Why Billie Joe Armstrong Hates the Phrase “Pop-Punk” • Page 2

I'm not trying to be antagonistic but can you please point out a single time he's used a homophobic slur outside of music

 

but you are being antagonistic? and ill try to find an interview or something if i can but its kind of unfair when my main issue is with him using those slurs in the music.

 

I just noticed the r word in Jesus of Suburbia and it made me so uncomfortable, that slur is used by too many people but that's a whole other matter

 

honestly i had too while re-listening to American Idiot.


And I want to re-iterate something to all the Green Day fans: I like Billie. I dont mind this band all that much. for me, them using those slurs in the music is too much and makes me uncomfortable but i have problematic favs too that im sure make others uncomfortable. thats life. i didnt mean to come in here to start a fight or anything, just state an opinion.

 

Love you Billie, but what should we call it then? When I think of pop-punk, it's just rock music with a blend of the following:

- Late 80's hardcore punk influence (but at a lower bpm)
- Catchy melodic hooks heard in mainstream popular music in order to bridge the gap among fans of both "harder" and "softer" sounding music and therefore make it accessible to a very wide audience
- A dab of 90's alternative and grunge to give it more "musicality" than a straightforward punk band
- Generally, little to no lead guitar solos (keep it simple, avoid sounding like "hair metal"). Short lead guitar lines and riffs are ok once in a while, but nothing too fancy most of the time.
- Try not to stray away from power chords (root/fifth/octave). Generally, avoid barred chords and jazz chords.
- Within every 10 songs a band plays, 7 of them are fast, 2 of them are mid-tempo, and 1 is a slow pretty ballad.

Sorry, I'm not great at this.

 

That doesn't even make sense. Pop punk is a subgenre, it's composed by a number of shared characteristics. Of course it lacks diversity, that's the point. Sure it's a subgenre with a more limited spectre than others, but that's a result of its simplicity.

 

I don't see much of a big deal in what he's saying here. It's a common complaint from many artists placed into a genre, sub-genre, etc... to complain about being lumped into the genre. It almost seems barely controversial at all for this type of opinion from the artist.

His view on pop/punk is somewhat true, but then again if you ever look at half the "greatest pop/punk" type of lists from any number of publications you see it's really hard to define the genre and those lists often have quite a bit of diversity in them.

 

Yeah but in American Idiot, I think it's pretty clear he's talking about the perception certain groups have about people like him. He's not himself using it as a slur.

 

I've just realised why I am so disappointed with the new green day.

To me the band seems to have regressed since 21st Century.

While I don't really enjoy that album it pointed to bigger things for me along with American Idiot.

I had really hoped that after touring with The Replacements, that BJA would've got the thirst for moving more in that kind of direction. I guess I was kind of hoping he's prove himself as a great songwriter. His songs are good but to hear him talking about pop-punk when the new album kinda sounds a bit like run of the mill pop punk to me is a bit disappointing as I think he could do really well if he played a lot more on his Replacements influences.

Not to say I dont think he's a good songwriter. I just find their new stuff to be a little regressive.

 

Last time I enjoyed something from them was Warning.

 

Is this in the recorded version? I've never noticed this before.

 

Good night

 

Doesn't excuse it for me

 

greenday is rock punk

 

One time I recommended Fireworks to someone and they didn't bother checking them out because they "heard they weren't very pop punk," so I kind of see where he's coming from in that quote.

 

Hahahaha that's ridiculous

 

"Oh therapy can you please fill a void?/Am I retarded or am I just overjoyed?"

 

I swear I once read this exact statement in a magazine over 10 years ago, but it was from Jim Adkins and it was in reference to the term "emo".

 

I think that a song written in 2003 with that word is very different than a word written in 2016. The word was never - objectively speaking - okay. But culturally, it absolutely was. That the word got into a song so flippantly isn't a reflection of Billie Joe Armstrong; it's a reflection of how we all (unfortunately) spoke.

Related: Weezer is my first favorite band. They've never had a parental advisory sticker on any album, but they have racially insensitive lyrics in Buddy Holly (1994), sexist/downright gross lyrics all throughout Pinkerton (1996), and most recently, use a homophobic slur on a song that was a single and got major play on MTV without anyone seeming to notice on Dope Nose (2002). All of that sucks.

But I don't think that's a reflection of the character of Rivers Cuomo. And as a teenager, I didn't think any of it was a big deal. I've learned better now, and judging from everything I know about Rivers, so has he. My guess is that every band has questionable lyrics after a certain amount of time, because cultural sensibilities change and evolve (which is a good thing!). But it seems unfair (to me) to hold that against an artist because their poor use of language was recorded, while the rest of the culture can just move on without a clear record of all the times they said terrible things.

That said - yeah, it's definitely jarring to hear them now when I forget what's in those songs. Because now those words aren't things I hear all the time like they were then - it really does stand out now.

 

Yes but from what I've learned here is just best to ignore it. Engaging with people about PC anything just gets you called gross and toxic. I love talking music and movies with people on here so I just ignore the over blown reactions when they come up. We live in an age now where if you are offended, instead of dealing with it everyone needs to let themselves be heard.

 

Kind of makes me miss the old AP.Net, even though stuff like this is why I stopped visiting that site and why I’m barely ever on this one. At least back then people didn’t go apeshit over someone saying retarded and acting like it’s the same as saying “the N word”. Also saying the phrase “the N word” is irritating when using it in a non-racist/racially slandering way. You always sound like a child when censoring your entire discussion, you know? I’d like to think we are grown up enough to where we can have a serious discussion without having to second guess what you can and can’t say next. Sorry for the rant and thank you for responding the way you did! Hugs.

 

Wow, I got reported? Are you guys serious?

 

"We live in a time where instead of being allowed to say whatever I want, I'm being held accountable and rightfully called out and I don't like being told to be respectful."

 

kids these days

 

You know what's worse than being "PC"? Being smug and obstinate about saying offensive things.