| "I'm Afraid of Americans" | ||||
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| Single byDavid Bowie | ||||
| from the albumEarthling | ||||
| A-side | Versions 1–4 (12") | |||
| B-side | Versions 5–6 (12") | |||
| Released | 14 October 1997 (1997-10-14) | |||
| Recorded | August–October 1996 | |||
| Studio | Looking Glass (New York City) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length |
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| Label | Virgin | |||
| Songwriters |
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| David Bowie singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "I'm Afraid of Americans" onYouTube | ||||
"I'm Afraid of Americans" is a song by the English musicianDavid Bowie, released as asingle from his albumEarthling on 14 October 1997 throughVirgin Records. The song was co-written by Bowie andBrian Eno and originally recorded during the sessions for Bowie's 1995 albumOutside; this version was released on thesoundtrack ofShowgirls (1995). The song was then remade during the sessions forEarthling, featuring rewritten lyrics,overdubs and transposed verses. Anindustrial rock track, it presents a critique of America through the eyes of a stereotypical "Johnny" and is characterised by drum patterns, synthesisers, and variousloops and vocal distortions.
Themaxi-single release contained six differentremixes mostly created byTrent Reznor and hisNine Inch Nails band members; the V3 mix featuredIce Cube while the V5 mix was created byPhotek.[1] Reznor subsequently appeared in the song'smusic video, which reflected the song's theme of a frightened European in an American city. The single was Bowie's final single to chart on theBillboard Hot 100 until 2015, reaching number 66. Reznor's V1 mix has since appeared on severalcompilation albums.
The song has received positive responses from critics and biographers.Rolling Stone named it one of the 30 most essential songs of Bowie's catalogue in 2016. Some American commentators later acknowledged the significance of the lyrics in the late 2010s. Bowie performed "I'm Afraid of Americans" frequently on his concert tours, live performances from which have been released onlive albums. Reznor has performed the song live with Nine Inch Nails as well.
"I'm Afraid of Americans" was written by Bowie andBrian Eno and originally recorded during the sessions for Bowie's 1995 albumOutside. According to biographer Chris O'Leary, recording took place in late 1994 atMountain Studios inMontreux, Switzerland and the early weeks of 1995 at the Hit Factory in New York City.[2] Titled "Dummy", it featured different lyrics, such as "I'm afraid of theanimals" instead of "Americans".[3] Eno recalled in 2016: "I remember [David] recording 'I'm Afraid of Americans' and saying, after one of the early takes, 'No, [the 'Dummy' character's] got to be more self-doubting than that.'"[2] This version was intended for release on the soundtrack for the 1995 filmJohnny Mnemonic but was instead released on thesoundtrack for the 1995 filmShowgirls.[2][3]
During the sessions for Bowie's next albumEarthling (1997), he decided to remake the song with his current band—guitaristReeves Gabrels, pianistMike Garson, bassistGail Ann Dorsey and drummerZack Alford.[2] Bowie stated: "That was something that Eno and I put together, and I just didn't feel it fitOutside, so it didn't go on it. It just got left behind. So then we took just the embryo of it, and restructured it with this band."[4] Recording for the remake took place between August[2] and October 1996[5] at Looking Glass Studios in New York City with engineerMark Plati, who had extensive experience there.[6] Plati and Gabrels were credited as co-producers while Bowie himself mostly self-produced.[7] Regarding the remake, Plati explained: "We pulled things off several different reels to make this new composite. It was quite a clean-up job, not the most enjoyable."[2] Bowie revised the lyrics, changing "Dummy" to "Johnny", and transposed verses while the band provided additional overdubs. Gabrels stated that he addedfuzz boxes "until I ran out".[2]
'I'm Afraid of Americans' was written by myself and Eno. It's not as truly hostile about Americans as say 'Born in the U.S.A.': it's merely sardonic. I was traveling inJava when the firstMcDonald's went up: it was like, 'for fuck's sake.' The invasion by any homogenized culture is so depressing, the erection of anotherDisney World in, say,Umbria, Italy, more so. It strangles the indigenous culture and narrows [the] expression oflife.[8]
