Holiday!- revised

The song “Holiday” by Green Day is a song that cries out about the American government. It talks about the modern-day problems dealing with Bush, the Iraq War, oil, and environmental issues. It is easy to tell it is a political song because it includes words such as, “Armageddon”, “company”, “war”, “protester”, “flag”, “monument”, “bombs”, “kill”, “government”, “Eiffel towers”, and “trials”. Green Day is singing about how they are “outlaws”, and they are trying to gain support and get the rest of the American people to join them in the fight against the government. This song has been the center of much conversation regarding the war and the feelings of the American people. Green Day is effective in getting people to think about the issues that are important to them, especially through the use of pathos.

Green Day is speaking to the young and middle-age voting American public. They want the people who are making the decisions to be informed of all the things they believe the American government is doing wrong since September 11. They are hoping to change the minds of the American people so they will become outraged like them, and want to do something to change things. They use the word, “Hey!” at the end of some of the lines and say “Can I get another Amen? (Amen!)”, as a way to get people pumped up and show that people agree with their opinions against the government.

One of the themes the song speaks about is everything bad since September 11th and the war that has been an outcome. They disagree with the war and the fact that so many people have lost their lives for a war that may not even be necessary. This theme is seen when they says things like, “And bleed, the company lost the war today,” and:

Hear the sound of the falling rain
Coming down like an Armageddon flame (Hey!)
The shame
The ones who died without a name

Another theme in this song is their disapproval of the American government. They are taking a stand against all the empty lies the government is telling the American people, and all the control they have. In the lines that say, “Another protester has crossed the line (Hey!) To find, the money's on the other side” Green Day is saying that the people who are trying to make a difference just find that the government and people with money control everything, so all their efforts are pointless. The government is going to, “Kill all the fags that don’t agree!”, which means that the government does not really care about the opinions of the American people, and they will do whatever they want to anyone who doesn’t agree with what they have to say. They want to stand up against it because if something isn’t done now, then nothing will ever change; things will just get worse. This is seen in the chorus:

I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies
This is the dawning of the rest of our lives
On holiday

“Holiday” by Green Day is a song that represents all three of the ideas of pathos, ethos, and logos. Pathos is the idea that is most present in this song. The idea of pathos is represented in this song because they use examples that are intended to produce a reaction or shock out of the people they are singing this song to. This is seen in examples such as, “The shame, the ones who died without a name”, “And bleed, the company lost the war today”, “There's a flag wrapped around a score of men”, “A gag, A plastic bag on a monument”, “Bombs away is your punishment!”, and “Kill all the fags that don't agree!”. All of these phrases are meant shock people and spark a reaction so that something will be done to stop what the government is doing with the war. Green Day was very effective in portraying the idea of pathos. Many of the lines they sing are meant to get people fired up about supporting their case. They scream the word, “Hey!” and “Amen” to get people pumped. These phrases show emotion, and the examples can be personal to the audience, but they are definitely not over the top.

The singers of Green Day also portray the idea of ethos and logos, just not as strongly as pathos. This is seen because when they say, “The representative from California now has the floor…”, it makes it sound like it is a credible source who is talking about all the concrete details. Even though ethos is present in the song, I don’t think it is very effective. They sound like they know what they are talking about, but the only real credible source in the song would be the representative from California. The fact that the band is singing things like, “And bleed, the company lost the war today”, “Another protester has crossed the line (Hey!)To find, the money's on the other side”, and “There's a flag wrapped around a score of men (Hey!) A gag, a plastic bag on a monument”, gives concrete details about why they are mad about what is going on, which are examples of logos. Logos isn’t a real effective part of the song either because they gave examples of why they are rebelling, but they never use real numbers or facts.

Overall, “Holiday” is very effective in sounding like a credible political song by the use of pathos, ethos, and logos. Green Day does a good job clearly stating their thoughts and opinions. They also do a good job getting people pumped up and excited about the song and what they are talking about by adding the “Hey!” and “Amen” phrases throughout the song.