Song Of The Week - Working Class Hero

[TheBullwinkle]

I don't really like it that much, but to each his own.

[Eirik]

Johnny's was better.

Of course it was... I still like Green Day's version though.

[Rita]

Ehhh I don't really like it tbh.

[amy_runs]

I really like their cover

[CarmenPunkGirl]

It's a great song. And Billie's voice sounds so good, it's perfect for it.

I got such shivers from Billie's voice the first time I heard it

me too

[Kaddi.]

I love Working Class Hero, but it always makes me feel sad :/

[chatnoir]

i dislike this song.

Johnny's was better.

I think, they honoured the original quite well. Of course, this song was designed to be sung only with the guitar following it to stress the lyrics. But Green Day didn't change this impression much, because they kept it pretty simple. The added music isn't distracting from the lyrics, I think.

[Samantha]

The Saints Are Coming > Working Class Hero

[iLozza!]

well, here's my take, it's a Lennon cover. Lennon Rules. This rules. Simple

Amen to that

I love this song, a very good cover, not the best I've seen, but stil pretty great.

[pooldude256]

as long as I'm concerned, GD did a good job covering the song, but John Lennon's version is better, k? thanks.

Well I disagree. As a fan of a lot of older music, including John Lennon and the Beatles and such, I enjoy GD's version more than John Lennon's, therefore I think GD's is a tad bit better.

[rinu]

not my fav

but is a good song

[Hermione]

This is without a doubt my favourite of all Green Day's covers. Billie's voice is perfect for it, the drum part added by Tre compliments the song and makes it even more powerful, and I love how they tip their hat to Lennon by leaving his vocal in at the end. They made the song their own while still showing due reverence to the original - it works!

In fact I think it's even better than the original. It's poignant and beautiful, love it.

I searched for a live performance, but I think, there was only the one from American Idol:

And what a wonderful performance it is

[Tubbie Head]

This is without a doubt my favourite of all Green Day's covers. Billie's voice is perfect for it, the drum part added by Tre compliments the song and makes it even more powerful, and I love how they tip their hat to Lennon by leaving his vocal in at the end. They made the song their own while still showing due reverence to the original - it works!

In fact I think it's even better than the original. It's poignant and beautiful, love it.

And what a wonderful performance it is

I totally agree with you in everything.. I Love that song, and the "Green day's touch" makes the song even more awww.. really amazing..

I blame that cover for being the fan that I am now.. I pretty much started paying attention to Green day after seeing the video on TV, (at the time I watched MTV, and I listened to the mtv shit till the day I saw Green day) the song touched me deep.. and so did the video!! .. then I fell in love with Billie I started to search about them, listening to all the albums, I FOUND GDA!! and well.. you know how a fan become a fan!! hehe.. what can I say.. this was like love at first sight! lol

Thanks Working Class Hero!

[justcause]

Fuck knows I love where Green Day took this song. I knew straightaway that it was a good fit, and that it would be done with love and respect and humility, but also with the infusion of self and artistic integrity that ensured it would stand in its own right. All of this, Green Day did - their Working Class Hero resonated steely industry, hot skies and highways, thrumming a whole other landscape in a whole other era.

But, despite that everyone gets to choose what appeals more to them, if fucks me up somewhat when people say Green Day's WCH is 'better' than John's. When a song comes frm a place like this - when a song is the bare voice of a man's soul, then to say someone else does it better is like saying someone else could've lived his life better, because this song is his life. In the bitter edge of his voice are unseen pictures even deeper than the ones his litany of words speak - the pain is his, the vision is his, and at the end of it all, he's a voice crying in the wilderness to people who can't even see how enslaved they are.

Green Day were very clear with the difference - 'if you wanna be a hero then -' they didn't even attempt to follow, they just bowed.

[Hermione]

^I think when I wrote 'better', a more accurate way to describe it would've been 'I prefer the Green Day version'. Not to take away from the original because of course all those things came straight from Lennon, and the beauty of the cover is they didn't try to better it. But it's their version that really speaks to me, so it's 'better' to me even if that's not the best choice of words.

I totally agree with you in everything.. I Love that song, and the "Green day's touch" makes the song even more awww.. really amazing..

