[ ]   [ ]   [ ]                        [ ]      [ ]   [ ]
The Guess Who — American Woman
Album: Greatest Hits
Avg rating:
7.3

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1524









Released: 1970
Length: 5:02
Plays (last 30 days): 0
American woman gonna mess your mind
American woman, she gonna mess your mind
Mmm, American woman gonna mess your mind
Mmm, American woman gonna mess your mind
Say A
Say M
Say E
Say R
Say I
C
Say A
N, mmm
American woman gonna mess your mind
Mm, American woman gonna mess your mind
Uh, American woman gonna mess your mind

Uh!

American woman, stay away from me
American woman, mama, let me be
Don't come a-hangin' around my door
I don't wanna see your face no more
I got more important things to do
Than spend my time growin' old with you
Now woman, I said stay away
American woman, listen what I say

American woman, get away from me
American woman, mama, let me be
Don't come a-knockin' around my door
Don't wanna see your shadow no more
Coloured lights can hypnotize
Sparkle someone else's eyes
Now woman, I said get away
American woman, listen what I say, hey

American woman, said get away
American woman, listen what I say
Don't come a-hangin' around my door
Don't wanna see your face no more
I don't need your war machines
I don't need your ghetto scenes
Coloured lights can hypnotize
Sparkle someone else's eyes
Now woman, get away from me
American woman, mama, let me be

Go, gotta get away
Gotta get away now go go go
I'm gonna leave you, woman
Gonna leave you, woman
Bye-bye
Bye-bye
Bye-bye
Bye-bye

You're no good for me
I'm no good for you
Gonna look you right in the eye
Tell you what I'm gonna do
You know I'm gonna leave
You know I'm gonna go
You know I'm gonna leave
You know I'm gonna go, woman

I'm gonna leave ya, woman
Goodbye, American woman
Goodbye, American woman
Comments (192)add comment
 Ahnyer_Keester wrote:

So I was, I guess, about 13 years old and my mom brought home a bag of stuff from her friend's house. Her son moved out and left some things. I rummaged through the bag and found a cool t-shirt and a cassette tape or two. One of them was a recording of Firesign Theater's Nick Danger album which I set to memorizing. Another was this album. I have loved it ever since. It was my introduction to "grown up" music at the time. It was about 1975 or so.

The other album was Three Dog Night's "It Ain't Easy". Just FYI. 



I wanna a pizza to go and NO anchovies!
All of a sudden I'm 18 and tripping on acid while walking into the woods of a forest preserve with a group of friends.  Jim and Paul had this tape on a boom box and it will forever take me back to that day.  It was quite magical and that song never sounded so great.  

Side story from that day: Someone asked John for his lighter and he replied, "Lighter?  I can't even find my arm!"  Good times.  
Going to see them at a small theater in Frederick, MD in about 10 days. Only Garry Peterson is left from the original group, but it's still gonna be awesome.
 Grammarcop wrote:

Randy Bachman admits that the American Woman that the song refers to is the Statue of Liberty. Bachman and the other members of the band were up there in Canada in 1970 watching the Vietnam protests and race riots consume their southern neighbors. At the time it felt to them that America was abandoning the values that made the country an icon of freedom and democracy. 

I listen to this song today and think about how a president who has no moral compass is going to lie his way out of being removed from office and 50 some senators are going to be complicit because they fear his Tweets. 

Talk about a country abandoning its values...
   



She still hasn't found her values in 2022.
This Guess Who Greatest Hits disk lived in my 12 disc changer for months on end, in changer 1, spot 6, behind my 5 pack of Rap/Hip-hop discs (Tupac, NWA, Warren G, Beastie Boys)  All of changer 2 was a rotation of either Pink Floyd or The Doors 6 studio albums.  

Oh those were the days.  That nostalgia helps keep my rating a 10 on this one, and about 4 or 5 other tunes on that disc.  

