An American Song

I drive on an American highway
In my American car
I watch American Idol
I’m gonna be an American star
Hey there’s an American road sign
This is an All-American town
I like to eat American burgers
That I buy from an American clown
I live in an American house
I have a great big American flag
I’m such a proud American
I blow my nose in an American rag

I have an American iPhone
Though it isn’t quite American-made
But at least my American machine gun is
And my American switchblade
My dad was an American soldier
He fought in American wars
Now he installs American locks
To go on American doors
I shop in an American supermarket
Put my stuff in an American bag
I’m such a proud American
I blow my nose in an American rag

I work for an American company
They pay me in American bills
I drink American lager
I pop American pills
I snort American cocaine
I smoke American grass
I use American toilet paper
When I wipe my American ass
Bury me in American graveyard
A stone with an American tag
He was such a proud American
He blew his nose in an American rag

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“An American Song,” also sometimes called “American Rag” because I can’t make up my mind, originally appeared on the 2014 online album, Into A Prism. The United States is a strange and surreal place to live, and living most of my life in different parts of the US, and frequently traveling the breadth of the country, including many of the scarier parts, has inspired me to write many songs about how terrifying and completely over the top US patriotism often is. These people have no idea how crazy they seem to most of the world, unfortunately. But I do. And the rest of the world is right. This kind of unreflective patriotism would be almost unthinkable in places like Germany or Japan, for very much the same sorts of reasons this kind of patriotism should be unthinkable in the United States of Amnesia.