September 17, 2024 • 16 mins
Ever felt like an album truly understood you during your most challenging times? What if the music you loved as a teenager could still resonate with you two decades later? That's exactly what happened to me with Green Day's "American Idiot." Join me, Miss T, as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of this iconic album that was my lifeline during high school years that were troubled by my parents' divorce. This episode is a heartfelt tribute to the 20th anniversary of an album that not only mirrored my teenage angst but also provided a soundtrack to my coming-of-age journey.
Whether you're a dedicated Green Day fan or just discovering their music, hear how "American Idiot" shaped me. Together, let’s celebrate an album that’s more than just music—it's a significant part of our collective youth (at least for me!)
Note: not sure why the audio is so staticky/not great on this one. Apologies as I continue to learn!
Want to stay connected?
Check out my Linktree for all the socials! https://linktr.ee/riseupcoach
My website: tracihallcoaching.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Beautiful humans and welcome to another episode of A
Spectrum of Hyperfixations.
I'm your host, miss T, and theT stands for let's go for
tenacious today.
So how are you?
How are things?
Are you feeling any stress?
I don't know what I'm doing forlike introductions or, you know
(00:47):
, repeating segments, but Ithought maybe just like a nice
little check-in at the top ofeach episode might be kind of
nice and helpful.
Maybe we all each take acollective deep breath and just
kind of settle in and have somenice time together.
(01:09):
This episode will be aboutAmerican Idiot and if you are
familiar, that is the album byGreen Day.
So kicking this off, kind ofhow I came about to talk about
this topic right now, was I gotan email in my inbox and it said
(01:32):
20 years of American Idiot andfrom the Green Day fan club or I
don't know which one I'msubscribed to.
I'm subscribed to both.
You know they do Punk BunnyCoffee to it.
I'm subscribed to both.
You know they do punk bunnycoffee.
They also have their own, Ithink, mailing list.
(01:58):
So either way, got an emailsaid 20 years of American Idiot
and I'm like holy shmow, Icannot believe it's been 20
years since this was releasedSeptember 2004.
That put me in, let's see,sophomore year.
I just started sophomore year ofhigh school and I didn't become
(02:28):
a fan or really aware of ituntil I remember very vividly
that I was spending the night atmy cousin's house who this
particular cousin is a hot messand I was over at her house and
it was either in the morning orlike we were going to sleep.
I remember being in a room andthe radio was on and I hear the
(02:54):
chords and the lyrics and themelody of Boulevard of Broken
Dreams and I fell in love withthis song.
Just the sound of it, um.
I don't even know if I waslistening that intently to the
lyrics, but I could get you knowsome of it and it was at a time
(03:15):
in my life when I really didfeel so alone.
My parents were in the processof like separating.
This was in 2005, so I think Ibecame like, aware and a fan
maybe late 2004, early 2005, andthis album became basically my
(03:37):
coping mechanism for my parentsdivorce.
I would play it front to backmultiple times.
I would blast it on my stereoupstairs and I remember
sometimes feeling like I wish myparents or somebody would just
recognize what I'm listening toand the lyrics, because this is
(04:00):
what I'm feeling and I feel if Ididn't have this album, I would
be the Saint Jimmy, you know,blowing my brains out in the bay
or going to.
You know, smoke, dope smoke,cigarettes, get into drugs.
You know all the things and Iwould later, you know, believe
that my parents got so luckythat I'm such a rule follower.
(04:22):
And now you could say blame theautism for being a rule
follower, but it it just spoketo me at that vulnerable time
and I just immersed myself in it.
I remember doodling in seminarclass.
You know, little bombs andthings, because of course, back
(04:43):
then you had the little bookletsand stuff that went along with
albums.
I also got the special editionlike color booklet that had even
more of the lyrics and likephotographs and stuff I watched.
Um, this was back, I think, evenwhen MTV was playing, or it was
was MTV2, was playing.
(05:04):
You know, like making of amusic video.