Long Live RP!! 
Heck, I've always thought this was Creedence Clearwater!!  Doh!
 thewiseking wrote:

embarassingly lame. works as kitsch I suppose


That happens to a lot of comments too.
I suppose these guys thought they were badasses.
Apologies in advance but I belong to the generation that hears this and can't help but picture Heather Graham making her intro in Austin Powers.
I was today years old (mid 50's) before I learned the American Woman was the Statue of Liberty. Woah.
It would be good to hear the live version from their 'Live at the Paramount' album.
 itsme_bygolly wrote:

Fixed!




thank you! I needed explanation for this song
 Grammarcop wrote:

Randy Bachman admits that the American Woman that the song refers to is the Statue of Liberty. Bachman and the other members of the band were up there in Canada in 1970 watching the Vietnam protests and race riots consume their southern neighbors. At the time it felt to them that America was abandoning the values that made the country an icon of freedom and democracy. 

I listen to this song today and think about how a president who has no moral compass is going to lie his way out of being removed from office and 50 some senators are going to be complicit because they fear his Tweets. 

Talk about a country abandoning its values...
   


Fixed!


No one else hears Robert Plant?
 Far wrote:

The Statue is about EXPORTING Liberty and the plaque of doggerel about immigration is an abomination. The only part of the USA that has abandoned its values is the part that did not vote for the last saviour of the Republic.
 
Uh, let me guess this straight. You think T-rump is the last saviour of the, ahem, Republic? Wow.
Or am I reading your comment wrong? 
Anyway, someone else else already stated this isn't a forum for politics. Especially skewed politics of the former occupant of the WH.

 aelfheld wrote:

Canada once had the 3rd largest navy in the world: now, well you've fewer ships than the Philippines.

Canada's troops were once considered so tough they were assigned one of the worst beaches at Normandy: now, well you've got maybe a 1,000 more troops than Saudi Arabia.

Canada once had a decent air force: now, you've got 30 more aircraft than Mexico.

In every category Canada, which once boxed well outside of its weight, is hardly more capable than any third-rank country dependent on others for their defense.

So, yeah, jealous.  Resentful, too.

 
Jealous because the US has a bigger military? Really??  
Wait, you are trying to be funny, right? 
 aelfheld wrote:


Well, the song is political.
Dunno, always seemed more about resentment.

I love the story that Burton Cummings tells about this song. He'd been talking to someone about buying a bunch of records between sets, and the band started playing a riff to start the next set. He rushed on to stage, and decided to free-style some lyrics to the riff, and the band just went with it.
After the set, one of the audience members approached the band with a cassette recorder -- he'd recorded the song, and played the song back for them. Their response was, Hey, that actually sounds OK. And here it is, fifty years later -- a jam that they managed save.
 Far wrote:

The Statue is about EXPORTING Liberty and the plaque of doggerel about immigration is an abomination. The only part of the USA that has abandoned its values is the part that did not vote for the last saviour of the Republic.
 

Sorry.  What?
Another song that got over played to death hitting the next button
Wow.....haven't heard this in years  sounds good...
 itsme_bygolly wrote:

This is a curious place to discuss politics, so I say let's not, and say we did.

 

Well, the song is political.
I've got a pet pitiful penguin and I taught him how to pick and choose.
 Far wrote:

The Statue is about EXPORTING Liberty and the plaque of doggerel about immigration is an abomination. The only part of the USA that has abandoned its values is the part that did not vote for the last saviour of the Republic.
 
This is a curious place to discuss politics, so I say let's not, and say we did.

 Far wrote:

The Statue is about EXPORTING Liberty and the plaque of doggerel about immigration is an abomination. The only part of the USA that has abandoned its values is the part that did not vote for the last saviour of the Republic.
 
Agree that more people should have voted for Obama, yes.
 Grammarcop wrote:
Randy Bachman admits that the American Woman that the song refers to is the Statue of Liberty. Bachman and the other members of the band were up there in Canada in 1970 watching the Vietnam protests and race riots consume their southern neighbors. At the time it felt to them that America was abandoning the values that made the country an icon of freedom and democracy. 

