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

JJ Burnel of The Stranglers

JJ Burnel of The StranglersSongwriter Interviews

JJ talks about The Stranglers' signature sound - keyboard and bass - which isn't your typical strain of punk rock.

dUg Pinnick of King's X

dUg Pinnick of King's XSongwriter Interviews

dUg dIgs into his King's X metal classics and his many side projects, including the one with Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam.

Carol Kaye

Carol KayeSongwriter Interviews

A top session musician, Carol played on hundreds of hits by The Beach Boys, The Monkees, Frank Sinatra and many others.

Justin Timberlake

Justin TimberlakeFact or Fiction

Was Justin the first to be Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher? Did Britney really blame him for her meltdown? Did his bandmates think he was gay?

Vince Clarke

Vince ClarkeSongwriter Interviews

An original member of Depeche Mode, Vince went on to form Erasure and Yaz.

The Police

The PoliceFact or Fiction

Do their first three albums have French titles? Is "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" really meaningless? See if you can tell in this Fact or Fiction.