“Another American Idol” If I tried hard enough, could I succeed And be everything they want me to be? If I faked well enough, could I become The whole, entire nation's only one? If I toured long enough, could I achieve Highest-selling artist in history? Could I do this without ever even trying? Well, they make it seem so easy To make it in the business Manufactured, mainstream... bullshit It just has to energy to smile You all might as well be sleeping Underneath shit they feed us Scream, American Idiot Just another American Idol Where has all the integrity gone? What about musicianship or talent? Seems to me that all you need Is to be able to sing Or rap about bling, your Benz and weed So where the hell did we all go wrong? They've played for years just to restore balance Find another face to feed Find another broken wing 'Cause they're not weak enough to concede Scream, American Idiot Just another American Idol None of them ever write their own songs And when they finally do They're treated better than the Pope For no reason at all Other than the fact That they wrote about shit That's been written about So many times before That it doesn't even take root In the hearts of anyone The reason real bands write music in the first place Is because it's fun and because they're striving Striving to be better than the fakers Who just achieve overnight success Without ever lifting a fucking finger The integrity's gone The musicianship's gone The talent's gone It's all just mainstream propaganda Anything to make a quick buck Maybe if MTV started playing real music People wouldn't be so brain-dead But I know that I'm more than a one-hit wonder More than a flash-in-the-pan And more than a one-hit wonder Scream, American Idiot Just another American Idol If I tried hard enough, could I succeed And be everything they want me to be? If I faked well enough, could I become The whole, entire nation's only one? If I toured long enough, could I achieve Highest-selling artist in history? Well, they make it seem so God damn easy Sellouts