4-1-1's Full Review: I'm Afraid of Americans [Maxi Single] by David Bow...
I'm Afraid Of Americans [Maxi Single] - David Bowie
Is America a scary place? Well, yes it is. I have traveled to about a dozen different countries (North America and Europe), and I sometimes find myself in situations where I have to stop and question myself: "Why is America such a dangerous, scary place? Why can't America -- the richest country in the world -- be a little bit nicer? Why do we have slums, high murder rates, a drug culture, no decent public transportation systems and a failing public school system?"
What's To Be Afraid Of?
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Although I am an American, I wasn't born here. But even though I wasn't born here, there is no other place in the world that I would rather live. I value the freedom we have in this country, and would like to see our federal government further reduced in size and influence so that we all could enjoy even more freedom.
We have plenty of problems in America that foreigners find pretty scary: a shifting population of homeless people that roam our city streets panhandling for money. Slums and blight in our largest cities, some of which have $1+ billion a year annual budgets. Gang empires built upon drug dealing, vice, and violent crime. When I travel to other large cities in the world, I just don't see the same kind of problems.
The Irony
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The irony behind this song -- although it really is hinted at and not really explored with greater emphasis -- is this: America has more churches and religious groups than any country in the world; and more Americans, as a percentage of the population, attend religious services during the week than any other people in any other industrialized nation in the world.
Think about that, and then consider the culture of violence and selfishness we have created over the past generation, and then scratch your head and ask what the heck went wrong. That Bowie sings that God is an American is somehow not something to be proud about... not as an American, and not as a God fearing, religious person.
Unlike most countries in the world, America is one of the few places where competing religious groups fill the entire broadcasting day with two kinds of programming: Number One: Send us your money, make a pledge to support our church. And Number Two: God said... and Jesus said... and send us your money so that we can accomplish these things by launching more satellites into space. I have not seen anything like this anywhere else in the world, but before I digress too much, I'll discuss the tune....
The Tune -- There is Only One Song
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The album version of this song appears on Bowie's Earthling album (released February 11, 1997). The tune originally appeared as part of the soundtrack for the 1995 movie, Showgirls. It was remixed for the Earthling album, and then, with the assistance of Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) the tune was once more remixed and released on a maxi-single CD (October 14, 1997).
The song's lyrics were written by David Bowie, and the music was written by Bowie and Brian Eno. Bowie had Eno had collaborated during Bowie's Berlin years (West Berlin, Germany, from 1977 to 1979) and together they produced some of Bowie's best material: Low, Heroes and (the less satisfying) Lodger.
None of the remixes of I'm Afraid Of Americans are "dance tracks." They are, more or less, explorations in different soundscapes utilizing a lot of synthesizer effects, beat boxes, and distortion.
1) I'm Afraid of Americans (V1) - 5'30"
The Photek Remix. Frankly, this sounds like a Nine Inch Nails tune with David Bowie singing out in front. The complete lyrics to this song are reproduced here:
http://www.algonet.se/~bassman/lyrics/e/iaoa.html
There is little point to discuss the lyrics at length, as they are fairly self explanatory and even boring. The only thing that I truly find interesting is the one phrase: God is an American.
2) I'm Afraid of Americans (V2) - 5'47"
With Trent Reznor. Stylistically, not that much different than the first version.
3) I'm Afraid of Americans (V3) - 6'06"
With Ice Cube. The dark and scary version, with a schizophrenic sounding Bowie and a loud, shouting Ice Cube. Lots of distortion, and some few phrases provided by Ice Cube that amount to a pretty scathing slam of American Culture:
Shut up and be happy.
Hey what's up, it's all about the Green.
TV got your brain
4) I'm Afraid of Americans (V4) - 5'21"
Unnecessary fourth track. Not sure why it was placed on the recording. Usually, I find three remixes of one song to be enough.
5) I'm Afraid of Americans (V5) - 5'35"
An irritating version. It is here for art's sake.
6) I'm Afraid of Americans (V6) - 11'14"
Really not much here. sounds like a lot of experimental studio work. Eleven-plus minutes of different studio sounds thrown into the mix.
Price and Availability
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This CD maxi-single is out of print and hard to find. A copy of this CD5 can be purchased in new or like new condition at half.com for about $9.00 (plus $2.25 mailing charges). You might have some luck if you check some music stores that have used CD collections.
Recommendations
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The Earthling album, although the strongest Bowie effort in years only peaked at No. 66 on the US Charts and, after 16 weeks on the charts, it disappeared. I'm Afraid of Americans was one of the strongest cuts on the album, and a music video of this tune was produced to market this single and the album.
This is a highly collectible CD for David Bowie fans. If you haven't listened to his work in many years, you might find this single interesting. It is not a CD that I recommend for the casual listener or someone who is not familiar with David Bowie's work.
One of the best ways to experience this song is to watch Bowie's music video. It is, unfortunately, rarely played on M2 (MTV2).
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