Above: Green Day’s surprisingly glammy new song, “21 Guns.”
After the jump: The classic song we think Green Day swiped the melody from.
With rumors of the genre’s demise long fueled by accusations of selling out and growing up, “punk’s not dead” has been a rallying cry since punk’s earliest days.
While we don’t want to examine and debate the vital signs of this no longer vital genre, we are curious as to what the word punk means in an era when people spend more time playing Guitar Hero than garage rock.
Does punk exist anymore? Is it just a brand name, like Pepsi or Starbucks? Does it even matter anymore? Probably not…
Met with widespread acclaim, and localized disgust, Green Day’s new album 21st Century Breakdown, featuring the single “21 Guns,” is a carefully crafted, and sure to be successful, ploy to create perfect pop while paying lip service to teenage revolution.
At this point, it’s certainly no surprise , and not necessarily a detriment, that Green Day’s music has become more polished and mature than it was on earlier efforts-even Dookie, with its attempts at layered vocal harmonies, made it clear that Green Day favored the pop end of pop-punk.
However, what is surprising is exactly how glammy the band has become so quickly. Excessive eyeliner isn’t the only thing the band has in common with singer-turned-Terminator TV star Shirley Manson, the ultra-pop 21st Century was produced by Garbage leader Butch Vig. (Sure, Vig also produced Nirvana’s Nevermind, but that has nothing to do with Green Day today.)
With that in mind, the band’s glam-rock experimenting begins to make more sense, particularly on songs such as “21 Guns.” With enough vocal harmonies to conjure images of Queen, it is actually the song’s central melody that strikes pure glam gold, recalling the 1972 hit “All the Young Dudes” (written by David Bowie for Mott the Hoople).
Whether the familiar passage is a flattering tribute or a wallet-fattening theft is a matter for you to decide.
Above: David Bowie and Mott the Hoople perform the 1972 hit, “All the Young Dudes.”
germanfuzaloo says...
06.20.09 4:12 pm
This looks like another critic who is plain just does not like Green Day and is looking for things to bash them about. I hardly hear a resemblance. Maybe three notes. But I definately do NOT think this is a rip off or tribute in any way at all.
Boyhowdy says...
06.24.09 1:37 pm
Eh, nah, if anything I hear more ELO “Telephone Line” in the chorus. Last note is a half step lower or so in ELO… but it reminded me of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aix03KSesoE
(Jump to 2:02 if you can’t be bothered to listen to the whole thing)
Karen added...
Wow, you brought out the ELO on me!
Good call : )
Thanks for info, I totally hear some similarity there, too.
06.24.09 1:41 pm
Dave says...
06.25.09 3:40 pm
As soon as I heard this song I cuoldn’t hear the lyrics so I just assumed it was a lousy cover of All the Young Dudes. They obviously ripped Bowie off and should be sued. This is just as bad as Coldplay rupping off Joe Satriani.
mike says...
07.3.09 1:14 pm
I completely agree with the author. The first time I heard this song, the first thing that came to mind was David Bowie’s “All The Young Dudes”. It is definitely a straight up rip of the melody from Bowie’s classic, akin to Coldplay lifting Joe Satriani melodies.
Karen added...
Cool! Glad I’m not the only one hearing the similarity here!
07.6.09 7:40 am
jack says...
07.6.09 12:04 am
When I heard this song I also thought it was a cover of “All the Young Dudes” until I realized the lyrics were different. Definitely seems like lawsuit material to me. Yes, there are only so many chord progressions and whatnot, but this is waaaaay too similar. I mean, it’s like that time Avril ripped off the Rubinoos. Well, in her case it was probably her songwriter’s fault - she doesn’t write her own stuff, does she?
I can understand if they came out and said it was an homage, but if they’re pretending they wrote the chorus entirely on their own, that’s just crazy.
Also, as for “does punk exist anymore?” Yes, the spirit of rebellion, awareness and counter-culture of punk exists today, but it operates under different aesthetics as the original “punk” aesthetics have been appropriated by major labels and mainstream audiences. I’d say some of the most “punk” music I’ve heard in the past few years would include M.I.A. and Justice.
TB says...
07.16.09 5:51 pm
DAVID BOWIE CO-WROTE 21 GUNS! It was done on purpose so quit crying and get the facts.
buncha haters!
Noelle added...
where are you finding the songwriting credit for Bowie? I can’t find anything except in the google search under Wikipedia and then the entry doesn’t say that Bowie co-wrote the song. If it were true, you think there would be a lot published about an amazing collaboration between the great new band Green Day and a true rock icon.
08.3.09 9:36 pm
some dude added...
shut up Green DAY hater!
09.11.09 5:16 pm
wilson says...
07.17.09 12:24 am
It’s pretty obvious, the same seven notes (in a different key). The people at Triple Time XL matched the songs up together and it’s a perfect fit. In my opinion this is more serious than the wonderwall and blvd of broken dreams conspiracy. Great Job picking this up Karen!
Karen added...
Thanks!
07.17.09 8:21 am
stacy says...
07.24.09 12:38 pm
this review just seems like it just wants to bash Green Day. That’s it.
it’s stated that David Bowie co-wrote the song with the band, so the harmonies are definitely going to resemble a tune. since that’s the point of having artists collaborate, the sounds mesh.
instead of throwing out pointless conspiracy theories work on getting all the facts straight FIRST, and then yap about it.