I listen to this song today and think about how a president who has no moral compass is going to lie his way out of being removed from office and 50 some senators are going to be complicit because they fear his Tweets. 

Talk about a country abandoning its values...
   
 
The Statue is about EXPORTING Liberty and the plaque of doggerel about immigration is an abomination. The only part of the USA that has abandoned its values is the part that did not vote for the last saviour of the Republic.
 jbuhl wrote:
I was 12 when this came out.  Little burger joint next to my house.  I can still hear this song drifting into my window at night from the juke box.
 

I won a 45 of this, winning a "Cake Walk" in my elementary school.   I was 12 as well.   Then again, I won a Hoyt Axton 45 as well.  And some sorta German Chocolate concoction.  
Randy Bachman admits that the American Woman that the song refers to is the Statue of Liberty. Bachman and the other members of the band were up there in Canada in 1970 watching the Vietnam protests and race riots consume their southern neighbors. At the time it felt to them that America was abandoning the values that made the country an icon of freedom and democracy. 

I listen to this song today and think about how a president who has no moral compass is going to lie his way out of being removed from office and 50 some senators are going to be complicit because they fear his Tweets. 

Talk about a country abandoning its values...
   
I won't apologize for worshiping at the Guess Who shrine.
Bleh.  No. 
Ohhhh the stereo effect that was heard on the old console. 
Mind blowing at the time. 
I must admit that I heard this for the first time in the sound track of the TV series "Due South". Like most of the Canadian Music I know :-)
Kind of shocked by the number of Americans that haven't heard of the Guess Who on this site. They've got a treasure trove of great pop songs from the late 60's and early 70's. The band featured top players and Cummings was a great singer during his heyday with the band. Gotta get out more!
Sorry.  Nope. 
for all you non-hippies - he's not talking about a woman
embarassingly lame. works as kitsch I suppose
I was 12 when this came out.  Little burger joint next to my house.  I can still hear this song drifting into my window at night from the juke box.
this song is so effing great. never get sick of it. i love the scene in american beauty where kevin spacey just bought his mid-life crisis mobile with this blasting.
https://youtu.be/xaHJEPMK3QM
Burton doing his song in a bluesy style.  My 3rd favourite version, if you don't watch the video.  Just listen.  Seriously.  Don't watch.

Best version ever?
https://youtu.be/ABt8u8UDurs  almost 20 minutes worth including the then required drum solo.  Unfortunately the clip end abruptly.  On the album it flows right into Pain Train.  Such a great album.

Live at the Paramount,  in Seattle I think.  Huge album for me when I was a kid.  

Just my two cents worth.{#Guitarist}


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_sK-rMELcA

A different take on this classic.
Great song from so long ago.

 
 maxvonevil wrote:
This guy sounds a lot like Creedence? I did not do my research to find out if it's him or not. Anyone?

Nope. It was a particular quality of singing at the time but  two bands are such a different sound to my ear. 

John Fogerty -CCR An American band out of the Sacramento area of California. 

This song -"american woman" is by Canadian group -the Guess Who. 

Burton Cummings was the singer for the Guess Who. 
 
 


 Ahnyer_Keester wrote:
So I was, I guess, about 13 years old and my mom brought home a bag of stuff from her friend's house. Her son moved out and left some things. I rummaged through the bag and found a cool t-shirt and a cassette tape or two. One of them was a recording of Firesign Theater's Nick Danger album which I set to memorizing. Another was this album. I have loved it ever since. It was my introduction to "grown up" music at the time. It was about 1975 or so.

The other album was Three Dog Night's "It Ain't Easy". Just FYI. 

 
Three Dog Night—great band, sadly semi-forgotten. (BillG: NO Three Dog Night on RP? WTF?). That album you scored looks pretty good and has my favorite TDN song, "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)". Randy Newman wrote that and a few others for the band, IIRC. 

