For decades I have thought the song "American Woman," by The Guess Who, was an America-inspired protest song. Of course, I derived that information from what I thought were well-informed disc jockeys and music rags.
So the story I always heard was that the Canadian band wrote this song to protest America: "I don't need your war machines; I don't need your ghetto scenes."
I reached out to Neil Ratner Rock Doc (find him on Facebook) who was a musician and close friend of many musicians in the late 60's and 70's.
The Rock Doc told me that "American Woman" is "a very misunderstood song and not patriotic at all." The song was co-written by Burton Cummings who says, "What was on my mind was that girls in the States seemed to get older quicker than our girls and that made them, well, dangerous. When I said 'American woman, stay away from me,' I really meant 'Canadian woman, I prefer you.'"
So there you have it...the Canadian boys preferred the Canadian girls. Naturally there are two sides to every story and perhaps there is one here, but the song now sounds differently to me.
Check out the version by The Guess Who:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_3yeQeBOAI
And for extra credit points, check out the cover by Lenny Kravitz:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzWHE32IxUc
Thanks for reading my Wicked Cool Minute (which took longer if you watched the videos). Please share the blogs with your friends to add a little cool to their day :)
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Peace & Love,
Lanea Stagg
www.reciperecordscookbook.com
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