think its cynical to say Billie is “trying to be woke”. Obviously he feels strongly about political issues, as shown by some of his Instagram rants and breakdowns. I’m 100% sure he is not using politics as a marketing strategy. And I think the lyrics of American Idiot and Holiday are brilliant. There may be metaphors, but honestly they’re almost prophetic about our state of near-fascism today. Bang Bang also has some great lyrics regarding the psychology and entitlement of a male white mass shooter. If your beef is with Troubled Times, you need to remember that he was trying to avoid being too political on Rev Rad and said he refuses to write any songs specifically about Trump. Again, I think this has everything to do with people on the far left, which I am one of, shooting thenselves in the foot by expecting their artists and politicians to embody their idea of what the perfect representative is, and then completely dismissing the attempt of it doesn’t meet their standards. It’s an all or nothing attitude that I think is unrealistic and more harmful than helpful. 

To be fair, he does feel strongly about political issues, but things he says on Instagram are almost as vague as his lyrics, he's like "this bad" or he lashes off at people and that's frankly just embarrassing. I'm not saying he never did a good job, but it's hit or miss. AI, Holiday and Bang Bang are undeniably great, they're not straightforward but not empty. On the other hand, what's the message of Revolution Radio, Troubled Times or 99 Revolutions? They're vague and don't really say anything. 

I wouldn't say that simply disliking a part of an artist's work is an all or nothing attitude. It would mean left is very weak if we couldn't criticize anyone based on the fact that they mean well.

9 hours ago, DadBod said:

He’s a 40+ year old white male (in the 1%) who follows political issues because it matters to him, bases his opinions on his morals and beliefs and chooses to publicly call out and/or support those issues.

And there's nothing wrong with him doing so but this is also exactly why the revolutionary narrative doesn't work. He's aware of the fact that in the unlikely event of a revolution, his head wouldn't stay on for long and that likely makes writing those songs hard. He supports social progess, but he's in no way in the position to rally against the 1% and that's why he can't write these songs in a way that wouldn't fall flat. His social commentary lyrics work, because they come from a real place, but he can't effectively call for a revolution against himself.

[HAPPY ZOMBIE UNICORN]

21 minutes ago, Beerjeezus said:

 

And there's nothing wrong with him doing so but this is also exactly why the revolutionary narrative doesn't work. He's aware of the fact that in the unlikely event of a revolution, his head wouldn't stay on for long and that likely makes writing those songs hard. He supports social progess, but he's in no way in the position to rally against the 1% and that's why he can't write these songs in a way that wouldn't fall flat. His social commentary lyrics work, because they come from a real place, but he can't effectively call for a revolution against himself.

I mean, he’s not talking about an armed revolution in his songs, in his lyrics I can read stuff about critical thinking, civil disobedience, protest, etc. not about taking guns and start a soviet revolution. He also explicitly said in the past (I believe in relation to 99 revolutions) that he does not really align himself with the most radical and violent parts of the left wing movements. Which is absolutely fine, normal, common and I do not see any contradiction in this. Left wing and protest movements not always call for armed revolution, both Malcom X and Luther King fought a revolution, but in different ways. 

And for the rest I don’t see the songs you mentioned as vague, they are commentary of very specific things (the occupy movement, one of the demonstration he ended up participating, the bataclan attack). Of course he takes these issues/episodes and make them abstract, he uses figure of speech and he does not directly reference them. I don’t think this makes the political content of those songs vague. Then if you say those are bad songs I can agree with you, I personally never connected with 99 revolutions for example, but that’s not due to the “vagueness” of Billie’s writing IMHO. It’s just a mediocre song. 

[michael1989]

4 hours ago, J a c said:

to say that AI has only one or two political songs is a bit weird to me. Almost every song in there has a political reference to the time that record was written, not a direct criticism towards Bush or its republican administration, but comments about American society.

Agreed. BoBD could easily be interpreted as a song about disillusionment following 9/11, same with WMUWSE. That was one of the things that made that record so special. Each song operated on a political level as well as a deeply personal one. 

