Speaking to SPIN in 2004, Billie Joe Armstrong stated, "We always wanted our music to be timeless. Even the political stuff that we're doing now. I would never think of 'American Idiot' as being about the Bush administration specifically. It's about the confusion of where we're at right now." Bassist Mike Dirnt added, "The world's in a confused state. I'm pissed off, and I'm angry, and I feel like I'm not fully represented." This is not to say that the song isn't political — after all, the lyrics refer to the "redneck agenda" and "one nation being controlled by the media."

Discussing the song "Holiday" from the same "American Idiot" album, Armstrong told Rolling Stone, "That was a time when our country was moving into a war for fictitious reasons. A lot of it had to do with politics and oil. It felt like the country was beginning to come apart. I think the catalyst of where we're at now, really, is with George W. Bush." The singer may have denied "American Idiot" being specifically about Bush the man, but his explanation puts lyrics such as "now everybody, do the propaganda" and "one nation controlled by the media / information age of hysteria" into context.

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