I first became aware of the band Green Day when I heard their song "Good Riddance" on their album Warning when it was released in 1997. I continued to listen to music throughout my teenage years after they released their next two albums, American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown. When I was young I liked Green Day's music because it was fun to listen to and sing along to, but as I grew up and started interpreting the lyrics of their songs I realized there was a deeper message in their music. Many of my friends also commented on the reason behind Green Day's music, and this led to long discussions about government and politics. We didn't really understand what we were talking about, but it was clear that their music had aroused interesting emotions in us. Green Day's often controversial punk-rock was so influential that it sent a media-influenced generation searching for answers to the meaning behind their politically charged lyrics on their albums American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown even years later. Billie Joe Armstrong has been quoted in recent years as saying that their hit album American Idiot was written partly in response to "the worst political moments of my life that I can remember". (92Y, 2010) As a teenager listening to the song "American Idiot", I didn't fully appreciate the message the band was trying to convey. I understood the overall message of the song, which is about how fans should be more original and try not to follow what the general media preaches. Only when I got older did I start to understand how much influence the media has in our daily lives. After that epiphany, I drastically reduced the amount of television and radio I had... middle of paper... at my desk. "AMERICAN IDIOT closes April 24; Billie Joe Armstrong returns April 5." BroadwayWorld.com. March 10, 2011. Web. November 14, 2013. .• "Green Day Interview, 2004." Interview by Bill Denker. Jaded in Chicago, December 29, 2010. Web. November 14, 2013. .# "Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day with Michael Mayer." Interview. 92nd Street Y, September 19, 2010. Web. November 14, 2013. .# Green Day's "American Idiot" Doesn't Just Shout Politics: MTV News Quote of the Day." MTV Newsroom - Politics. MTV News , 22 April 2010. Web. 14 November. 2013. .