was the first ''. "Minority" rose into the charts faster than any of Green Day's other singles.
"The song is about being an individual and how you have to drift through the darkness to find where you belong," said front man
Billie Joe Armstrong in an old interview.
The lyric "down with the moral majority" from the chorus refers to the now dissolved right wing American organisation called the
Moral Majority .
Billie Joe Armstrong commented that this was the point in which their song writing became slightly more political based. The lyrics "I pledge allegiance to the under world, one nation under dog..." were taken from the American
Pledge Of Allegiance but "twisted upside down a bit." Many people see this song as the fore-runner for Billie Joe's political views that fuelled the recent success of ''
American Idiot ''.
The acoustic introduction to the song launches straight into the main riff, behind which a catchy bass part adds to the feel. The upbeat jig that runs throughout the song makes "Minority" a live favourite as Green Day nearly always include it in their live sets. "When we play "Minority", that's the point which I always think the floors gonna cave in," commented
Mike Dirnt .
Before the release of "Minority", the band played the demo track to the likes of the
Dropkick Murphys at the
Warped Tour , who the band had taken some influences off the create the track. The Dropkick Murphys were very impressed and thanked Green Day for the great job they'd done.
"Minority" can also be found on the 2001 release ''
International Superhits '', the band's compilation of their singles. It's also found on ''
Bullet In A Bible '', a live album of Green Day performing at the
Milton Keynes National Bowl .
#"Minority (Radio Version)"
#"Brat (Live From Tokyo)"
#"86 (Live From Prague)"
- Directed by: Evan Bernard
The music video was released in September, 2000 and directed by Evan Bernard (who also directed the "
Nice Guys Finish Last " video). It shows the band on a
Parade Float , playing their instruments. There are also computer-generated balloons made to look like each individual member. In the end they destroy the float (this is typical of a Green Day music video: destruction of instruments, props and buildings can also be seen in a number of their other videos, including Walking Contradiction, Basket Case, Longview and American Idiot)
