Whether intentional or not, Green Day’s new single “One Eyed Bastard” sounds an awful lot like P!NK’s 2008 breakup anthem “So What.”
The opening guitar riff of “One Eyed Bastard” features a similar melody to the synth-driven “na-na-na” intro of “So What.” The riff appears throughout the track, which otherwise features lyrics motivated by revenge: “I’m making an offer that you cannot deny/ You won’t be laughing when I’m making you cry.”
It’s worth noting that “So What” shares similarities of its own with hard rock pioneer Deep Purple’s 1970 song “Black Night.”
To hear Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong tell it, however, his inspiration came from an entirely different source. “‘One Eyed Bastard’ started off as just a riff that I had — a shuffle, almost like a Black Sabbath kind of riff,” he said in a statement. “Lyrically, I was just reflecting on bad times in life. That’s the thing about nostalgia, sometimes you think, ‘That was an awful time.’”
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He continued, “Everybody’s got that ugly place in their life where they have to deal with ugly thoughts — it could be like revenge or whatever. Thankfully, I have an outlet in songwriting.”
Stream “One Eyed Bastard,” “So What,” and “Black Night” below to decide for yourself.
“One Eyed Bastard” follows “The American Dream Is Killing Me,” “Look Ma, No Brains!,” and “Dilemma” as the latest preview from Saviors, which drops in full on January 19th. Pre-orders are ongoing.
Green Day recently made headlines during their nationally televised appearance on New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, when Armstrong altered the lyrics to “American Idiot” and sang, “I’m not a part of the MAGA agenda.”
Both Green Day and P!NK have mapped out stadium tours for later this year. Grab your seats for Green Day’s “Saviors Tour” with The Smashing Pumpkins, Rancid, and The Linda Lindas here and P!NK’s “Summer Carnival Tour” with Sheryl Crow here.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to note the similarities between “So What” and Deep Purple’s “Black Night.”