I always associated The Guess Who, this song especially, with schlocky K-Tel compilation records. You had to survive K-Tel's carpet-bombing ad campaigns on UHF stations to watch the good stuff like The Three Stooges or Looney Tunes. The band was better than that, but like TDN they got pigeonholed and dipped in amber. 
 smackiepipe wrote:
Rometuma's consistant, that's for sure. I always chuckle and find it endearing in a Forrest Gump kinda way. I have no problem with him. He likes what he likes, and nothing else floats within his bubble.
 
I be the holy ghost of big stud Romeo Tuma...  hope you are having a consistently marvelous time, smackiepipe...

everybody in my homeless camp loves this classic song...
Rock and Roll baby! 
I like Bill's comment about it being "Social Commentary" and I never heard this intro before. 

I like the comment below ->
"Classic indeed...one that didn't need a re-do by Lenny Kravitz whatsoever!"

I think it is a good cover especially when you add Prince Rodgers Nelson --->


So I was, I guess, about 13 years old and my mom brought home a bag of stuff from her friend's house. Her son moved out and left some things. I rummaged through the bag and found a cool t-shirt and a cassette tape or two. One of them was a recording of Firesign Theater's Nick Danger album which I set to memorizing. Another was this album. I have loved it ever since. It was my introduction to "grown up" music at the time. It was about 1975 or so.

The other album was Three Dog Night's "It Ain't Easy". Just FYI. 
Ugh. This is a substantial letdown after the past few songs. 
After most songs. 
 hbs47 wrote:
I expect Canada has smaller death count from guns than America. Nothing to be jealous about there eh ?

Great song BTW.

Never gets lame asking people to guess who is playing this. 

I kind of like Canadian acts, Neil Young, RUSH, Leonard Cohen,The Band,Cowboy Junkies, Daniel Lanois and William Shatner.

 
What, no Nickelback?  {#Propeller}
Realy, this is straight out from the purple years...{#Bananajam}
Better with Heather Graham:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzWHE32IxUc

Say Boys from Canada... and every province has women who are as dofferent one from another as the scotch whiskeys or craft beers..

Every provinces and every city has a different culture. Similar at one level but very different as to individual culures..

Shall we have some B.T.O from B.C. on next-?

OTOH, the song makes sense even to American men...

 

 


cool then - now just sort of dated.
not everything was better in  vinyl
Love it! Thank you RP.
 skyguy wrote:
Had the 45-right next to my Grand Funk Railroad.

 
Right where it belongs. Let's hope that was a dumpster.
I always liked this one.  Like oldsaxon, I also liked undun, these eyes, etc.
Lordy, YES!  Summit County, CO, Summer and Winter of '84...but also amazingly ripping were When You Touch Me, Undun, and No Sugar Tonight/ New Mother Nature Suite...
and this, still as radical and bad-assed a song now as ever...Jam it!
Had the 45-right next to my Grand Funk Railroad.
I expect Canada has smaller death count from guns than America. Nothing to be jealous about there eh ?

Great song BTW.

Never gets lame asking people to guess who is playing this. 

I kind of like Canadian acts, Neil Young, RUSH, Leonard Cohen,The Band,Cowboy Junkies, Daniel Lanois and William Shatner.
 Carrizito wrote:
Ah give me a break....this belongs in the dust bin
 
For realio?
Ah give me a break....this belongs in the dust bin
 Kokoloco53 wrote:
All right, that does it. I'm from the era, and The Guess Who has always been a favorite, and their anthem song American Woman is truly a classic, but I also like the jazz favorite, Undun, These Eyes and Laughing. But I understand that the yournger listeners could be critical, I just didn't think they would have created such an uproar politcally regarding Canada, our brothers from the north of the Amercian continent. Are we not all Americans, from the north pole to the southern streches of Argentina? Amerigo Vespucci was one of the first explorers of the Americas and is where our name comes from. C'mon, lighten up, enjoy the day, dig it.
 
