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I'm Afraid of Americans

"I'm Afraid of Americans"
Bowie I'mAfraidofAmericans.jpg
Single by David Bowie
from the album Earthling
A-side Versions 1–4 (12")
B-side Versions 5–6 (12")
Released 14 October 1997
Format
Recorded
Genre Industrial rock
Length
  • 5:00 (album version)
  • Various (single remixes)
Label Virgin
Writer(s)
Producer(s)
David Bowie singles chronology
"Pallas Athena" Tao Jones Index
(1997)
"I'm Afraid of Americans"
(1997)
"I Can't Read"
(1997)

"I'm Afraid of Americans" is a single by David Bowie from the 1997 album Earthling. The song, co-written by Bowie and Brian Eno, was originally written during Bowie's studio sessions for the 1995 album Outside but was not released until a rough mix appeared on the soundtrack to the film Showgirls, and was subsequently remade for Earthling. The rework peaked at number 66 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent 16 weeks on that chart. This was the final Bowie single which charted on the Hot 100 until "Blackstar" and "Lazarus" following his death.

Bowie describes the feelings behind the song:

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 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.

"I'm Afraid of Americans" originally appeared as a rough mix on the soundtrack to the film Showgirls (in which the chorus is "I'm afraid of the animals" instead of the later "I'm afraid of Americans") and was subsequently remade for Earthling. This version, Nine Inch Nails remix V1 and Original Edit were released on the bonus disc of the Digibook Expanded Edition of Earthling in 2004.

A CD single for "I'm Afraid of Americans" was released in the United States. The single did not include the album version of the song; instead, it featured remixes of the track performed by Bowie's former tourmates, Nine Inch Nails, and drum and bass artist Photek. The (V1) mix became more popular than the original version, in large part because of the accompanying video, leading to its appearance on some editions of the retrospectives Best of Bowie (2002), Nothing Has Changed (2014), and Bowie Legacy (2016).


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