I blame that cover for being the fan that I am now.. I pretty much started paying attention to Green day after seeing the video on TV, (at the time I watched MTV, and I listened to the mtv shit till the day I saw Green day) the song touched me deep.. and so did the video!! .. then I fell in love with Billie I started to search about them, listening to all the albums, I FOUND GDA!! and well.. you know how a fan become a fan!! hehe.. what can I say.. this was like love at first sight! lol

Thanks Working Class Hero!

That's so cool, what a fine song to start you on the Green Day road

[justcause]

^I think when I wrote 'better', a more accurate way to describe it would've been 'I prefer the Green Day version'. Not to take away from the original because of course all those things came straight from Lennon, and the beauty of the cover is they didn't try to better it. But it's their version that really speaks to me, so it's 'better' to me even if that's not the best choice of words.

Hey, that wasn't specifically aimed at you, Hermione - it's something that tends to come up whenever Green Day's WCH is discussed. I don't think I've commented on it before, but this time, I guess I just felt like I had to testify for John. So, yeah.

[Arnold Rimmer]

It's an ok cover but Lennon's original is awesome.

[Hermione]

Hey, that wasn't specifically aimed at you, Hermione - it's something that tends to come up whenever Green Day's WCH is discussed. I don't think I've commented on it before, but this time, I guess I just felt like I had to testify for John. So, yeah.

Oh no problem, I didn't think it was directed at me. I was just clarifying what I'd said in my earlier post because I didn't wanna be dissing the original by any means

[-Bruce]

Oh no problem, I didn't think it was directed at me. I was just clarifying what I'd said in my earlier post because I didn't wanna be dissing the original by any means

This cover is okay, but i prefer an artist to cover someones song and make it there own. Green Day didn't do that, they should have green dayed it up a bit. Marilyn Manson is great at doing covers because he makes them his own like Sweet Dreams and Tainted Love.

[chatnoir]

In the bitter edge of his voice are unseen pictures even deeper than the ones his litany of words speak - the pain is his, the vision is his, and at the end of it all, he's a voice crying in the wilderness to people who can't even see how enslaved they are.

I love, how you worded this, it couldn't have been said better.

I would like to ask all of you a question about the meaning of the line

"Keep you doped with religion and sex and tv"

I understand why he is speaking about religion and tv in this line. The first is probably a Karl Marx reference ("Religion is the opiate of the masses") and I get, how all the propaganda and entertainment provided through the modern media can keep people doped. But I don't really get, why sex is also mentioned.

What do you guys think?

[Kimpsu]

Working Class Hero is a difficult song to cover, but Green Day did good job with this. One of their best covers with Blitzkrieg Bop/Teenage Lobotomy.

[justcause]

I love, how you worded this, it couldn't have been said better.

I would like to ask all of you a question about the meaning of the line

"Keep you doped with religion and sex and tv"

I understand why he is speaking about religion and tv in this line. The first is probably a Karl Marx reference ("Religion is the opiate of the masses") and I get, how all the propaganda and entertainment provided through the modern media can keep people doped. But I don't really get, why sex is also mentioned.

What do you guys think?

Thanx. So, the 'sex' reference - considering that sex is the dominant animal drive, then the media's acting as a panderer to that drive constitutes another kind of doping. There's this line in Godfather 3 - 'I lost the lust for women, and now I can think clear'.

[Hermione]

This cover is okay, but i prefer an artist to cover someones song and make it there own. Green Day didn't do that, they should have green dayed it up a bit. Marilyn Manson is great at doing covers because he makes them his own like Sweet Dreams and Tainted Love.

I think with this cover they did make it their own, whereas with say, Tired Of Waiting For You, they didn't so much.

Those drums really add a new edge to it and make it all the more powerful. And while Billie's voice might not sound much like the average Green Day song, I think now with hearing those Foxboro songs and some of the new material, it was really the beginning of his voice becoming more diverse and mature sounding - not just a one off for Working Class Hero but a permanent improvement to Green Day's sound. The changes are subtle out of respect to the original, but I think it's very much Green Day.

[chatnoir]

Thanx. So, the 'sex' reference - considering that sex is the dominant animal drive, then the media's acting as a panderer to that drive constitutes another kind of doping. There's this line in Godfather 3 - 'I lost the lust for women, and now I can think clear'.

With the emphasis on the media as panderer probably. I was just wondering, because Lennon was not especially known for being abstinent, wasn't he?

[Haydée]

I luv this cover (:

well, here's my take, it's a Lennon cover. Lennon Rules. This rules. Simple

correcto.