It's a sign of the day and Iloved seeing the video for
Boulevard of Broken Dreams andHoliday.
I remember those two specificones were Samuel Bayer, I
believe, was the director ofthem and their aesthetic was
just really cool Green Day.
At the time, let me tell youthis I didn't know Green Day
(05:26):
other than, like everybody else,the Good Riddance Time of your
Life song.
And so for this to hit, thenthat's when the Autism kicked in
.
Deep dive into Green Day, allof their albums.
I wanted everything, I wantedto learn everything about them.
I wanted to get every album.
I wanted to learn every word.
The full hyper fixation kickedin goes along with American
(05:57):
Idiot in particular.
So at this time, charlie andthe Chocolate Factory by Tim
Burton was also coming out in2005.
And there was a Green Dayconcert that I knew I wanted to
go to up in Kansas City.
And at this point I'm not like Idon't really have a job.
I'm not like I don't reallyhave a job.
Um, you know, I've got someallowance and stuff and I am one
(06:18):
of those people who, if I lovesomething a lot or I'm getting
obsessed, I want to dress up.
So I dressed up for, like thethird Pirates of the Caribbean
release in this kind of likeRenaissance middle age, you know
, kind of dress of dress, um,for the Alice in Wonderland
premiere of the Tim Burton film,which was not great, let's not
(06:41):
get onto that but I brought mybig Cheshire Cat statue and
dressed up in like a CheshireCat hoodie.
Um, like I used to love goingall out for things like this.
So with Charlie and theChocolate Factory, I had a top
hat that had seen better days atthis point, and a magician's
(07:01):
vest coat thingy, you know, withthe tails, and it was purple.
So it was perfect for Wonka.
And I had this from an oldHalloween costume at some point
when I was a magician, soslapped those on and called
myself Willy Wonka.
And the theater that I go to ithas the Grand Auditorium.
(07:27):
It's a balcony auditorium, it'sreally big, it's even got a
stage down in front and thescreen is humongous.
So I was there, my mom wasgoing to see it with me.
All of a sudden this like lineof young kids starts coming down
the aisle and there are so manykids.
(07:50):
So they were on some sort offield trip for summer daycare,
whatever, and some of them werelike looking at me and whatnot.
And you know they're thinkingthat, oh, maybe, yeah, this
Willy Wonka-esque or whatever.
I think even at one pointsomeone was like hi, Willy,
(08:10):
which is so sweet when I thinkback on it.
But my mom was like I dare youto walk up to the front of the
auditorium and introduce themovie to these kids, because
they were already looking, theywere already having fun Seeing
my costume, you know, kind oflike, oh, what is she doing,
sort of thing.
And I forget how much money mymom was going to give me.
(08:33):
It was either like 50 or 100bucks, but I mean, back then
that was fantastic.
So I said, okay, let me, let methink about this, and I was
already starting to feel like sonervous and sick to my stomach,
but I needed the money.
So I said I'm gonna walk to theback of the theater and if,
when I come back, if I keepwalking, I'm going to walk to
(08:53):
the back of the theater, and if,when I come back, if I keep
walking, I'm going to do it, ifI chicken out, then I'm just
going to sit down in my seat.
So I did that, gathered mycomposure at the back, and when
I started walking down the aisleI I almost sat down in the
chair, but instead I keptwalking and I went up to the
(09:17):
front and by this time I thinkthere was like three rows of
kids.
My gosh, there were a lot offreaking kids and I don't
remember what I said.
It was something super generallike hi, this is Willy Wonka,
welcome to the movie.
I hope you enjoy it and havesome fun.
(09:38):
Something really, you know,simple, benign and just like
getting out there in front ofthem Because they were just so
tickled by my costume and when Iwent back to my seat, like, and
they cheered, they applauded,wonderful kids, they were so
gracious to me.
But I sat back down in my chair.
(09:59):
And, one, it felt great knowingthat I got some money.
But two, it felt so great tolike bring a smile to these kids
faces like they had no ideathey were walking into the
theater and gonna see some, youknow, crazy high school girl
dressed up.
