David Bowie "I'm Afraid of Americans" 1997

1997: "I'm Afraid of Americans" by David Bowie.

Written during Bowie's electronic period, this song was co-written with Brian Eno. Lyrically, the song finds Bowie in the grips of paranoia about a guy named Jonny who's obsession for material possessions and frightens the singer. In reality, Jonny was meant to be a representation of a stereotypical American obsessed with capitalist culture. "It's not as truly hostile about Americans as say Born In The U.S.A!: it's merely sardonic," Bowie explained in a press release. "I was traveling in Java [Indonesia] when its first McDonald's went up: it was like, 'for f—k's sake! The invasion by any homogenized 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."

When released as a single (the V1 Mix) features additional vocals from Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, who also contributed guitar, bass, and drums. Renor, one of Bowie's touring mates, also starred in the music video as Jonny, stalking a terrified Bowie around New York City. According to Renor he has a complicated relationship with the song. He was in the middle of a drug addiction and Bowie, who had kicked his own habit, was trying to help him see the light. Reznor recalled to Rolling Stone after Bowie's death: "Once I got clean, I felt a tremendous amount of shame, of my actions and missed opportunities and the damage that l've caused in the past. And I thought back to the time when [Bowie and ll were together a lot, and I wonder what that could have been like if I was at 100 percent. 'I'm Afraid of Americans' falls into that category of me at my worst - out of my mind and ashamed of who I was at that time.

So when I see that, I have mixed feelings - grateful to be involved, and flattered to be a part of it, but disgusted at myself, at who I was at that time, and wishing I had been 100 percent me. And it nagged me.” The Legends of Music 

thelegendsofmusic

we all are now!