Green Day headlined day two of 2025’s Coachella on Saturday, April 12, where they changed the American Idiot‘s lyrics to diss US President Donald Trump and his agenda.
Coachella had iconic performances such as Lady Gaga’s and Post Malone’s, but Green Day’s stood out the most as they are known for adding their own twist to their songs to send a message.
RELATED STORIES
Not the first time they tweaked their lyrics
The punk rockers, comprised of frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tré Cool, have altered their lyrics before to add a political undertone and call out Vice President JD Vance and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
They dissed the MAGA agenda
The band ramped up the crowd by singing “I’m not part of the MAGA agenda” instead of “I’m not a part of a redneck agenda.”
Rolling Stone reviewed the band’s performance, writing that there “were no political overtures or lengthy speeches,” but their message was rather “embedded into the music already.”
Trump wasn’t the only one they addressed in their song
They also addressed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in their song Jesus of Suburbia, replacing the line “Runnin’ away from pain when you’ve been victimized” with “Runnin’ away from pain like the kids from Palestine/Tales from another broken home.”
The current political situation is not their cup of tea
The band had a gig in Melbourne last month where they altered their lyrics from “Am I r***ded or am I just overjoyed” to “Am I r***ded or am I just JD Vance?”
Additionally, during the same performance, Armstrong asked the crowd: “Don’t you want politicians to shut the f**k up? Don’t you want Elon Musk to shut the f**k up? Don’t you want Donald Trump to shut the f**k up?”
They also dissed Musk in January
While the band was performing in South Africa, Musk’s birthplace, they changed the American Idiot lyrics to “I’m not part of the Elon agenda.”
The song was originally written in 2004 to criticize former President George W. Bush.
Fans reacted to these changes
Users took to X (formerly Twitter) to react to the band’s bold move, with one user dubbing the performance “best Coachella performances in years,” while another added: “Punk is BACK.”
