Holiday (Green Day song)

"Holiday" is an anti-war protest song^[4] by American rock band Green Day. It was released as the third single from the group's seventh studio album American Idiot, and is also the third track. The song is in the key of F minor. Though the song is a prelude to "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", "Holiday" was later released as a single on March 14, 2005.

"Holiday"
Single by Green Day
from the album American Idiot
Released	March 14, 2005 (2005-03-14)
Recorded	2004
Genre	Punk rock[1][2] pop-punk[3]
Length	3:52
Label	Reprise WEA
Composer(s)	Green Day
Lyricist(s)	Billie Joe Armstrong
Producer(s)	Rob Cavallo Green Day
Green Day singles chronology
"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (2004) "Holiday" (2005) "Wake Me Up When September Ends" (2005)
Music video
"Holiday" on YouTube
Audio sample
file help

The song achieved considerable popularity across the world and performed moderately well on the charts. It reached number 19 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks and Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks charts. It debuted at number 11 in the United Kingdom and reached the top 20 in Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, and Norway.

Background

One of two explicitly political songs on the album (the other being fellow single "American Idiot"),^[5] "Holiday" took two months to finish writing, because Armstrong continually felt his lyrics were not good enough. Aided by the encouragement of Cavallo, he completed the song.^[6] "Holiday" was inspired by the music of Bob Dylan.^[7] Armstrong wanted to write something stronger than "American Idiot", with harsh language to illustrate his points. The song takes aim at American conservatism. Armstrong felt that Republican politicians were "strategic" in alienating one group of people—for example, the gay community—in order to buy the votes of another.^[8] He later characterized the song as an outspoken "fuck you" to then-President George W. Bush.^[9] Armstrong for the first time imagined how he would perform the songs he was writing, and envisioned an audience responding to his lyric "Can I get another Amen?"^[10] The song's bridge, which Armstrong hoped to be as "twisted as possible," was designed as a "politician's worst nightmare."^[7]

The chorus's refrain—"This is our lives on holiday"—was intended to reflect the average American's apathy on the issues of the day.^[11] Armstrong characterized the song as "not anti-American, it’s anti-war."^[12]

Music video

The first half of the video takes place in a car (a 1968 Mercury Monterey convertible), where Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool are partying around in Las Vegas. In the second half, they are cavorting in a bar where each of the band members portrays several different characters. Billie Joe Armstrong plays the mentioned Representative of California, two fighting clients, a punk rocker and a nerd. Tré Cool plays a drunken priest, an arrested patron, and a female prostitute. Mike Dirnt plays the barman, another punk, and a policeman. There are also scenes featuring seemingly worn-down can-can dancers. At the end of the video, the car smokes to a halt in the field that "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" begins in. Like the video for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", this video was directed by Samuel Bayer.

The band arrived at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards in the same car, this time "pimped out" by James Washburn, a friend of the band.

Live performances

"Holiday" has been included on the set lists of numerous Green Day concert tours, some of which played American Idiot in its entirety to promote the album.^[13][14] The song was included on the set list for the Revolution Radio Tour in 2016, where the songs lyrics were adjusted to protest against Donald Trump's presidential campaign.^[15] It was later included on the set list for the Hella Mega Tour, a concert tour for Green Day, Fall Out Boy, and Weezer that began in 2021.^[16] The song was later included on the set list for the Saviors Tour, alongside every other song from American Idiot.^[17][18]

Track listings

UK CD1 and European CD single^[19][20]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Holiday"	3:52
2.	"Minority" (live)	6:01

UK CD2 and Australian CD single^[21][22]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Holiday"	3:52
2.	"Holiday" (live)	4:06
3.	"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (live)	4:24

UK 7-inch picture disc^[23]

Side A

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Holiday"	3:53

Side B

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Minority" (live)	6:01

• All live tracks were recorded on September 21, 2004, at the Irving Plaza in New York City.

Personnel

Personnel are adapted from the UK-European CD1 liner notes.^[19]

• Green Day – music, production
  • Billie Joe Armstrong – words, lead vocals, guitar
  • Mike Dirnt – bass guitar, backing vocals
  • Tré Cool – drums
• Rob Cavallo – production
• Doug McKean – engineering
• Chris Lord-Alge – mixing
• Chris Bilheimer – art direction
• Marina Chavez – band photo

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2005–2006) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[24] 24 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[25] 45 Canada CHR/Pop Top 30 (Radio & Records)[26] 15 Canada Hot AC Top 30 (Radio & Records)[27] 13 Canada Rock Top 30 (Radio & Records)[28] 2 Czech Republic (Rádio – Top 100)[29] 81 Denmark (Tracklisten)[30] 14 Germany (GfK)[31] 50 Hungary (Dance Top 40)[32] 31 Ireland (IRMA)[33] 13 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade)[34] 8 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[35] 13 Norway (VG-lista)[36] 19 Scotland (OCC)[37] 12 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[38] 25 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[39] 44 UK Singles (OCC)[40] 11 UK Rock & Metal (OCC)[41] 1 US Billboard Hot 100[42] 19 US Adult Pop Airplay (Billboard)[43] 5 US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[44] 1 US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[45] 1 US Pop Airplay (Billboard)[46] 13 US Pop 100 (Billboard)[47] 18 Chart (2024) Peak position Japan Hot Overseas (Billboard)[48] 20

Year-end charts Chart (2005) Position UK Singles (OCC)[49] 188 US Billboard Hot 100[50] 39 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[51] 21 US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[52] 50 US Modern Rock Tracks (Billboard)[53] 7

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[54]	3× Platinum	240,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[55]	Platinum	100,000‡
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[56]	Gold	30,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[57]	Gold	400,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[58] "Holiday" / "Boulevard of Broken Dreams"	Gold	400,000‡
United States (RIAA)[59]	Platinum	1,000,000*
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.
United Kingdom	March 14, 2005	CD	Reprise	[60]
		Digital download		[61]
Australia	March 28, 2005	CD		[62]
United States	May 16, 2005	Contemporary hit radio		[63]

See also

• List of anti-war songs

References

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2. Connick, Tom (May 16, 2018). "Green Day: their 15 best songs - ranked". NME. Archived from the original on April 7, 2022. Retrieved January 30, 2022. A flawless fusion of angst, anger and a massive fuck-you to the political establishment, with a ripping solo and chant-along middle-eight to boot, 'Holiday' is punk-rock perfection.
3. Pauker, Lance (January 22, 2014). "49 Phenomenally Angsty Pop-Punk Songs From The 2000s You Forgot Existed". Thought Catalog. The Thought & Expression Co. Archived from the original on October 10, 2014. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
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20. Holiday (European CD single liner notes). Green Day. Reprise Records, WEA International. 2005. 5439 16096 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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22. Holiday (Australian CD single liner notes). Green Day. Reprise Records, WEA International. 2005. 9362427862.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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• Winwood, Ian (September 23, 2010). ""It Was a Great Time for Us!"". Kerrang! (1330). London: Bauer Media Group: 48–52. ISSN 0262-6624.