Wiki
-
Length
2:35
"I'm So Bored with the USA" is a song by The Clash from their eponymous debut album.
The song began life as another track, I'm So Bored With You, a love song written by Mick Jones. According to Keith Topping's The Complete Clash book, the song was about Jones's girlfriend, the same woman who was the topic of "Deny". According to the story often told by the song's authors Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, including on their documentary Westway to the World, the change came about by Strummer mishearing the song's title when Jones played him it during their first meeting at Davies Road Squad. Early recordings including on the popular live bootleg 5 Go Mad At The Roundhouse include the song in its original form. However, by the time of the concert on 20 September 1976 at the Roundhouse, Camden the song was using its new title.
"Actually, "I'm So Bored With The U.S.A." was "I'm So Bored With You" until Joe added the "S" and the "A." ”
—Mick Jones to Guitar World – 1995
Originally demoed with slightly different lyrics during The Clash's second demo session with their soundman Mickey Foote as producer, "I'm So Bored with the USA"'s lyrics do what the title suggests, condemn America. Referring to the drugs problems in the US Army (particularly heroin), America supporting dictatorships (something that was later elaborated on with their track Washington Bullets), the surf culture and American television as well as mentioning the Watergate scandal, Starsky and Hutch and Kojak with the chorus expressing the inescapability of the USA's influence and indeed the futility of the song.
"I'm So Bored with the USA" was a mainstay in the band's set until 1978, when its appearances became less frequent, except in America where it was often used as the band's opening song
Track descriptions on Last.fm are editable by everyone. Feel free to contribute!
All user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.
