10 Best Songs In The Tony Hawk's Games
6. Holiday - Green Day
The storylines of 2005’s Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland and Green Day’s 2004 magnum opus, American Idiot, are quite comparable: an angsty teenager escapes the soul-crushing monotony of his hometown by making something of himself elsewhere, all the while earning friends and enemies amidst instigating romance with a newfound companion (Mindy and Whatshername, respectively).
Hell, even their titles are almost identical, so it’s no wonder why the third track from the punk rock trio’s record, Holiday, is a vital part of Tony Hawk’s seventh entry. Uneasy guitar chords blend with playful drumming to spawn revolutionary victory. Shortly thereafter, signer Billie Joe Armstrong’s steadfast tone conveys the proud resistance to ordinariness that’s emblematic in both punk music and skateboarding culture.
Specifically, his chorus – “I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies / This is the dawning of the rest of our lives / On holiday” – is like a rallying cry from the game’s protagonists. Likewise, the piercing guitar solo and periodic backing chants act as support for Armstrong’s cause, just as the player eventually finds camaraderie in the skateboarding community he spearheads.
Thus, Holiday is an already great track that also personifies the spirit of the virtual playground it decorates.