American Idiot | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: Ab Db | Gb Db Ab Gb :||
Verse 1
||: N.C | N.C G | Ab Db | Gb Db Ab Gb :||
Don’t wanna be an American idiot.
Don’t want a nation under the new media.
And can you hear the sound of hysteria?
The subliminal mind fuck America!
Chorus 1
| Db | Db | Ab | Ab |
Welcome to a new kind of tension, all across the alien nation,
| Eb | Eb | Ab | Ab |
where everything isn’t meant to be OK.
| Db | Db | Ab | Ab |
Television dreams of tomorrow, we’re not the ones who’re meant to follow,
| Eb | Eb | N.C | N.C G |
for that’s enough to argue.
Instrumental 1
||: Ab Db | Gb Db Ab Gb :||
Verse 2
Well, maybe I’m the faggot America.
I’m not a part of a redneck agenda.
Now everybody do the propaganda.
And sing along to the age of paranoia.
Chorus 2
Welcome to a new kind of tension, all across the alien nation.
Where everything isn’t meant to be okay.
Television dreams of tomorrow, we’re not the ones who’re meant to follow,
for that’s enough to argue.
Instrumental 2
||: Ab Db | Gb Db Ab Gb :|| x4
Solo
| Db | Db | Ab | Ab |
| Eb | Eb | Ab | Ab |
| Db | Db | Ab | Ab |
| Eb | Eb | N.C | N.C G |
Breakdown
||: N.C | N.C G :||
Verse 3
||: N.C | N.C G :||
Don’t want to be an American idiot.
One nation, controlled by the media.
Information age of hysteria.
It’s going out to idiot America.
Chorus 3
Welcome to a new kind of tension, all across the alien nation,
where everything isn’t meant to be OK.
Television dreams of tomorrow, we’re not the ones who are meant to follow,
| Eb | Eb | N.C (Ab Db) | N.C (Gb Db Ab) G |
for that’s enough to argue.
Outro
||: Ab Db | Gb Db Ab Gb :|| x3
| Ab Db | Gb Db Ab |
American Idiot Chords: Unpacking the Punk Progressions and Tension-Building Techniques
Being in the key of Ab, American Idiot’s verse chords cleverly disguise the I chord by ending the initial progression on the bVIIx just before a rest. This creates a lot of tension in the music:
||: N.C | N.C G (VII) | Ab (I) Db (IV) |
| Gb (bVIIx) Db (IV) Ab (I) Gb (bVIIx) :||
At the end of the rest in both the verse and chorus, Billie Joe Armstrong plays an open G. This chord, sitting a semitone outside the key, adds even more tension.
Interestingly, this quick G chord reveals that the guitars aren’t tuned down a semitone—a clever touch!
The intro, instrumental and outro sections are the same as the verse, just without the first two N.C bars.
Chorus
When the chorus kicks in, the progression starts on chord IV, followed by I – V – I. This pattern is repeated but ends on a rest instead of chord I, keeping the tension high:
| Db (IV) | Db | Ab (I) | Ab |
| Eb (V) | Eb | Ab | Ab |
| Db | Db | Ab | Ab |
| Eb | Eb | N.C | N.C G |
Chord shapes for Punk!
All the chords in American Idiot are played as either E shapes or A shapes, and they’re best approached as 5 chords to maximise that raw punk energy.
Staying true to Green Day’s punk-pop roots, these are the only chords you’ll need to play American Idiot.
Here’s a chord chart.
American Idiot Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Here are the American Idiot chord charts available for download:
While iReal Pro lets you change the key, I wouldn’t recommend it—transposing will remove the effect of the open G chord.
American Idiot is another Green Day classic!
Released on Green Day’s seventh studio album, American Idiot was the lead single from the record of the same name.
An instant success, the song topped charts worldwide in 2004 and quickly became another signature track for the band, alongside classics like Basket Case, and Time Of Your Life.
At its core, American Idiot is a punk-pop protest song, criticising the American media for dumbing down the public on issues like war. The band highlighted this by intercutting footage from Iraq with advertisements, exposing the media’s prioritisation of publicity over substance.
On Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list, American Idiot claimed the #432 spot.
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