The American Dream Is Killing Me
Released On
Saviors
19 JAN 2024
Single Released: 24 OCT 2023
Billie Joe Armstrong
Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool
RAK Studios
United Recording
Henson Recording
United Recording
Henson Recording
Rob Cavallo, Green Day
76
2023-10-19
2025-09-30
Staple (80-100%)
Regular (50-79%)
Sporadic (20-49%)
Rare (1-19%)
Inactive (0%)
Performance Probability
62%
Odds of being played at the next showRegular
(Calculated from the last 100 shows)
!
For songs debuted recently, the percentage is calculated against total shows performed since the song's debut date rather than the full 100-show window.
Song Notes
With a song like ‘The American Dream Is Killing Me,’ I address things like homelessness and QAnon and everything that’s under the umbrella of what the American Dream is supposed to be—and how it just doesn’t work and it’s a broken country right now.
BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG (MIXonline)
MIXOnline: The caustic 'The American Dream Is Killing Me' may have been the opening track and first single, but the anthem nearly wasn’t recorded, having initially been written and then set aside during sessions for the band’s previous album, 2020’s Father of All….
“We were going for something completely different then,” says Armstrong. “I didn’t want to be political; that wasn’t really the message we were trying to do. We were wanting to do something more garage rock back then—but as time went on, it just seemed like ‘American Dream’ was fitting in with the new album perfectly.” Now Armstrong sees that song and the album’s title track, written during the darkest days of the pandemic, as “two sides of the same coin, or two sides of the same single. It felt perfect and when I played the demo for Rob, he was like, ‘Man, we should really record this.’”
With a song like ‘The American Dream Is Killing Me,’ I address things like homelessness and QAnon and everything that’s under the umbrella of what the American Dream is supposed to be—and how it just doesn’t work and it’s a broken country right now.
BILLIE JOE ARMSTRONG (MIXonline)
MIXOnline: The caustic 'The American Dream Is Killing Me' may have been the opening track and first single, but the anthem nearly wasn’t recorded, having initially been written and then set aside during sessions for the band’s previous album, 2020’s Father of All….
“We were going for something completely different then,” says Armstrong. “I didn’t want to be political; that wasn’t really the message we were trying to do. We were wanting to do something more garage rock back then—but as time went on, it just seemed like ‘American Dream’ was fitting in with the new album perfectly.” Now Armstrong sees that song and the album’s title track, written during the darkest days of the pandemic, as “two sides of the same coin, or two sides of the same single. It felt perfect and when I played the demo for Rob, he was like, ‘Man, we should really record this.’”
Lyrics
The American Dream is killing me
The American Dream is killing me
When it's all double-talk of conspiracy
The American Dream is killing me
Send out an S.O.S
It's getting serious
Bulldoze your family home
Now it's a condo
We are not home
Are we not home?
Goddamn, I am so grateful
Forever faithful to
The American Dream is killing me
The American Dream is killing me
People on the street
Unemployed and obsolete
Did you ever learn to read the ransom note
Don't want no huddled masses
TikTok and taxes
Under the overpass
Sleeping in broken glass
We are not well
Are we not well?
Cracked up into the wild
We're pedophiles for
The American Dream is killing me
The American Dream is killing me
When it's all double-talk of insanity
The American Dream is killing me
Say!
Woah, woah, woah
From sea to shining sea
Whitewashed upon the beach
My country under siege
On private property
We are not home
Are we not home?
Kiss me, I'm dead inside
Who needs suicide
When the American Dream is killing me
The American Dream is killing me
When it's all double-talk of insanity
The American Dream is killing me
Music Video
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Fan Rating
The American Dream Is Killing Me
Billboard Charts
Tracklist
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