Chords + Lyrics | American Idiot
Intro
||: Ab5 Db5 | Gb5 Db5 Ab5 Gb5 |
| Ab5 Db5 | Gb5 Db5 Ab5 G :||
Verse 1
| N.C | N.C G | Ab5 Db5 | Gb5 Db5 Ab5 Gb5 |
Don’t wanna be an American idiot.
| N.C | N.C G | Ab5 Db5 | Gb5 Db5 Ab5 G |
Don’t want a nation under the new media.
| N.C | N.C G | Ab5 Db5 | Gb5 Db5 Ab5 Gb5 |
And can you hear the sound of hysteria?
| N.C | N.C G | Ab5 Db5 | Gb5 Db5 Ab5 Gb5 |
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
| Ab5 Db5 | Gb5 Db5 Ab5 Gb5 |
| Ab5 Db5 | Gb5 Db5 Ab5 G |
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
| Ab5 Db5 | Gb5 Db5 Ab5 Gb5 |
| Ab5 Db5 | Gb5 Db5 Ab5 G |
| Ab5 Db5 | Gb5 Db5 Ab5 Gb5 |
| Ab5 Db5 | Gb5 Db5 Ab5 |
Solo
| Db | Db | Ab | Ab |
| Eb | Eb | Ab | Ab |
| Db | Db | Ab | Ab |
| Eb | Eb | Ab | Ab 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 (Ab5 Db5) | N.C (Gb5 Db5 Ab5) G |
for that’s enough to argue.
Outro
||: Ab5 Db5 | Gb5 Db5 Ab5 Gb5 :|| x3
| Ab5 Db5 | Gb5 Db5 Ab5 |
American Idiot Backing Track | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning December, 1963 (Oh What A Night!). I’ve used stem separation to extract the guitar while keeping the drums, bass, keys, horns, and vocals intact.
After studying the chords and TAB, use my backing tracks to prepare for playing this tune with a band.
I’ve also tuned the track so you can play along without it all feeling slightly off. Should you want to play along with the original recording, you’ll need tune to 442Hz.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
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:
||: N.C | N.C G (VII) | Ab5 (I) Db5 (IV) |
| Gb5 (bVIIx) Db5 (IV) Ab5 (I) Gb5 (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 lots of tension.
This quick G chord reveals that the guitar can’t be tuned down a semitone.
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, especially with that short dissonant G!
| Db (IV) | Db | Ab (I) | Ab |
| Eb (V) | Eb | Ab | Ab |
| Db | Db | Ab | Ab |
| Eb | Eb | N.C | N.C G |
To get TAB for how to play these chords in a band as the sole guitarist using standard tuning, keep scrolling down this guitar lesson.
Hearing American Idiot as if in two keys at the same time
What is so clever about American Idiot’s chords is that during the verse we partly hear the progression as being in the key of Db: V – I – IV – I – V – IV, completely diatonic apart from the dissonant G.
At the same time, we also hear it as described above, as if in the key of Ab. The point being that before the chorus it feels as if it could be either.
When the chorus starts on Db, we hear it as both I and IV, still unsure. But when the Eb comes in for the first time, we finally hear the entire song as being in the key of Ab, thanks to the now clear IV – I – V – I chorus, acting as a release from all the key-signature tension.
To cleverly straddle two keys like this is what gives the entire song its tension — that, and the dissonant outside chord of the open 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 mainly as power chords to maximise that raw punk energy.
Staying true to Green Day’s punk-pop roots, these are the only chord shapes 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 | TAB
Clearly, there is more than one guitar on the recording of American Idiot. I’m also sure one of those is tuned down a semitone so we get open A, D, and G power chords.
However, one of the most important parts here is that open dissonant G chord we hear before the verse repeat. Therefore, as the only guitarist in the band, you must play in standard tuning so that open G chord can be incorporated.
Here are guitar parts for all sections, designed to work for the sole guitarist in the band.
Intro
The intro sets up the main riff as we pivot between a Gb at the end, or the more dissonant open G. This simplicity is disguised by the production values, which are:
- Guitar on its own played through what sounds like a transistor radio (Gb)
- Full band in, with big guitar sounds and dissonant G
- Full band, big guitar sounds and Gb
- Full band, big guitar sounds and dissonant G
The other open strings (between Ab and Db) do not have the same effect as the open G. Those open strings are there to make it possible to move from one chord to another without losing momentum.
Verse
The verse is the same as the intro, but with two bars of no chords first. When we loop it, the open G appears only once before the N.C.:
Chorus
The chorus is layered on the recording with some guitars playing power chords and others the full triad. As the sole guitarist, you have to try to blend all this. Here’s what I would do:
Instrumental
The instrumental sections are like the intro and verse, with a few more variations at the end of each cycle. Here’s instrumental 1.
For instrumental 2, we play for twice as long and vary even more. The last chord is an Ab for the first time.
Solo
The solo is played using octaves at first. Make sure you understand the intervals:
- Db is: 3rd – 2nd – root
- Ab is: 5th – 6th – 5th – 4th – 3rd
- Eb (without octave) is: 5th – 6th – b7th – 6th – 5th
- Ab starts and comes back to the 5th and then hits: root – 2nd – 3rd – 2nd – root
Being able to see the intervals on the fretboard is great for understanding what you play theoretically, remembering it, and moving what you do to a different area of the neck.
Breakdown + Verse 3
The easiest part is the breakdown and verse 3, where we only play that dissonant G.
Once you can play all the TAB, scroll back up to the backing tracks and chord chart.
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 such as 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.
American Idiot Chords: Continue Learning
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