But that was all to get moremoney to buy a ticket for the
(10:19):
American Idiot tour.
And I this was going to be likemy first big concert to go to,
and on my own.
So my parents weren't going togo with me, my sister wasn't
going to go with me.
I was going with a friend ofmine who I knew was, you know,
like Green Day.
She also liked a lot of punkbands, you know kind of like
(10:40):
Ramones and Misfits and thingslike that.
So it was right up her alleyand my dad had a co-worker who
was also into Green Day and he,you know, dropped the
information that I wanted to goto this concert and she offered
to drive and take us there andgo with us.
(11:00):
This is like nuts to me nowthat I'm remembering about it,
because it just seemed wild thatmy parents would kind of let me
go on my own with a semistranger and spend the night up
in Kansas City, oh my gosh.
So the concert was amazing.
My chemical romance actuallyopened up for them freaking
(11:24):
another band I loved back in theday and I mean their music
still holds up.
They put on such a good showand my friend and I were in the
mosh pit like pretty deep in it,uh, when MCR was on the stage.
But by the end of them we werelike nah, dog, we cannot handle
this.
And you know, weed permeatesthe air.
(11:48):
You can smell it on people.
They are just like push andshove and all kinds of rowdy.
So we actually backed off tothe outskirts of the pit and
stood um, like pretty much closeto the wall, kind of um for the
rest of the show, like whengreen day hit, but we were still
(12:10):
, like, I mean, still able tosee the stage so well.
At one point I think I did getlike overheated and I hadn't
really eaten much that day so Ihad to sit down against the wall
.
But my gosh, was it just somuch fun.
(12:32):
And I've since seen Green Day,you know, several times.
They always put on an amazingshow.
But to think, wow, 20 years ofAmerican Idiot and that means my
parents are coming up on 20years of being divorced, and
that was such a monumentalmoment in my life that I'm still
(12:54):
working out trauma from,because that was just a very
horrible time, and to feel likeI was dealing with it alone.
But, yeah, 20 years.
So they have two box sets likedeluxe sets.
(13:16):
One is with CDs, the other iswith LP records and of course
I'm like I have got to get bothof them, because there's
different merch in eachselection.
Of course they would do thatget your money, um, so I'm kind
of waiting for another payday inorder to pre-order that,
(13:37):
because I mean, I told a friendthat I don't really have the
money right now, but americanidiot was such an important part
of my life and is such animportant part of me that I just
gotta get this.
Another thing I just thought ofwas the heart hand grenade was
(13:59):
my first ever tattoo and myparents signed off to allow me
to get that at age 16.
I was a good student, know, I'mnot getting into trouble and
they're like I also think, sincethey were getting divorced,
they kind of let they kind oflet us do some things that maybe
(14:19):
we normally couldn't.
So getting a tattoo was one ofthem, and since then I have had
so many tattoos.
I also remember that in myjunior honors English class I
wrote an essay about AmericanIdiot and its impact on me and
my teacher adored this essay andshe asked if she could borrow
(14:45):
the album to listen to.
And when I tell you how shockedI am like you would not expect
it to come from this lady.
She was very much like older,um, seemingly conservative, um,
kind of like straight laced, notat all what I thought she would
be asking me to borrow thisalbum because even when I wrote
(15:07):
the essay, I'm like she'sprobably gonna hate this, she
doesn't understand.
No, I was like, heck, yeah, letme uh, get you a copy to borrow
, because by this point I havelike two or three copies of the
cd and she actually listened toit and she liked it.
I was so surprised that shelike totally became amazing in
my book.
(15:27):
She just went to instantcoolness.
She and I shared, like peopledidn't really like her, like
other students didn't reallylike her, and I'm like, no, no,
no, she and I, we got this bond.
Now We've got American IdiotBond.
So that was.
That is my hyper fixation forthis episode.
Maybe I'll talk a little bitmore about it sometime.
