David Bowie - I'm Afraid of Americans Meaning

Song Released: 1997

I'm Afraid of Americans Lyrics

Johnny's in America, no tax at the wheel
Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah-ah
No-one needs anyone, they don't even just pretend
Ah-ah-ah, ah-ah, ah-ah
Johnny's in America
I'm afraid of Americans
I'm afraid of the world
I'm afraid I can't help...

1. anonymous

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   Jun 29th !⃝

   It's about a man who came from a small country and who was used to live simply, and just content in living a life with simple dreams. However, he took a chance and want to see if he can improve himself or develop as a more mature person. To see if he can achieve his dreams and goals in life, and live a more comfortable life. But when he came to America, he is in culture shock. It was too modern, people always busy, doing things to occupy their time and just focus on themselves. He noticed most of them, wanted to be rich, wanted to have more material things. Majority of the men and women, they have too many choices. They can't settle down with one person. He thought, he might just as well follow what they are doing and how they think. The only problem is he is forgetting his moral values and is now being more materialistic and more concerned with earthly pleasures. But deep inside, he is afraid of his environment, the people, and how they live their life. I guess he knows what he is doing is wrong and in his deepest feelings he knows he must go back to his old self and be a person with simple wants and simple needs.
2. anonymous

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   Jun 28th !⃝

   Bowie expressing fear of a person, a culture that values humor, consumerism, labels and individual wealth over a more communal shared existence. How religion is interwoven into the individualistic success dream, the weight it bears on a person. Bowie likes to describe what has become common concessions of modern life from the perspective of an outsider that is struggling to understand in humane concepts.
3. kooljohn176

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   Feb 16th 2015 !⃝

   Maybe BOWIE sang this song in the mindset of a young fatherless foreign boy from some one horse town who immigrated to live and learn the language into becoming American wich can be overwhelming and terriffing to assimilate to the culture shock of different forms he may feel and fear in what his mind is going through wich he did not expect to find and see that seems so unreal to him from his upbringing to clash into one another in even bending his beliefs and ideas of GOD. Thinking that god must be an American because of all the overwhelming opportunaties in the creation of the big city for him to explore.