[jengd]

I think Billie is very conscious, rightly so, as @Beerjeezus says, that if he writes songs about being hard up etc, as he's been a multi-millionaire for more than half his life regardless of his origins, people will tear into him for that, no matter the song quality.  I am also sure I remember him saying that they are not, nor do they want to be, considered a very political band and I still think AI was taken as being far more political than it was.  Billie has always written what I would consider to be more social commentary than banging on a political standpoint, and I think he does this very well.  The risk, which he's well aware of, is that you become a one trick pony, ask most people what they know about Rage Against The Machine and more will know them for their politics than their music which is fine, if that's what you want but limiting.  I seem to remember, before Revrad, some folk wanting more politics, some less, and I thought he got the balance about right, still socially aware but nothing that would date the music badly.  He will always write about what matters to him, back to his theory that you have to write honestly and from the heart regardless of whether it's a love song or a song about gun crime.  I hope he continues.

5 minutes ago, michael1989 said:

Agreed. BoBD could easily be interpreted as a song about disillusionment following 9/11, same with WMUWSE. That was one of the things that made that record so special. Each song operated on a political level as well as a deeply personal one. 

And this is exactly where it gets complicated by each individuals understanding or interpretation of the songs, I agree with all of this but would say it's societal rather than political, maybe my British interpretation.

[HAPPY ZOMBIE UNICORN]

47 minutes ago, jengd said:

ask most people what they know about Rage Against The Machine and more will know them for their politics than their music

I thought they were famous only because of God Morello  

[Ross_19]

It's quite a similar thing with Rise Against, they're kind of semi well known, in that they've had their moments of popularity, but in the last few years they've faded quite a bit. But nevertheless they are so well known for their politics that it often overshadows the music. I love the band but its clear that they force it some or a lot of the time. Even on their last album cycle Tim said in an interview that Trump was a good thing from a song writers point of view, in that it gave him things to work with. 

 

I don't think Green Day will ever force the politics, which is why I believe the political songs on RevRad are from a genuine place in Billie's heart and not forced songs like I've seen some people suggest.

[Beerjeezus]

2 hours ago, J a c said:

I mean, he’s not talking about an armed revolution in his songs, in his lyrics I can read stuff about critical thinking, civil disobedience, protest, etc. not about taking guns and start a soviet revolution. He also explicitly said in the past (I believe in relation to 99 revolutions) that he does not really align himself with the most radical and violent parts of the left wing movements. Which is absolutely fine, normal, common and I do not see any contradiction in this. Left wing and protest movements not always call for armed revolution, both Malcom X and Luther King fought a revolution, but in different ways. 

And for the rest I don’t see the songs you mentioned as vague, they are commentary of very specific things (the occupy movement, one of the demonstration he ended up participating, the bataclan attack). Of course he takes these issues/episodes and make them abstract, he uses figure of speech and he does not directly reference them. I don’t think this makes the political content of those songs vague. Then if you say those are bad songs I can agree with you, I personally never connected with 99 revolutions for example, but that’s not due to the “vagueness” of Billie’s writing IMHO. It’s just a mediocre song. 

Yes, his views are more middle-of-the-road and that's fine, it's just that it seems like it's hard to reconcile these otherwise completely reasonable views with the rallying cry type of songs. However, it's a valid position for more nuanced social commentary.

Even though it's a forgettable song, I give 99Revs that it's clear what it's about, but I doubt you could say what RevRad is about if you haven't read an interview where he told that story about joining a protest. Same goes for TT. You could argue that's okay because that way they're open to interpretation. It's a matter of taste, really. I don't like this style of writing but that's subjective.

[HAPPY ZOMBIE UNICORN]

31 minutes ago, Beerjeezus said:

It's a matter of taste, really. I don't like this style of writing but that's subjective.

I completely agree, I think stuff like this can only be subjective  

[alienlifeform]

1 minute ago, J a c said:

I completely agree, I think stuff like this can only be subjective  

everything is subjective, though some kinds of styles appeal to the masses and some don't

[HAPPY ZOMBIE UNICORN]

5 minutes ago, Alf said:

everything is subjective, though some kinds of styles appeal to the masses and some don't

I will not start a discussion about constructivism in this thread only because I’m a nice person  

Jokes apart I agree, in music as any other art everything is subjective.