(15:49):
You know just about, um, whatelse is going on more in depth,
about my parents and whatnot,but um, what's?
I would like to leave with aquestion like what's an album
that truly impacted you inincredible ways, like left such
an impression on you or came atjust the right time to just
(16:10):
resonate with you in whateverseason of life you were in?
What is some?
And even what's an album thatyou can just listen to now front
to back and, uh, that you stilllove?
So that is today's episode.
Thank you for listening and Iwill catch you later.
Beautiful humans and welcome to another episode of A
Spectrum of Hyperfixations.
I'm your host, miss T, and theT stands for let's go for
tenacious today.
So how are you?
How are things?
Are you feeling any stress?
I don't know what I'm doing forlike introductions or, you know
(00:47):
, repeating segments, but Ithought maybe just like a nice
little check-in at the top ofeach episode might be kind of
nice and helpful.
Maybe we all each take acollective deep breath and just
kind of settle in and have somenice time together.
(01:09):
This episode will be aboutAmerican Idiot and if you are
familiar, that is the album byGreen Day.
So kicking this off, kind ofhow I came about to talk about
this topic right now, was I gotan email in my inbox and it said
(01:32):
20 years of American Idiot andfrom the Green Day fan club or I
don't know which one I'msubscribed to.
I'm subscribed to both.
You know they do Punk BunnyCoffee to it.
I'm subscribed to both.
You know they do punk bunnycoffee.
They also have their own, Ithink, mailing list.
(01:58):
So either way, got an emailsaid 20 years of American Idiot
and I'm like holy shmow, Icannot believe it's been 20
years since this was releasedSeptember 2004.
That put me in, let's see,sophomore year.
I just started sophomore year ofhigh school and I didn't become
(02:28):
a fan or really aware of ituntil I remember very vividly
that I was spending the night atmy cousin's house who this
particular cousin is a hot messand I was over at her house and
it was either in the morning orlike we were going to sleep.
I remember being in a room andthe radio was on and I hear the
(02:54):
chords and the lyrics and themelody of Boulevard of Broken
Dreams and I fell in love withthis song.
Just the sound of it, um.
I don't even know if I waslistening that intently to the
lyrics, but I could get you knowsome of it and it was at a time
(03:15):
in my life when I really didfeel so alone.
My parents were in the processof like separating.
This was in 2005, so I think Ibecame like, aware and a fan
maybe late 2004, early 2005, andthis album became basically my
(03:37):
coping mechanism for my parentsdivorce.
I would play it front to backmultiple times.
I would blast it on my stereoupstairs and I remember
sometimes feeling like I wish myparents or somebody would just
recognize what I'm listening toand the lyrics, because this is
(04:00):
what I'm feeling and I feel if Ididn't have this album, I would
be the Saint Jimmy, you know,blowing my brains out in the bay
or going to.
You know, smoke, dope smoke,cigarettes, get into drugs.
You know all the things and Iwould later, you know, believe
that my parents got so luckythat I'm such a rule follower.
(04:22):
And now you could say blame theautism for being a rule
follower, but it it just spoketo me at that vulnerable time
and I just immersed myself in it.
I remember doodling in seminarclass.
You know, little bombs andthings, because of course, back
(04:43):
then you had the little bookletsand stuff that went along with
albums.
I also got the special editionlike color booklet that had even
more of the lyrics and likephotographs and stuff I watched.
Um, this was back, I think, evenwhen MTV was playing, or it was
was MTV2, was playing.
(05:04):
You know, like making of amusic video.
It's a sign of the day and Iloved seeing the video for
Boulevard of Broken Dreams andHoliday.
I remember those two specificones were Samuel Bayer, I
believe, was the director ofthem and their aesthetic was
just really cool Green Day.
At the time, let me tell youthis I didn't know Green Day
(05:26):
other than, like everybody else,the Good Riddance Time of your
Life song.
And so for this to hit, thenthat's when the Autism kicked in
.
Deep dive into Green Day, allof their albums.
I wanted everything, I wantedto learn everything about them.
