10 Greatest Hard Rock Songs Of The 2000s
7. Jimmy Eat World - “Bleed American”
While Jimmy Eat World are remembered primarily as mushy, emo-adjacent pop punk stalwarts, they could deliver some seriously heavy music when they wanted to (they just didn’t want to all that much). One of their biggest hits, “Bleed American”, is a step away from their textbook sound and works wonders for it.
They forego any kind of introductory pleasantries here and launch straight into that ripping riff, a trebly and abrasive bit of picking over a thumping beat. True to their emo roots, it’s a track about isolation and failing mental health, with its protagonist trying against hope to convince himself that all’s well in the world.
The verses shuffle along with the tension gradually growing, then giving way to the memorably oblique chorus. The band’s lyrics tend toward the open, honest, and heartfelt; here, it’s a puzzle. The enigmatic words don’t stop this from being an undeniable anthem, though, a floor filler at any rock night even if those on the floor can’t be sure precisely what they’re singing - or screaming.