"Minority" is a song by the American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Green Day Green Day is an American rock band formed in the East Bay of California in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, together with bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt. For most of the band's career, they have been a powe ...

. It was released to radio in August 2000 as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from their sixth studio album, '' Warning''. The song remained at No. 1 for five weeks in a row on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Modern Rock Modern rock is an umbrella term used to describe rock music that is found on college rock radio stations. Some radio stations use this term to distinguish themselves from classic rock, which is based in 1960s–1980s rock music. Radio format Mod ...

chart in late 2000, making it one of the most successful songs from the band in the 2000s. The song was heard on several US radio stations prior to the scheduled August 22 release date. Around the same time, Green Day was shooting the music video for the song. At the end of August, the single debuted on ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock Airplay chart at number 17. The video first aired on September 14 on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's ''

Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (known commonly as ''TRL'') was an American television program broadcast on MTV that premiered on September 14, 1998. TRL featured popular music videos played during its countdown, and was also used as a promotion tool by ...

''. A retail single was released the next day. In the UK, the single first entered the Official Charts at number 18 at the end of September, and stayed on the chart for three weeks. At the end of October, a four-track maxi single was released on vinyl through

Adeline Records Adeline Records was an American record label that was formed in Oakland, California in late 1997 and closed in August 2017. History In 1997, Adeline Records was founded by Billie Joe Armstrong, lead singer of Green Day, Screw 32's Doug Sangal ...

Track listing

#"Minority" (Radio version) #"Brat" (Live from Tokyo) – 1:42 #"86" (Live from Prague) – 2:59

AU single

#"Minority" (Album version) – 2:49 #"Brat" (Live from Tokyo) – 1:42 #"86" (Live from Prague) – 2:59 #"Jackass" (Album version) – 2:47

7"

Side A #"Minority" #"Brat" (Live from Tokyo) – 1:42 Side B #"Jackass" #"86" (Live from Prague) – 2:59

7" vinyl box set

#"Minority" – 2:49 #" Warning" – 3:42 #"Hold On" – 2:56 #"Outsider" – 2:17

Promo single

#"Minority" (radio edit) #"Minority" (album version) – 2:49

Meaning

In an interview, frontman

Billie Joe Armstrong Billie Joe Armstrong (born February 17, 1972) is an American musician who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band Green Day, which he co-founded with Mike Dirnt in 1987. He is also a guitarist and vocalist for t ...

said that "The song is about being an individual and how you have to drift through the darkness to find where you belong." Billie Joe Armstrong commented that this was the point in which their song writing became slightly more politically based. The lyrics "I pledge allegiance to the underworld, one nation under dog..." were taken from the American

Pledge of Allegiance The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is a patriotic recited verse that promises allegiance to the flag of the United States and the republic of the United States of America. The first version, with a text different from the one used ...

but "twisted upside down a bit."

Music video

The music video was released in September 2000 and directed by

Evan Bernard Evan Bernard is an American director of commercials and music videos who has directed videos for artists such as Moby, the Beastie Boys, Green Day, Lit, Cibo Matto and many others. Life and career After studying advertising design at Syrac ...

(who also directed the " Nice Guys Finish Last" video). It shows the band on a

parade float A float is a decorated platform, either built on a vehicle like a truck or towed behind one, which is a component of many festive parades, such as those of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, the Carnival in São Paulo, the Carnival of Viareggio, the Ma ...

, playing their instruments in the middle of

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

(specifically Broadway) followed by a very reduced number of people. 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 "Walking Contradiction" is a song by American rock band Green Day, released as a promotional single from their fourth album '' Insomniac''. Also the closing track on the album, the song reached number 21 on the Modern Rock Tracks in August 1996. ...

", " Basket Case", " Longview", " Hitchin' a Ride". The video was released uncut on ''

International Supervideos! ''International Superhits!'' is the first greatest hits album by American rock band Green Day, released November 13, 2001, through Reprise Records. It collects all of the band's singles released between 1994 and 2000 as well as a rerecording of ...

''. It was filmed in downtown San Diego. When he first sings the phrase "Fuck 'em all," Billie Joe can be seen giving the

middle finger The middle finger, long finger, second finger, third finger, toll finger or tall man is the third digit of the human hand, located between the index finger and the ring finger. It is typically the longest digit. In anatomy, it is also called ...

to the buildings to both the left and right. A rare behind the scenes video is on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

uploaded by user Thibaut78240 but the audio cuts out through almost the entire video.

Other versions

* A live version on ''Tune in, Tokyo''. * Another live version on the CD/DVD ''

Bullet in a Bible ''Bullet in a Bible'' is a live album by American rock band Green Day, released on November 15, 2005, by Reprise Records. It was directed by Samuel Bayer, who was the director of all the videos from '' American Idiot''. Background and release '' ...

''. * Another live version on the CD ''

BBC Sessions (live) {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) Live at the BBC or BBC Recordings are recordings originally made for or by BBC Radio 1. Many recordings were released under several name variants. Live at the BBC * ''Live at the BBC'' (The Bea ...

''.

Personnel

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

Mike Dirnt Michael Ryan Pritchard (born May 4, 1972), better known by his stage name Mike Dirnt, is an American rock musician who is the co-founder, bassist, backing and occasional lead vocalist, and former guitarist of Green Day. He has also played in seve ...

Bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

* Tre Cool -

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

Charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2000 singles Green Day songs Folk punk songs Reprise Records singles 2000 songs