Green Day singing Lennon.....

[cowboy_joe]

What does everyone think of the Green Day "Working Class Hero" cover? I'm not a big fan of their vocalist, and I'm not sure I get using Working Class Hero as a charity song, but it's not a bad performance, I don't think. I still much prefer Lennon's acoustic version.

[tennis_nick]

prefer Lennon. not a bad cover. what bothers me is using Lennon at the end, but a step lower than what Greenday plays. also, "A Working Class Hero is something to Bee-nnn" is not how the song should be sung.

[notviceversa]

I can't stand it.

[sloop_john_b]

Just listened, thumbs down.

[charlyg]

I don't have to listen. Everything I have heard from them is flat.

[studiotwosession]

Green Day said they signed with WB records because the Muffs were on WB. The latter are ten times better. GD are a typical MTV generated success. Blech.

[cowboy_joe]

Charly, I'm told that's the style these days....

As I said, I kind of like the drums and guitars, but I'd prefer they did it on their own song. If I was going to do a Lennon cover for charity, I think I'd pick a different song.

[nattiep]

Pfft, he just wanted to say f*ck for charity.

[kenposurf]

Green Day's one of my fave bands....the song is very repetitive..I thought he gave a heartfelt performance of a song I doubt they would normally do..no dis on the the original it's powerful.

[lyle_from_minneapolis]

Sometimes I think the only reason anyone covers that song is to be able to say the f-word with impunity. But no one comes close to the raw pain and simplicity of the original. Some songs are really dumb ideas to cover. Does anyone really want to hear a new groundbreaking cover of "Let It Be"? Not me.

[admin]

What interests me most is the fact that Green Day decided to record it in the first place. The fallout early developmental difficulties is as painful today as it was during Lennon's time.

"As soon as your born they make you feel small,
By giving you no time instead of it all,
Till the pain is so big you feel nothing at all,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
They hurt you at home and they hit you at school,
They hate you if you're clever and they despise a fool,
Till you're so f***ing crazy you can't follow their rules,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
When they've tortured and scared you for twenty odd years,
Then they expect you to pick a career,
When you can't really function you're so full of fear,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV,
And you think you're so clever and classless and free,
But you're still f***ing peasants as far as I can see,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
There's room at the top they are telling you still,
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like the folks on the hill,
A working class hero is something to be.
A working class hero is something to be.
If you want to be a hero well just follow me,
If you want to be a hero well just follow me."

[lyle_from_minneapolis]

Oh, I think the Green Day fanbase can relate to these lyrics. The message still rings true, as depressing and angry as it may be.

I haven't heard their version. I have heard other versions, some just unbearable. I did like Marianne Faithfull's take on it.

[randyz]

It is of course ironic that of the four Beatles, Lennon was the only one not raised in a working class household. Attending art college is far different from working in a factory...

[admin]

Excellent point Randy, but I believe that this is autobiographical to some extent and comments, at least in part, on the expectations that family members had of Lennon.

[lyle_from_minneapolis]

What does he mean by "A working class hero is something to be"?

I "feel" the answer, but I can't seem to write it down.