I had a laugh. I seriously hope it was supposed to be funny.
 Kokoloco53 wrote:
Are we not all Americans, from the north pole to the southern streches of Argentina? Amerigo Vespucci was one of the first explorers of the Americas and is where our name comes from. C'mon, lighten up, enjoy the day, dig it.
 
Amen, my American brother :)
 fredriley wrote:

The 'military-industrial complex' was identified by a US Pres, Eisenhower no less, way back in 1961. All that's changed since then is the size and influence of this system. Only yesterday Pres Obama, flanked by various bemedalled top brass and pointy-heads, announced military spending cuts and 'realignment of forces' (see BBC story) - it'll be interesting to see if the complex defeats that proposal.

Not that it's got anything to do with this song, mind - it just came to mind when I saw your post, so I thought I'd throw in my 2 cent's worth (Euro cents, naturally).

 

True, Ike coined the term.   I'd slash that damn budget in half. Supposed to be for defense. Our defense.  I'd slash all government in half, though, so I don't think you and I are speaking the same language.  I do find it amusing though to hear Europeans complaining about subsidies going out of the US and abroad, smack dab into their coffers.  These bases are subsidies, you know, to the host country.  It's you guys sucking Uncle Sam's big ole Yankee teat.  Please, ask us to leave, kick us out.  I beg you! Good luck on your governments allowing that.
Rometuma's consistant, that's for sure. I always chuckle and find it endearing in a Forrest Gump kinda way. I have no problem with him. He likes what he likes, and nothing else floats within his bubble.

Monkeysdad wrote:

Classic indeed...one that didn't need a re-do by Lenny Kravitz whatsoever!
 
Agreed!
 romeotuma wrote:


Everybody in my hotel room loves this song...

 
 
Romeotuma, have you ever met a song you didnt rate a 10? Isnt there another forum online somewhere you might post your countless political articles and your silly 'everybody in my hotel room....' comment that is sprinkled some 3K times on RP?
Apparently, this song was mostly improvised (the lyrics that is) as the band was just in this groove and Burton stepped to the mike and started with that classic line. Would never have made it to vinyl had not there been someone in the studio with a tape recorder...one of the first of the kind..
Sounds like that kid on American Idol right now, Philip Philips.  {#Beat}

Classic indeed...one that didn't need a re-do by Lenny Kravitz whatsoever!
Classic....guess you had to be there!
 
All right, that does it. I'm from the era, and The Guess Who has always been a favorite, and their anthem song American Woman is truly a classic, but I also like the jazz favorite, Undun, These Eyes and Laughing. But I understand that the yournger listeners could be critical, I just didn't think they would have created such an uproar politcally regarding Canada, our brothers from the north of the Amercian continent. Are we not all Americans, from the north pole to the southern streches of Argentina? Amerigo Vespucci was one of the first explorers of the Americas and is where our name comes from. C'mon, lighten up, enjoy the day, dig it.
 kcar wrote:

We'll have to disagree about the influence of the American military on American government officials. I'm not talking about deployments—and neither were you with your ship and plane numbers. I'm talking about military budgets and weapons systems. It is insanely hard to kill a weapons project because contractors and lobbyists pressure Congress and the White House to keep boondoggles alive. Contractors also spread work and jobs on a project over many states to maximize federal government support and prevent cuts. 

As a recent Wired article put it: "While a relative handful of troops fight and die "downrange" in war zones, a massive bureaucracy develops strategies, spends money, and—most especially—builds weapons, all in the name of theoretical, decades-hence showdowns. It's a $500 billion perpetual motion machine."

Bush I, Clinton, Bush II and Obama have all fought to control our military budgets and taken heat for it. American military expenditures in 2010 were about 6 times larger than those of China which has the world's 2nd-largest military. Whom are we competing with now? 

"The only ones you find talking about 'drawbacks to having the world's largest military' are those who want to spend that money on their own enthusiasms."
 
