Bang Bang

Album
Released	August 11, 2016
Recorded	January 15 – July 24, 2016 at Otis in Oakland, California
Genre	Punk Rock Pop-Punk Rock
Length	3:25
Label	Reprise
Producer	Green Day
Green Day chronology
"Xmas Time of the Year" (2015) "Bang Bang" (2016) "Still Breathing" (2016)

"Bang Bang" is a song by American punk rock band Green Day, released as the lead single from their twelfth studio album, Revolution Radio (2016), on August 11, 2016. Regarded as combining elements of the band's early punk rock days with themes from their politically motivated later albums, the song was inspired by the events of mass shootings in the United States and is written from the viewpoint of a mass shooter.

The single's music video was released on September 13, 2016, showcasing a trio, with masks of the band members' faces, robbing a bank, and then attending a Green Day house party. The song received positive critical reception, peaking at number one on the US Mainstream Rock, Alternative Songs, Rock Airplay, Canada Rock, and the UK Rock charts, as well as multiple international charts.

Background

Stylistically, Bang Bang resembles the fast-paced punk vibe of previous Green Day songs such as St. Jimmy and Jaded. Lyrically, the song is similar to Having a Blast, where the narrator of the song wants to take out their anger on innocent people through violence (although for different reasons).

Billie Joe Armstrong spoke to Rolling Stone about the conception of the track in an article released on the same day as the song, revealing: "I moved into a new studio that I built in Oakland and I just started messing around with different riffs. The first song where I was like, "OK, I'm onto something" was Bang Bang." He also added: "It’s about the culture of mass shooting that happens in America mixed with narcissistic social media. There’s this sort of rage happening, but it’s also now being filmed and we all have ourselves under surveillance. To me, that is so twisted. To get into the brain of someone like that was freaky. It freaked me out. After I wrote it, all I wanted to do was get that out of my brain because it just freaked me out... I wouldn’t even say I was trying to understand it. I was just trying to figure out the character. I don’t know why someone would ever do something that horrific because I know I never would. It’s just sort of meant to also reflect the culture a little bit without sounding pretentious."

Release

"Bang Bang" was released on August 11, 2016, via digital download as the lead single from their forthcoming studio album, Revolution Radio.The band also released the single's official lyric video on August 12, which had been viewed over two million times by August 17. It was noted the lyric video was inspired by recent incidents of mass shootings in the US. On August 28, the band announced on its website that the single would be released on CD for sale exclusively at Best Buy in the US only, and would include a live version of "Letterbomb" as the B-side. A music video was released for the song on September 13, 2016.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Billie Joe Armstrong; all music composed by Green Day.

Digital download
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Bang Bang"	3:27

CD
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Bang Bang"	3:27
2.	"Letterbomb" (live from Chula Vista, California on September 2, 2010)	4:34
Total length:		8:01

Live

This song was a permanent fixture of the Revolution Radio tour, the second song played after Know Your Enemy. It was also played at many media appearances.

In September 2019, Bang Bang was performed at the Hella Mega Tour launch show, suggesting that it would continue on from the Revolution Radio tour setlists.

Lyrics

In other media

Bang Bang was used in season 29, episode 14 of The Challenge.

Video gallery

• The lyric video
• The music video
• Live at the Howard Stern Show - October 5, 2016
• Live at the American Music Awards 2016
• Live in West Hollywood, California - September 10, 2019
• Live in Los Angeles, California - October 25, 2019