Kill The DJ

Album: ¡Uno! (2012)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The second single from Green Day's ¡Uno! album finds Billie Joe Armstrong proclaiming threateningly: "Someone kill the DJ, shoot the fu--ing DJ." Before you dial 911 and accuse the Californian trio of advocating the murder of record spinners, consider that the lyrics are not as they seem. "'Kill the DJ' is not about, you know, killing a DJ," Armstrong laughed to MTV News. "It's not literal. It's more of a metaphor for information overload." The song premiered on August 13, 2012 during Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show.
  • This is close to a floor filler, something the Californian punksters have only briefly dabbled with in the past. "This song is sort of a left turn, kind of going into something more of a four-on-the-floor dance groove," Armstrong told MTV News. "[Bassist] Mike [Dirnt] was really like, 'Well, let's do something that's more like Blondie's "Heart Of Glass," kind of a disco feel to it.' We've always kind of got into grooves and things like that, with like 'When I Come Around' and 'Brain Stew,' but this is the first time we went full-on dancemusic, but with a Green Day approach to it."
  • The song contains over 20 expletives. "Oh, all the f-bombs are on there," Armstrong told The Sun. "Someone pointed that out to me the other day. I didn't even realize as we've always had that before. Nimrod was like Tourettes! We'll have to see what happens. I'm sure there will be an edit like Kill The Goshdarn DJ."

Comments: 1

  • Ben from LondonKill the DJ is a great poppy mixup for Green Day. I'd heard of this song called Kill the DJ forever and I'm always like "i'm not a sociopath, my brother is a DJ".
    Spoilers: I love it. NOT WHAT I EXPECTED.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Macabre Mother Goose: The Dark Side of Children's Songs

Macabre Mother Goose: The Dark Side of Children's SongsSong Writing

"London Bridge," "Ring Around the Rosie" and "It's Raining, It's Pouring" are just a few examples of shockingly morbid children's songs.

Narada Michael Walden - "Freeway of Love"

Narada Michael Walden - "Freeway of Love"They're Playing My Song

As a songwriter and producer, Narada had hits with Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Starship. But what song does he feel had the greatest impact on his career?

Janis Ian

Janis IanSongwriter Interviews

One of the first successful female singer-songwriters, Janis had her first hit in 1967 at age 15.

Chris Frantz of Talking Heads

Chris Frantz of Talking HeadsSongwriter Interviews

Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz on where the term "new wave" originated, the story of "Naive Melody," and why they never recorded another cover song after "Take Me To The River."

Concert Disasters

Concert DisastersFact or Fiction

Ozzy biting a dove? Alice Cooper causing mayhem with a chicken? Creed so bad they were sued? See if you can spot the real concert mishaps.

Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers

Bill Medley of The Righteous BrothersSongwriter Interviews

Medley looks back on "Unchained Melody" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" - his huge hits from the '60s that were later revived in movies.