A newfound respect for Green Day

I heard Green Day's newest single today for the first time. It's a cover of "Working Class Hero" by John Lennon, and it is done very well.

Anytime someone covers an artist of the stature of John Lennon, they are walking the fine line of putting their own mark on the song while not infuriating the purist fans of the original artist. Green Day did a great job on both ends. The song is distinctly Green Day, with Billy Joe's recognizable voice and the band's rebellious but straight-forward sound. At the same time, they kept the tempo at the same slow pace that Lennon had it, which is out of the norm for Green Day's fast-paced style. What came out was an amazing and modern rock ballad for the working man.

While many artists today successfully cover songs from the past and walk that fine line well, most fall short in one major area: they don't give credit to the original artist. You always have to search through the CD booklet (which are being read less and less these days with our lack of CD buying and obsession with downloading) to find the credits area for each song. There you find "Words & Music by [insert old rock legend here]" written in 6 point font. It's like finding a needle in a haystack.

Many 12 year old kids in the world have never been educated about the music of the 60s and 70s, and therefore don't even realize that the song they are listening to is not written by their new favorite band of 25 year old guys. While I'll venture to guess that while most 12 year olds have at least heard of John Lennon, the vast majority have never heard Lennon's original track of "Working Class Hero."

Which brings me to how Green Day got my respect in a way very few bands have ever managed to do before. As the last 15 seconds of the distorted guitar and drums fade away, the John Lennon's voice and folk guitar are slowly faded into the song. The song then ends with John Lennon's original ending, which might shock the 12 year old into a state of realization. All of a sudden, their eyes will be opened to the fact that Green Day's newest song was written by some old guy, which will get them to ask around about who wrote the original.

Most likely, it will be their parents that tell them the answer. The kid will feel enlightened, the parents will feel cool again, and John Lennon's memory will be crystallized in another generation's memory.

Great job Green Day.