I wanted to get every album.
I wanted to learn every word.
The full hyper fixation kickedin goes along with American
(05:57):
Idiot in particular.
So at this time, charlie andthe Chocolate Factory by Tim
Burton was also coming out in2005.
And there was a Green Dayconcert that I knew I wanted to
go to up in Kansas City.
And at this point I'm not like Idon't really have a job.
I'm not like I don't reallyhave a job.
Um, you know, I've got someallowance and stuff and I am one
(06:18):
of those people who, if I lovesomething a lot or I'm getting
obsessed, I want to dress up.
So I dressed up for, like thethird Pirates of the Caribbean
release in this kind of likeRenaissance middle age, you know
, kind of dress of dress, um,for the Alice in Wonderland
premiere of the Tim Burton film,which was not great, let's not
(06:41):
get onto that but I brought mybig Cheshire Cat statue and
dressed up in like a CheshireCat hoodie.
Um, like I used to love goingall out for things like this.
So with Charlie and theChocolate Factory, I had a top
hat that had seen better days atthis point, and a magician's
(07:01):
vest coat thingy, you know, withthe tails, and it was purple.
So it was perfect for Wonka.
And I had this from an oldHalloween costume at some point
when I was a magician, soslapped those on and called
myself Willy Wonka.
And the theater that I go to ithas the Grand Auditorium.
(07:27):
It's a balcony auditorium, it'sreally big, it's even got a
stage down in front and thescreen is humongous.
So I was there, my mom wasgoing to see it with me.
All of a sudden this like lineof young kids starts coming down
the aisle and there are so manykids.
(07:50):
So they were on some sort offield trip for summer daycare,
whatever, and some of them werelike looking at me and whatnot.
And you know they're thinkingthat, oh, maybe, yeah, this
Willy Wonka-esque or whatever.
I think even at one pointsomeone was like hi, Willy,
(08:10):
which is so sweet when I thinkback on it.
But my mom was like I dare youto walk up to the front of the
auditorium and introduce themovie to these kids, because
they were already looking, theywere already having fun Seeing
my costume, you know, kind oflike, oh, what is she doing,
sort of thing.
And I forget how much money mymom was going to give me.
(08:33):
It was either like 50 or 100bucks, but I mean, back then
that was fantastic.
So I said, okay, let me, let methink about this, and I was
already starting to feel like sonervous and sick to my stomach,
but I needed the money.
So I said I'm gonna walk to theback of the theater and if,
when I come back, if I keepwalking, I'm going to walk to
(08:53):
the back of the theater, and if,when I come back, if I keep
walking, I'm going to do it, ifI chicken out, then I'm just
going to sit down in my seat.
So I did that, gathered mycomposure at the back, and when
I started walking down the aisleI I almost sat down in the
chair, but instead I keptwalking and I went up to the
(09:17):
front and by this time I thinkthere was like three rows of
kids.
My gosh, there were a lot offreaking kids and I don't
remember what I said.
It was something super generallike hi, this is Willy Wonka,
welcome to the movie.
I hope you enjoy it and havesome fun.
(09:38):
Something really, you know,simple, benign and just like
getting out there in front ofthem Because they were just so
tickled by my costume and when Iwent back to my seat, like, and
they cheered, they applauded,wonderful kids, they were so
gracious to me.
But I sat back down in my chair.
(09:59):
And, one, it felt great knowingthat I got some money.
But two, it felt so great tolike bring a smile to these kids
faces like they had no ideathey were walking into the
theater and gonna see some, youknow, crazy high school girl
dressed up.
But that was all to get moremoney to buy a ticket for the
(10:19):
American Idiot tour.
And I this was going to be likemy first big concert to go to,
and on my own.
So my parents weren't going togo with me, my sister wasn't
going to go with me.
I was going with a friend ofmine who I knew was, you know,
like Green Day.
She also liked a lot of punkbands, you know kind of like
(10:40):
Ramones and Misfits and thingslike that.
