3 Songs About War From the 2000s That Every Y2K Kid Remembers

In 2003, the US invaded Iraq under the George W. Bush administration. Like other conflicts before it, the war led to a lot of political discourse, and of course, a lot of musical discourse as well. Here are some war songs from the 2000s that most Y2K kids will likely remember.

“American Idiot” by Green Day

In 2005, Green Day won Best Rock Album at the Grammys for American Idiot. The album speaks on the political climate at the time and how people’s opinions are so often controlled by the media. Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day started the title track after hearing a Lynyrd Skynyrd song on the radio that talked about being proud to be a redneck. He went back to the studio and started writing this song. In an interview with Spin, he described the American Idiot album as: “It was attacking America, but it was American at the same time.”

“Living With War” by Neil Young

In 2006, Neil Young released his album Living With War, which is highly critical of the George W. Bush administration. The songs echoed the negative feelings surrounding the conflict with Iraq that many Americans felt at the time. While visiting his daughter at college, Young saw a USA Today magazine cover that moved him. It had a vivid image of wounded US soldiers receiving care on a plane to Germany. This inspired him to start writing songs for Living With War.

“I started writing all these songs all at once,” he told Charlie Rose. “I had like four songs going at once…”

“Intervention” by Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire’s “Intervention” makes references to the Iraq War and is featured on the indie rock band’s album Neon Bible. The project makes a lot of statements about religion and culture that would’ve probably gotten people listening at the time. As Win Butler of Arcade Fire told Rolling Stone, much of Neon Bible was actually inspired by his own nightmares. He compares these dreams to his feelings about the government.

“I have had these terrible dreams since I was a little kid that people are coming to get me and I have to run away,” he shared. “There is always some weird government organization or unseen force which I don’t understand, and there is this overwhelming sense of fear. I started to notice that these feelings that were so familiar to me in my dreams were starting to resonate with the climate I sense in the world…”

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