In an interview withMojo magazine in 1997, Bowie described the song as "one of those stereotypical 'Johnny' songs: Johnny does this, Johnny does that".[9] The absurdist lyrics present a critique of America, in line with Bowie's 1975 track "Young Americans".[10][11] Commentators have seen similarities between the song's titular Johnny and the Johnny of theLodger track "Repetition" (1979);[2][3] while the Johnny of the former craves objects of status through self-entitlement, the Johnny of the latter emotionally abuses his wife due to his lower status.[12] The song concludes with the revelation that "God is an American",[3] which biographerMarc Spitz considers an "ironic jingoism".[11]
Musically, reviewers have categorised it astechno,[9][13] with author James Perone writing that it mixes variousindustrial and techno styles of the 1980s and 1990s.[10]The Guardian's Caroline Sullivan found the melody reminiscent of Bowie's "Ashes to Ashes" (1980), with a "perkyjungle percussion loop", ultimately creating "a most singular fusion ofrock anddrum & bass".[14] Characterised by drum patterns, synthesisers, variousloops and vocal distortions, O'Leary writes that the remake retained the original's "'laughing' hook" and "synth hook pinging around anE♭ octave". Both the original and remake are also in thekey ofF major.[2] BiographerNicholas Pegg calls the remake "darker" and "funkier" compared to the original,[3] while Spitz compares the track's "loud/quiet/loud anthem[ic]" quality to thePixies.[11] Perone considers it "richer" than otherEarthling tracks.[10]
The original version of "I'm Afraid of Americans" was released on theShowgirls soundtrack on 26 September 1995.[2]Earthling was released on 3 February 1997[6] on CD andLP formats throughRCA Records in the UK,[5]Virgin Records in the US,[15] andArista Records and its parent distributorBMG elsewhere.[16] "I'm Afraid of Americans" was the eighth and penultimate track, between "The Last Thing You Should Do" and "Law (Earthlings on Fire)".[17]
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Virgin issued "I'm Afraid of Americans" as amaxi-single in North America only on 14 October 1997, where it was backed by six remixes;[18][19] the V3 mix featured guest vocals from the rapperIce Cube, while the producerPhotek created the V5 mix.[3][20][21][22] The project was instigated by Nine Inch Nails' frontman Trent Reznor, continuing his and Bowie's association following theOutside Tour. Reznor, who stated that he "tried to make it a bit darker",[3] stripped the production to its roots to create what the biographer David Buckley calls "an eerie, psychotic track".[6] The ending result is an almost 40-minute project that, in Bowie's words, was "not just a remix [but] almost...an album piece in itself. I was absolutely knocked out when I heard what [Reznor] had done. It was great."[3] Commercially, the single reached number 66 on theBillboard Hot 100 and remained on the chart for 16 weeks, becoming Bowie's biggest hit in the country since "Day-In Day-Out" ten years earlier.[6] It was the final Bowie single to chart on the Hot 100 until the release of "Blackstar" in 2015.[2][12] It also stayed in the Canadian top 50 for six months.[6]
Reznor also starred as the titular Johnny in theDom and Nic-directedmusic video,[11] which was shot inNew York City in October 1997 during the American leg of theEarthling Tour. Bowie explained that he chose the duo because they were "making very interesting, quite hard-edged British videos at the moment. I felt it was important that it retained that outsider's perspective of America".[3] The video depicts Bowie as a man who is chased around the streets of New York by a stalker portrayed by Reznor,[8] reflecting the song's theme of a frightened European in an American city.[2] Reznor based his character onTravis Bickle,Robert De Niro's character from the filmTaxi Driver (1976).[3][22] According to Spitz, the video received heavy rotation onMTV, a first for Bowie in over a decade.[11] It also earned Bowie a nomination forBest Male Video at the1998 MTV Video Music Awards.[6]
O'Leary states that while the track has no "definitive" version, Reznor's V1 mix is the most recognisable,[2] which has appeared on thecompilation albumsBest of Bowie (2002),[23]Nothing Has Changed (2014),[24] andBowie Legacy (2016).[25] TheShowgirls version, V1 mix and Plati's "Original Edit" were included on the bonus disc of theEarthling expanded edition in 2004.[5][26]
Reviews of the album track were positive.Mojo's Andy Gill considered "I'm Afraid of Americans" the "most direct" track on the album,[9] whileFort Worth Star-Telegram's Dave Ferman called the track "near-genius".[27] In another review forRolling Stone,Mark Kemp considered the song "a stuttering rocker" that "seems detached from the other songs".[7]