So it was right up her alleyand my dad had a co-worker who
was also into Green Day and he,you know, dropped the
information that I wanted to goto this concert and she offered
to drive and take us there andgo with us.
(11:00):
This is like nuts to me nowthat I'm remembering about it,
because it just seemed wild thatmy parents would kind of let me
go on my own with a semistranger and spend the night up
in Kansas City, oh my gosh.
So the concert was amazing.
My chemical romance actuallyopened up for them freaking
(11:24):
another band I loved back in theday and I mean their music
still holds up.
They put on such a good showand my friend and I were in the
mosh pit like pretty deep in it,uh, when MCR was on the stage.
But by the end of them we werelike nah, dog, we cannot handle
this.
And you know, weed permeatesthe air.
(11:48):
You can smell it on people.
They are just like push andshove and all kinds of rowdy.
So we actually backed off tothe outskirts of the pit and
stood um, like pretty much closeto the wall, kind of um for the
rest of the show, like whengreen day hit, but we were still
(12:10):
, like, I mean, still able tosee the stage so well.
At one point I think I did getlike overheated and I hadn't
really eaten much that day so Ihad to sit down against the wall
.
But my gosh, was it just somuch fun.
(12:32):
And I've since seen Green Day,you know, several times.
They always put on an amazingshow.
But to think, wow, 20 years ofAmerican Idiot and that means my
parents are coming up on 20years of being divorced, and
that was such a monumentalmoment in my life that I'm still
(12:54):
working out trauma from,because that was just a very
horrible time, and to feel likeI was dealing with it alone.
But, yeah, 20 years.
So they have two box sets likedeluxe sets.
(13:16):
One is with CDs, the other iswith LP records and of course
I'm like I have got to get bothof them, because there's
different merch in eachselection.
Of course they would do thatget your money, um, so I'm kind
of waiting for another payday inorder to pre-order that,
(13:37):
because I mean, I told a friendthat I don't really have the
money right now, but americanidiot was such an important part
of my life and is such animportant part of me that I just
gotta get this.
Another thing I just thought ofwas the heart hand grenade was
(13:59):
my first ever tattoo and myparents signed off to allow me
to get that at age 16.
I was a good student, know, I'mnot getting into trouble and
they're like I also think, sincethey were getting divorced,
they kind of let they kind oflet us do some things that maybe
(14:19):
we normally couldn't.
So getting a tattoo was one ofthem, and since then I have had
so many tattoos.
I also remember that in myjunior honors English class I
wrote an essay about AmericanIdiot and its impact on me and
my teacher adored this essay andshe asked if she could borrow
(14:45):
the album to listen to.
And when I tell you how shockedI am like you would not expect
it to come from this lady.
She was very much like older,um, seemingly conservative, um,
kind of like straight laced, notat all what I thought she would
be asking me to borrow thisalbum because even when I wrote
(15:07):
the essay, I'm like she'sprobably gonna hate this, she
doesn't understand.
No, I was like, heck, yeah, letme uh, get you a copy to borrow
, because by this point I havelike two or three copies of the
cd and she actually listened toit and she liked it.
I was so surprised that shelike totally became amazing in
my book.
(15:27):
She just went to instantcoolness.
She and I shared, like peopledidn't really like her, like
other students didn't reallylike her, and I'm like, no, no,
no, she and I, we got this bond.
Now We've got American IdiotBond.
So that was.
That is my hyper fixation forthis episode.
Maybe I'll talk a little bitmore about it sometime.
(15:49):
You know just about, um, whatelse is going on more in depth,
about my parents and whatnot,but um, what's?
I would like to leave with aquestion like what's an album
that truly impacted you inincredible ways, like left such
an impression on you or came atjust the right time to just
(16:10):
resonate with you in whateverseason of life you were in?
What is some?
And even what's an album thatyou can just listen to now front
to back and, uh, that you stilllove?
So that is today's episode.
Thank you for listening and Iwill catch you later.
Popular Podcasts
United States of Kennedy
United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.