Theme: America: Violent Femmes "America Is"

There is one last post I want to do with our 'America' theme before moving on to this week's theme.

 The Violent Femmes "America Is" (1993) is yet another song calling America out on the 'American dream bullshit'. The Violent Femmes call America a hypocrite, and attempt to prove this statement by telling us to Look at the Indians/Look at the Blacks/Look at the figures /Look at the facts.

The American Dream is supposedly something that everyone can attain if they work hard enough. If this is the case, then why are there such major discrepancies in all areas of life between the different racial/ethnic groups in the U.S.?  

Look at the figures /Look at the facts.
[...]
American dream is only a dream.

Theme: America: Funkadelic "America Eats Its Young"

"America Eats Its Young" is definitely worth mentioning. Funkadelic, fathers of the heavy funk sound, describe America as a "bitch"  that "suck[s] the brains" of her "great grandsons and daughters." Give it a listen.

Theme: America: Gogol Bordello "American Wedding"

Gogol Bordello, a 'gypsy punk' band from Manhattan's Lower East Side, pokes fun at the seemingly lack of celebration surrounding American weddings in the song "American Wedding" (2007).
Eugene asks where the 3-day supply of marinated herring and vodka are, and warns against the grand ennui that is an American wedding.

Nothing gets these people going
not even Gypsy Kings
nobody talks about my Supertheory
of Supereverythings!
So be you Donald Trump
Or be an anarchist
Make sure that your wedding
Doesn't end up like this

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: America: Bruce Springsteen "Born in the U.S.A."

To celebrate our nation's official birthday, I thought we could do 'America' as our weekly theme.


First up: Bruce Springsteen. When "Born in the U.S.A." (Springsteen 1984) was released, President Ronald Reagan saw this as an opportunity to use Springsteen's song as America's new theme song. To Reagan, the song was a way to revitalize a patriotic American-masculinity. Obviously Reagan was not listening to anything but the chorus "Born in the U.S.A."

If you take a listen to each verse, you can see that the song is very anti-war and somewhat anti-American, as in America's bad and unwelcoming reception of returned Vietnam soldiers:

I got in a little hometown jam
And so they put a rifle in my hands
Sent me off to Vietnam
To go and kill the yellow man

[...]

Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man says "Son if it was up to me"
I go down to see the V.A. man
He said "Son don't you understand"


Born in the U.S.A., man.