Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Green Day: Rock Music and Class

Roig, Olivia

Abstract Details

2016, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, Popular Culture.
The pop punk band Green Day is a surprisingly interesting source for a discussion of class. Despite their working class background, and their massive successes with Dookie in 1994, and American Idiot in 2004, Green Day performs many middle class values in their song lyrics, stage shows, and interviews. Using Chris McDonald’s book Rush: Rock Music and the Middle Class as a template, this paper analyzes Green Day’s performance of class through theories about social class in North America. Throughout Green Day’s career, there is a noticeable tension between wanting to stick to their working class roots and acknowledging their sudden and unexpected thrust into an upper class economic standing. Yet, despite skipping a middle class standing economically, their song lyrics, stage shows, and interviews articulate many middle class values such as individualism, professionalism, and the middle class family.
Jeremy Wallach, Dr (Advisor)
Jeremy Wallach, Dr (Committee Chair)
Esther Clinton, Dr (Committee Member)
Jones Dalton, Dr (Committee Member)
78 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Roig, O. (2016). Green Day: Rock Music and Class [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1460052619

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Roig, Olivia. Green Day: Rock Music and Class. 2016. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1460052619.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Roig, Olivia. "Green Day: Rock Music and Class." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1460052619

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)