Holiday (Green Day song)

"Holiday"
Single by Green Day
from the album American Idiot
Released	March 14, 2005 (2005-03-14) (UK) May 7, 2005 (2005-05-07) (United States)
Format	Digital download, CD single, vinyl
Recorded	2004
Genre	Punk rock, pop punk
Length	3:52 (Album/single version) 4:03 (Clean version)
Label	Reprise
Writer(s)	Billie Joe Armstrong / Green Day
Producer	Rob Cavallo, Green Day
Certification	Platinum (RIAA)
Green Day singles chronology
"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (2004) "Holiday" (2005) "Wake Me Up When September Ends" (2005)

"Holiday" is a song by the American punk rock band Green Day. It was released as the third single from their seventh album American Idiot. The song is in the key of F minor. Though the song is a prelude to "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", "Holiday" was released as a single later on, in the spring of 2005. The song achieved considerable popularity across the world and performed moderately well on the charts. In the U.S., it reached number nineteen on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks and Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks charts. It debuted at number eleven in the UK and at number twenty-one in Canada.

During live performances, lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong liked to introduce this song with a political statement, or alternatively, a disclaimer. For example, on Green Day's CD/DVD Bullet in a Bible, Armstrong announces, "This next song's a big 'fuck you' to all the politicians. This song's called Holiday! This song is not anti-American; it's anti-war!" On more recent occasions, notably Green Day's new CD/DVD live album Awesome As Fuck, Armstrong introduces the song with "Do you want to start a fucking war? All the people in Ireland, viva la revolution!"

"Holiday" has sold 1,452,000 copies as of July, 2010.

Track listing

CD 1
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Holiday"	3:53
2.	"Holiday" (live)	4:07
3.	"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (live)	4:24

CD 2
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Holiday"	3:53
2.	"Minority" (live)	6:01

7" picture disc

Side A
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Holiday"	3:53

Side B
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Minority" (live)	6:01

Vinyl Boxset

Side A
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Holiday"	3:53
2.	"Wake Me Up When September Ends"	4:45

Side B
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Letterbomb"	4:06
2.	"Governator" (non-LP track)	2:32

• Live tracks recorded September 21, 2004 at Irving Plaza, New York

Music video

The first half of the video takes place in a car (a 1968 Mercury Monterey convertible), where Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool are partying around the town. In the second half they are cavorting in a bar where each of the band members portrays several different characters. Billie Joe Armstrong plays the mentioned Representative of California, two fighting clients, a punk rocker and a nerd. Tré Cool plays a drunken priest, an arrested patron, and a prostitute. Mike Dirnt plays the barman, another punk, and a policeman. There are also scenes featuring seemingly worn-down can-can dancers. At the end of the video, the car smokes to a halt in the field that "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" begins in. Like the video for "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", this video was directed by Samuel Bayer.

The band arrived at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards in the same car, this time "pimped out" by James Washburn, a friend of the band.

Charts

Chart (2005)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)	24
Canadian Hot 100	21
Canadian BDS Airplay Chart	3
Danish Singles Chart	14
German Singles Chart	50
Irish Singles Chart	13
Japanese Singles Chart	38
Swedish Singles Chart	25
Swiss Singles Chart	44
New Zealand Singles Chart	13
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)	11
Norwegian Singles Chart	19
US Billboard Hot 100	19
US Hot Digital Songs	6
US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks	1
US Alternative Songs	1
US Adult Pop Songs	5
US Pop Songs (Billboard)	13
US Radio Songs (Billboard)	26

Preceded by "Be Yourself" by Audioslave	Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks number-one single May 7, 2005	Succeeded by "The Hand that Feeds" by Nine Inch Nails
Preceded by "Happy?" by Mudvayne	Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks number-one single June 4–18, 2005	Succeeded by "Remedy" by Seether

Cover versions

"Holiday"
Single by Scuba Dice
Released	March 13, 2006 (2006-03-13)
Format	Digital download
Recorded	2006
Genre	Punk rock
Length	3:44
Label	Independent
Writer(s)	Billie Joe Armstrong
Producer	Rob Cavallo
Scuba Dice singles chronology
"—" "Holiday" (2006) "Made" (2006)

The song was first covered by the Irish pop punk band Scuba Dice in 2006 and charted at No. 8 on the Irish charts, No. 2 on the download chart that week, and went on to be 42nd best selling single of 2008 for an Irish artist.

Hayseed Dixie also performed a bluegrass cover of the song on their album A Hot Piece of Grass.

The song Dr. Who on Holiday, from the mash-up album American Edit, combines "Holiday" and The KLF single "Doctorin' the Tardis". The intro juxtaposes George W. Bush with the Daleks, a race of monsters from the television series Doctor Who.