Upon release of the single,Billboard writers Larry Flick and Shawnee Smith praised Reznor's remix as an improvement on the "already deeply moody and largely sharp" original. They further wrote that the Ice Cube remix could provide a successful foray into ahardcore hip hop album.[28] Reviewing the maxi-single forAllMusic, Christian Huey criticised it as "too derivative ofDownward Spiral-era Nine Inch Nails" to please Bowie's fans. He argued that it acts better when viewed as a Reznor project rather than a Bowie one. He nevertheless praised Reznor's work on the remixes as well as Photek's contribution.[18]The Rocket's John Graham similarly felt that Reznor's remixes "[add] nothing to the mystique of either [Bowie nor Reznor]". He nevertheless enjoyed Ice Cube's vocals on the "V3" remix.[29]
In later decades, Pegg describes the track as "terrific" while Spitz considered it Bowie's finest single since 1984's "Loving the Alien".[3][11] FollowingBowie's death in 2016,Rolling Stone named "I'm Afraid of Americans" one of the 30 most essential songs of Bowie's catalogue.[8] That same year,Ultimate Classic Rock placed "I'm Afraid of Americans" at number 23 in a list ranking every Bowie single from worst to best, calling it the best song onEarthling and Bowie's best song in over a decade, further commenting: "It would be another decade and a half before he was this good again."[30] A year later,Consequence of Sound placed "I'm Afraid of Americans" at number 66 on their list of Bowie's 70 best songs, writing:[31]
Many ageing rock stars may have been sunk by toying with industrial electronic or having a song feature in theShowgirls soundtrack, but David Bowie excels in even the most theoretically ill-fitting suits, looking sleek and charming. He’s telling tales of humans in ruin, of futility and idealism, and while the original version that appeared in the schlocky midnight movie was afraid of 'the animals,' the eventual final take changed it to 'Americans,' an electro-crunchy slab of sardonic delight.
In 2017,Vice's Jill Krajewski commented on the song's relevance during thepresidency of Donald Trump, stating: "'I'm Afraid of Americans' has a darker resonance today not through its chorus, but in a context that gives it unnerving prescience: a snapshot of the [era we live in today]."[12] She argued that the "working-class everyman" (Johnny) were responsible in sharpening the political divide and widespread hate on the internet, presenting a sense of unease living in America as she concludes, "Iam afraid of Americans".[12] The same year, Lior Phillips ofConsequence of Sound said "The title is a picture-perfect distillation of what it means to live in this world."[31]
Following its release, Bowie performed "I'm Afraid of Americans" frequently on concert tours and television appearances.[2][3] He first performed the track ahead ofEarthling's release on 9 January 1997 at his fiftieth birthday concert in New York City with the bandSonic Youth.[32][33] The song then made regular appearances throughout the Earthling Tour later that year.[34] Three separate live performances of the song were released on live albums included in the box setBrilliant Live Adventures (2020–2021): A July 1997 performance (released onLook at the Moon!),[35][36] an October 1997 version recorded in New York (included onLiveAndWell.com (1999/2021)),[3][35][37] and a version from theHours Tour in November 1999 onDavid Bowie At The Kit Kat Klub (Live New York 99).[35][38]
Bowie performed the song again atHoward Stern's forty-fourth birthday concert in 1998.[33] Bowie's 25 June 2000 performance of the song at theGlastonbury Festival was released in 2018 onGlastonbury 2000.[39] Another live version, recorded at the BBC Radio Theatre, London on 27 June 2000, was released on the bonus disc accompanying the first releases ofBowie at the Beeb in 2000.[3][40] A performance from his 2003A Reality Tour was included on theA Reality Tour DVD in 2004, and later on theA Reality Tour album in 2010.[41] A previously unreleased performance from theMontreux Jazz Festival on 18 July 2002 was released on the box setI Can't Give Everything Away (2002–2016) in 2025.[42] Reznor has performed the song live with Nine Inch Nails as well.[43]
All tracks are written by David Bowie and Brian Eno. All tracks remixed byNine Inch Nails, except V5 additionally produced and remixed byPhotek.[20]
12" and CD: Virgin / 7243 8 38618 1/2 (US)[20][21]
A-side:
B-side:
According to biographer Chris O'Leary:[2]
Original version
| Earthling version
| V1 version
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| Chart (1997–98) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada (Nielsen SoundScan)[44] | 14 |
| USBillboard Hot 100[45] | 66 |
| USModern Rock Tracks (Billboard)[46] | 29 |
Personnel is noted as "Nine Inch Nails members" and are not given exact roles
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