Jim says...
07.28.09 9:39 pm
If it wasn’t 10 to four in the morning I’d love to tear this review apart. But I want to sleep so will make do with knowing that your knowledge of green day appears hideous, and your narrow-mindedness towards a very, very important musical genre quite upsetting
some dude added...
i totally agree with you!
09.11.09 5:18 pm
LeAnn says...
07.29.09 11:22 pm
i think it is great green day collaborated with bowie on this-and it is an awesome song and shout out to ‘all the young dudes’. it was so funny-the first time i heard it, i told my niece “that’s a remake” so i did my thing and when i saw bowie’s name listed as a co-writer, i knew the how and where i had heard it.
i most definitely prefer this type of collaboration/co-writing/plagiarism as opposed to britney’s remake of ‘i love rock n roll’. joan should have shot her. =D
Karen added...
Ugh!
Britney’s version of the Stones’ “Satisfaction” was even worse!
(she even changed the words so she wouldn’t have to sing about cigarettes…haha, that was back when she was trying to keep her Disney image, I guess…)
07.30.09 8:31 am
nick says...
08.10.09 10:18 pm
bowie no. the verses are neil young’s “heart of gold”, the chorus is a rip of the beatles’ “hello goodbye” and the guitar solo is from the intro to the sitcom FULL HOUSE. seriously listen to it again.
Karen added...
More songs should totally be based around bad sitcom theme songs! Next: Perfect Strangers reworked by Black Eyed Peas, or Lady Gaga, haha.
08.11.09 7:32 am
Ann says...
08.13.09 1:13 am
I hear it, my husband hears it, and I have yet to find a LEGITIMATE source that says that Bowie co-wrote this. Reminds me of a lot of early/mid-90s Britpop, too.
DC says...
08.30.09 9:13 am
Double ripoff/steal.
Verse = Neil Young “Heart Of Gold”.
Chorus = David Bowie “All The Young Dudes”.
Total = BIG HIT!
funny thing is, I really like this song.
Was is Picasso who said, “Good artists copy, great artists steal”?
Keep stealing, Greenday. It makes good listening.
Some dude says...
09.1.09 10:36 pm
Closer to “Telephone Line”, really. The melody on the words “21 guns” is actually identical to the melody on the words “Telephone Line” (in a different key). The melody on “All The Young Dudes” has the same rhythm, but the notes aren’t the same. The chord progression is also more similar.
But, yeah, I had that same “I’ve heard this somewhere before” feeling. Derivative? Probably. But great bands assimilate their influences and produce something their own. I’d say this is the usually the case with Green Day. Can you think of another song that sounds like a cross between Neil Young, Mott The Hoople, and ELO?
JImmy says...
09.4.09 12:10 pm
Try Tears for Fears! note for note it is “sowing the seeds of love” sue them…. I will only take 50 per cent if proven correct, otherwise I have no idea what this song is should the case fail, RIP OFF Merchants. :-}
evan says...
09.10.09 7:32 pm
I don’t hear any similarity in those two songs. Green Day sounds way better than that!
ike says...
09.15.09 7:38 pm
only the very begining and some other parts sound like all the young dudes. beside 21 guns is way better!
Dave says...
09.18.09 10:00 am
Everytime I hear 21 Guns it immediatly reminds me of this song, [Lay down your arms].
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kwsgHGjoLY
Cheers
Dave
Karen says...
08.4.09 8:33 am
I think you’re right!
evan says...
09.11.09 5:05 pm
thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!
mike says...
10.13.09 1:04 am
I was a Green Day fan; I liked Kerplunk, loved and still listen to Dookie, and enjoyed some of Insomniac, Nimrod, and American Idiot. But since Dookie - one of the most inspired seminal pop-punk albums - the band has simply been trying to hold onto it’s commercial megastardom. And in this day and age, that means appealing to the masses immediately, even if it means on a superficial level - with glossy production and hooks to hit and be forgotten when the next iTunes single drops. 21 Guns? There are probably twice that number of guitars on this track!
Production aside… whether you take it as an insult or just realize that it is a fact, musically this song does steal melodies from Neil Young’s Heart of Gold and Bowie’s All the Young Dudes… which by the way, you could say about ELO.
You can take offense and call people “Green Day haters,” but at least admit the similarity and respond that the “borrowing” is by design. Weezer, with 2 other must-have albums of the mid-90’s (Blue Album and Pinkerton) has also fallen into this trend with its recycled mega-produced hits like “We Are All on Drugs” and “Beverly Hills,” not to mention the Red album and Raditude. Do we fault these bands for clinging desperately to their ability to sell out arena tours? Well… would you want to go back to playing clubs and sharing a bus with your band mates… after headlining arenas and touring in your own bus with your whole family for years? No. That would be like a meat-lover dining on the finest prime rib for a decade and then finding out he has to eat dog food for the rest of his life.
I say this band is past its prime, realized that the music industry is dying, and instead of respectfully bowing out of the race, they have to do whatever it takes to sell records. Jim Brown retired early and held onto his legacy… Michael Jordan just had to have a little more. Both of ‘em were indisputably great athletes, Bulls fans just choose to forget that the latter ever wore a Wizards jersey.