[GDFan2019]

1 hour ago, Ross_19 said:

It's quite a similar thing with Rise Against, they're kind of semi well known, in that they've had their moments of popularity, but in the last few years they've faded quite a bit. But nevertheless they are so well known for their politics that it often overshadows the music. I love the band but its clear that they force it some or a lot of the time. Even on their last album cycle Tim said in an interview that Trump was a good thing from a song writers point of view, in that it gave him things to work with. 

 

I don't think Green Day will ever force the politics, which is why I believe the political songs on RevRad are from a genuine place in Billie's heart and not forced songs like I've seen some people suggest.

Although Billie did add that one anti-Trump line to Bang Bang for live shows, “NO TRUMP, NO KKK, NO FASCIST USA!”

[Thatsername]

Live footage of me looking in this thread. Every. Single. Time.

[Little Boy Named Booze]

Yup this thread is fucking boring. We're not even talking about speculation anymore. Now we're in the lyrics. It's not even the right thread.

[steve46]

3 minutes ago, Little Boy Named Airplane said:

Yup this thread is fucking bored. We're not even talking about speculation anymore. Now we're in the lyrics. It's not even the right thread.

This. Exactly. It's boring now.

[Squashie]

32 minutes ago, GDFan2019 said:

Although Billie did add that one anti-Trump line to Bang Bang for live shows, “NO TRUMP, NO KKK, NO FASCIST USA!”

He did that once. 

[Guest]

What's up with people bitching about this thread? No one has claimed it's great and we all know it's the same endless discussions about nothing, or off topic bs since there's no official news to talk about. I don't see the need to come here only to say how bad this thread is in some failed attempt to be edgy lol.

[dallasthemenace]

4 hours ago, GDFan2019 said:

Although Billie did add that one anti-Trump line to Bang Bang for live shows, “NO TRUMP, NO KKK, NO FASCIST USA!”

that chant is actually borrowed (and modified to include trump) from an MDC song called 'born to die'. its originally  'NO WAR, NO KKK, NO FASCIST USA'.

[Little Boy Named Booze]

3 minutes ago, Nightlife said:

I don't see the need to come here only to say how bad this thread is in some failed attempt to be edgy lol.

This thread is bad and I'm saying it to be edgy.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Little Boy Named Airplane said:

This thread is bad and I'm saying it to be edgy.

 

[MillenniumFan]

49 minutes ago, Thatsername said:

Live footage of me looking in this thread. Every. Single. Time.

I agree with what you're saying and also find it funny, but... (and I'm sorry to do this lol):

[Ross_19]

Hhhmmm well what can we anticipate about the new album that hasn't been done already? 

 

I can't think of anything, lets all just go home

[Billie Joes Eyelids]

1 hour ago, Little Boy Named Airplane said:

Yup this thread is fucking boring. We're not even talking about speculation anymore. Now we're in the lyrics. It's not even the right thread.

I think people complaining about it being boring is boring. I don’t think talking about Billie’s songwriting and political views is boring. It’s very interesting in fact. And it does relate to the next album as far as what we might anticipate in this area.

[pouty bitch]

2 minutes ago, neverdone2000 said:

I think people complaining about it being boring is boring.

It's Boreception. Next album is boring confirmed!!!

[Billie Joes Eyelids]

5 hours ago, Beerjeezus said:

To be fair, he does feel strongly about political issues, but things he says on Instagram are almost as vague as his lyrics, he's like "this bad" or he lashes off at people and that's frankly just embarrassing. I'm not saying he never did a good job, but it's hit or miss. AI, Holiday and Bang Bang are undeniably great, they're not straightforward but not empty. On the other hand, what's the message of Revolution Radio, Troubled Times or 99 Revolutions? They're vague and don't really say anything. 

I wouldn't say that simply disliking a part of an artist's work is an all or nothing attitude. It would mean left is very weak if we couldn't criticize anyone based on the fact that they mean well.

 

Your argument is valid. But some of your comments at the start of this conversation were pretty much saying that Billie’s political writing in general is poor, which is not the case. There is a general tendency in politics and everything else currently to do this. I’m sensitive to this kind of thing because it’s so prevalent right now and it’s how we got Trump. It’s how we’ll get him again and it’s how good people get “cancelled” on a regular basis.