Green Day wrote a cover of the John Lennon song "Working Class Hero". For this analysis, I've viewed and reflected on the video produced to accompany Green Day's version of "Working Class Hero". As with much of Green Day's material over the past few years, this song has a degree of political content. This song is not necessarily a chart topping hit for the band, but it is a fairly well received recording.

The original song was written by John Lennon in criticism of capitalism and the struggle of the lower class, which is stated quite clearly in the lyrics "a working class hero is something to be". Green Day carries the same meaning in their rendition, referencing the continuation of the struggle faced by the lower class of the American labor force to advance in the world. The remake produced by Green Day was made in response to the issues in Darfur. The video has short clips from actual interviews with people of Darfur where they speak of the current political issues and violence seen everyday. Although this assignment is geared towards analyzing influences in American popular culture, the Darfur crisis is an excellent example of hegemony and a dominate group trying to maintain their superiority by holding back the subordinate population.

The obvious message that "Working Class Hero" presents is the age old struggle of a lower class trying to excel and become the high class. The class structure of a labor force by nature will always have people who are subordinates of others, so this will not be a struggle that can realistically ever be resolved. This is an issue in American culture still today. The song, like many Green Day songs, is marketed towards a younger teen to adult audience. Because these are the individuals who are facing the struggle of entering a work force, making their mark and advancing, this song should have strong meaning to them and should be easy to relate to. In the song, singer Billie says "they hurt you at home and they hit you at school". This particular bar of lyrics is referring to other struggles people face, especially those in the age group to which Green Day's music is marketed. The hegemonic analyis of struggles in the labor class would describe the way that those laborers who have become successful, and are now in the upper echelon of the work force are trying to stand their ground, which can involve suppressing the advancement of the lower class. Furthermore, the stress felt by the individuals dealing with the struggle to move out of a low class status will affect all aspects of their life, including their home life. This in turn will be carried into the way that their children are treated, thus proving the lyrics in the song about "hurting you at home". These children will grow up, having been treated poorly in the home, and face the same struggle in the work force to move up from the lower class. In the end, it becomes the cliche "vicious cycle".

Aside from the overt message, the hidden message is the reference to the conflict in Darfur. As mentioned above, this is a textbook example of hegemony where one group of people is dominating another. This is, however, an extreme example because this is a very violent conflict, where a corrupt government is killing and torturing its own citizens to maintain its power and dominance of the subordinates. There are many other factors surrounding the cause of the magnitude of the crisis, however not all of them would fit a hegemonic analysis.

The video, aside from the aformentioned short interviews with people from Darfur, is actually quite simple and not flashy whatsoever. I think that the lack of extravagance is appropriate because the lyrics are talking about a struggle faced by lower class members of the American labor force. The video, although very depressing, does a good job of allowing the song and lyrics to truly express the intended meaning. This song does not really use any common stereotypes. It does touch on the cultural mythology that the rich get richer and the poor only stay poor. To an extent, this mythology is a concept that has some credibility. Enough credibility, I suppose, that two very successfully musicians in the American culture made a recording addressing the issue.