The 'military-industrial complex' was identified by a US Pres, Eisenhower no less, way back in 1961. All that's changed since then is the size and influence of this system. Only yesterday Pres Obama, flanked by various bemedalled top brass and pointy-heads, announced military spending cuts and 'realignment of forces' (see BBC story) - it'll be interesting to see if the complex defeats that proposal.

Not that it's got anything to do with this song, mind - it just came to mind when I saw your post, so I thought I'd throw in my 2 cent's worth (Euro cents, naturally).

I was just a kid and I thought this was horrible then. Earns a Sucko-Barfo.

and for the record consider Canadians pretty smart.
 aelfheld wrote:

First off, I'm not 'snarking' about the Canadian military - the loss of its once vaunted military is a bad thing for Canada.

If you think the military tail wags the American dog, then you've been watching entirely too many silly movies and not bothering to pay attention to actual military deployments.  The only ones you find talking about 'drawbacks to having the world's largest military' are those who want to spend that money on their own enthusiasms.

As for the bit about Canadians being 'jealous', that was a throw-away line about a song irritating ab initio.
 

Actually, your original post is pretty snarky. And too long to make the "jealous" and "resentful" summation a mere throwaway line. 

Btw, a stable and prosperous democracy like Canada does not lose its military like a set of car keys. If elected Canadian governments reduced or merely maintained a level of military capability, they did so as an expression of voters' wishes. I'm not sure how its present military strength "is a bad thing for Canada." Are the Inuits on the warpath? 

We'll have to disagree about the influence of the American military on American government officials. I'm not talking about deployments—and neither were you with your ship and plane numbers. I'm talking about military budgets and weapons systems. It is insanely hard to kill a weapons project because contractors and lobbyists pressure Congress and the White House to keep boondoggles alive. Contractors also spread work and jobs on a project over many states to maximize federal government support and prevent cuts. 

As a recent Wired article put it: "While a relative handful of troops fight and die "downrange" in war zones, a massive bureaucracy develops strategies, spends money, and—most especially—builds weapons, all in the name of theoretical, decades-hence showdowns. It's a $500 billion perpetual motion machine."

Bush I, Clinton, Bush II and Obama have all fought to control our military budgets and taken heat for it. American military expenditures in 2010 were about 6 times larger than those of China which has the world's 2nd-largest military. Whom are we competing with now? 

"The only ones you find talking about 'drawbacks to having the world's largest military' are those who want to spend that money on their own enthusiasms."

Dick Cheney, is that you? 



 kcar wrote:
My bad—read your post too quickly. But I'm still a bit confused as to why you think that Canadianshould be jealous or resentful about the relative size of their armed forces. Most Americans these days will tell you that there are  plenty of drawbacks to having the world's largest military. Too often the tail wags the dog. 

Btw—how did you jump from a song about American women to snarking about the Canadian military? 

 
First off, I'm not 'snarking' about the Canadian military - the loss of its once vaunted military is a bad thing for Canada.

If you think the military tail wags the American dog, then you've been watching entirely too many silly movies and not bothering to pay attention to actual military deployments.  The only ones you find talking about 'drawbacks to having the world's largest military' are those who want to spend that money on their own enthusiasms.

As for the bit about Canadians being 'jealous', that was a throw-away line about a song irritating ab initio.

 aelfheld wrote:

Neither resentful nor jealous.

I'm not Canadian.

{#Cheesygrin}
 
My bad—read your post too quickly. But I'm still a bit confused as to why you think that Canadianshould be jealous or resentful about the relative size of their armed forces. Most Americans these days will tell you that there are plenty of drawbacks to having the world's largest military. Too often the tail wags the dog. 

Btw—how did you jump from a song about American women to snarking about the Canadian military? 

prefer Lenny's version.
 kcar wrote:
My friend, if you checked out the percentage of the US federal budget going to the military (as "defense") and explored the modern-day instances of the American "military-industrial complex" that Eisenhower warned about, then you'd be neither resentful nor jealous. 
 
