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Remember when "Gangnam Style" came out last year, and everyone experienced an immediate sensation of delight, like as if you had just done a few rapid-fire shots of whiskey? And then that delight went away as quickly as it came on, but you were still glad that it happened?
And then remember when Psy, the brains and talent behind "Gangnam Style," released "Gentleman" a few weeks ago, and that same instant but brief joy occurred, although to a lesser extent?
Well, there's at least one person among us who feels like those fleeting, meaningless-yet-wonderful spurts of happiness should be banished from this earth, and that person is Billie Joe Armstrong.
On Instagram, the Green Day frontman posted a photo of Psy and captioned it with, "This dude is the herpes of music. Once you think it's gone, it comes back. #herpes #flareup #pleasegoaway".
So, why the haterade? Butthurt? A general distaste for anyone who doesn't drown themselves in emotional black eyeliner? Or just music snobbery? Impossible to tell. But Armstrong has made his point.
Look -- no one is saying that Psy is dropping knowledge on the masses like some sort of modern-day Bob Dylan, but that doesn't mean that his music should be discounted and tossed aside like so much dirty laundry. There's something to be said for songs that just make people happy for no reason at all. Or, songs that make people annoyed, but the kind of annoyed that allows them to bond with other people who are also annoyed. It's called cultural criticism, Armstrong, and without it, we'd just be a ragtag group of savages.
SAVAGES.
Anyway, Psy comes out the classier party in all this, because in an interview with FUSE magazine, he responded to Armstrong's Insta by saying, "I kinda like it, it's cool...He said I'm like the herpes... that keeps coming back. I think it's really cool. Thank you."
Hang your head in shame, Billie Joe.
