Theme: America: David Bowie "I'm Afraid of Americans"

On Bowie's song "I'm Afraid of Americans" (Bowie/Eno 1997), he has been quoted as saying "It's not as truly hostile about Americans as say "Born in the U.S.A.": it's merely sardonic. I was traveling in Java when [its] first McDonald's went up: it was like, "for fuck's sake." The invasion by any homogenised culture is so depressing, the erection of another Disney World in, say, Umbria, Italy, more so. It strangles the indigenous culture and narrows expression of life." (Teenagewildlife.com. 1999-06-25. http://www.teenagewildlife.com/Reviews/Albums/E/PressRelease.html.)
Basically, it's a fear of colonization and is just as relevant today as it was 14 years ago.

Johnny wants a plane.
Johnny wants to suck on a coke.
Johnny wants a woman, and
Johnny wants to think of a joke.

Theme: Guns: David Bowie "Running Gun Blues"

It is not unheard of for people in the Army to get a little gun crazy. I'm sure it is easy to dehumanize yourself and 'the enemy' in combat situations. "Running Gun Blues" (Bowie 1970) takes being gun crazy to another level. He calls it his 'instinct' to sneak out of bed at night and cut down the "gooks" and even a few civilians.

I count the corpses on my left, I find I'm not so tidy
So I better get away, better make it today
I've cut twenty-three down since Friday
But I can't control it, my face is drawn
My instinct still emotes it

I slash them cold, I kill them dead
I broke the gooks, I cracked their heads
I'll bomb them out from under the beds
But now I've got the running gun blues.

James Madison (The Federalist Papers) seems to think that "Americans have the right and advantage of being armed - unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms." If Bowie tells the truth, the government shouldn't trust us with arms...