Neither resentful nor jealous.

I'm not Canadian.

{#Cheesygrin}


not sure it should have 6.8 score, either
 Ahnyer_Keester wrote:
This should be followed by something, anything by BTO.
 
Nothing in the list of available tunes, would be sweet though.

 jenseda wrote:
Give me the Guess Who.  They have the courage to be drunken buffoons.
 
The greatest piece of gobbledy-gook...

 aelfheld wrote:

Canada once had the 3rd largest navy in the world: now, well you've fewer ships than the Philippines.

Canada's troops were once considered so tough they were assigned one of the worst beaches at Normandy: now, well you've got maybe a 1,000 more troops than Saudi Arabia.

Canada once had a decent air force: now, you've got 30 more aircraft than Mexico.

In every category Canada, which once boxed well outside of its weight, is hardly more capable than any third-rank country dependent on others for their defense.

So, yeah, jealous.  Resentful, too.
 

My friend, if you checked out the percentage of the US federal budget going to the military (as "defense") and explored the modern-day instances of the American "military-industrial complex" that Eisenhower warned about, then you'd be neither resentful nor jealous. 

 
This should be followed by something, anything by BTO.
 pdemeester wrote:
Ya, that's right . . . we're jealous. {#Wink}
 
Canada once had the 3rd largest navy in the world: now, well you've fewer ships than the Philippines.

Canada's troops were once considered so tough they were assigned one of the worst beaches at Normandy: now, well you've got maybe a 1,000 more troops than Saudi Arabia.

Canada once had a decent air force: now, you've got 30 more aircraft than Mexico.

In every category Canada, which once boxed well outside of its weight, is hardly more capable than any third-rank country dependent on others for their defense.

So, yeah, jealous.  Resentful, too.


 capandjudy wrote:

... A friend of mine saw Led Zeppelin around 1970 and said that they closed out the evening with this song. 
 
That's hawt! {#Yes}

 marcucho wrote:
 
Well said!
 aelfheld wrote:

It's a bunch of Canadians.  They're jealous.
 
Ya, that's right . . . we're jealous. {#Wink}
 michaelc wrote:
Cool in 68.
 Lame in 2010
 

If you're referring to the lame remake, I agree. The original is still the best and still cool.
Okay, yes, it's repetitive, but it's just so much fun to listen to and shout along with. Sometimes, simple is awesome.
The rating on this song has more to do with memories of those times ...
Cool in 68.
 Lame in 2010
 jenseda wrote:
Give me the Guess Who.  They have the courage to be drunken buffoons.
 
You're more than welcome to them.

Love this song — especially nice to hear the intro, that part is new to me — I don't believe commercial radio ever plays that intro part?
Give me the Guess Who.  They have the courage to be drunken buffoons.
 macadavy wrote:

According to the 'Song Info' link above, the last three lines are:

"Goodbye, American woman
Goodbye, American chick
Goodbye, American broad ..."

But I like romeotuna's version better, too!

 
Alway's thought it was Goodbye, American bitch

Back in the day I must have seen the Guess Who 50 times, from when they played here to 100 people to arena shows. They were great live and could jam away to any song they did. I remember them doing a bang up job of Dear Mr. Fantasy one night. They got lots of airplay on this song and it still gets a reaction from listeners. I rate it high as I am glad to see them in the mix but there are lots of other Guess Who deep tracks that could get played. This guitar riff is up there with smoke on the water as first riffs learnt by new guitar players! (Of my vintage at least.)
That Harry Potter dude..play's in so many bands !{#Rolleyes}

 tipper wrote:
Are american women really that bad?
 
I always thought it was intended to be a metaphor for America in general; I think it is this verse specifically that formed this opinion for me...

American Woman, said get away ...
I don't need your war machines
I don't need your ghetto scenes

{#Ask}


 tipper wrote:
Are american women really that bad?
 
It's a bunch of Canadians.  They're jealous.

 tipper wrote:
Are american women really that bad?
 
hehe :)  The women are fine!  The song is more about America herself, questioning some of her motives and actions.
I disliked this song when it came out and I've found that time has done nothing to lessen my despite.
Interesting mix. Drums completely in one channel. I have to admit this was one of my favorite songs along with No Sugar Tonight when I was 9 yrs old.
Are american women really that bad?
 romeotuma wrote:


This is a great song...  it is funny how every single American radio station cuts out the last line of the song, which is "Goodbye American shit..."
 
According to the 'Song Info' link above, the last three lines are:

"Goodbye, American woman
Goodbye, American chick
Goodbye, American broad ..."

But I like romeotuna's version better, too!

his voice is a perfect mix of Plant's and Fogerty's
 Relayer wrote:
I always thought that the singing on this song is a little like early Robert Plant (LZ I & II).
 
It is funny that you said that. A friend of mine saw Led Zeppelin around 1970 and said that they closed out the evening with this song. 


 Mugro wrote:


Often Romeo's version of reality is more entertaining.... {#Wink}
 
True that. . .

{#High-five}


I really don't like to complain about this wonderful station ...  but my God am I SICK of this song!!

 schtan wrote:
canada ... love it or leave it
 
{#Lol} Good one.

The acoustic intro to this version adds a lot.

 vandal wrote:

Unless I'm mistaken, the last line is "Goodbye American chick"
 

Often Romeo's version of reality is more entertaining.... {#Wink}
 romeotuma wrote:


This is a great song...  it is funny how every single American radio station cuts out the last line of the song, which is "Goodbye American shit..."
 
Unless I'm mistaken, the last line is "Goodbye American chick"


canada ... love it or leave it
1969 +/-
I always thought that the singing on this song is a little like early Robert Plant (LZ I & II).
 BasmntMadman wrote:

A little while ago, I heard this song being played at a local Safeway supermarket.  Its actually shows the amazing strength of the US, at least in the past decades.

The Guess Who muster up all their outrage towards their giant neighbor to the south, and bravely and brazenly aim their musical screed at it. 

The giant reacts!  It yawns, scratches itself, thinks the song's kinda groovy, and simply absorbs it. 

 
I suppose that you can see the situation this way, but I think it is more that music may have a message or meaning for one person and simply be music to another. After all, why would the Small Faces' Itchycoo Park be played over the speakers in a Seven-Eleven if anyone there cared about the lyrics? (I was bemused to hear this once while searching the beer case in such a store, considering that the subject matter is so obviously about buying drugs and consuming them, with apparent pleasure). This is one of the paradoxes of music. One can listen to the words and be moved. One can also enjoy the sound of instruments and completely miss the meaning of the words. This has little to do with the strength of America, or lack thereof. And anyway, the Guess Who was one of a number of bands with hits at the time (the Vietnam War was in the background, among other things) and this is one more of a large number of radio hits of that era. How many lyrics have been broadcast that meant a great deal to the composer and easily slipped into pablum in the minds of the listeners?
What a wonderful follow-up to Randy Newman's Political Science (let's drop the big one now)!

 ThePoose wrote:


Poor usage of ''syndecdoche.'' The precise term is ''metaphor.'' Jimbo Morrison used this device in LA Woman. 

 
I think synechdoche is correct. The song is about the is using the Statue of Liberty, a part of the U.S., to represent the U.S.

How odd, this being the 4th and all.  Love it anyway.  A 10

EDIT: But seeing the segues, it do make sense.  Go for it, Bill.
 romeotuma wrote:


This is a fantastic song...  this Canadian band was actually using the image as a syndecdoche for the USA...
 

Poor usage of ''syndecdoche.'' The precise term is ''metaphor.'' Jimbo Morrison used this device in LA Woman. 

Nice album cover. I had a doo like that.