American Life (song)
"American Life" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It is the title track from her ninth studio album American Life (2003), and was released digitally as the lead single from the album on March 24, 2003, by Maverick Records. It is a pop, techno and folk song written and produced by Madonna and Mirwais Ahmadzaï; the lyrics to "American Life" feature violent transitions and a political and religious view from Madonna. She questions the shallowness of modern life and the American Dream during the presidency of George W. Bush. Towards the end of the song, Madonna raps, naming the people who were working for her.
This article is about the song by Madonna. For the song by Primus, see Sailing the Seas of Cheese."American Life"
"American Life" was panned by music critics, with Billboard criticizing Madonna's rapping, and Blender naming it as the ninth worst song of all time. Commercially, "American Life" reached number one in Canada, Denmark, Italy, and Switzerland, and the top ten in Australia, where the song was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). Elsewhere, the song peaked at number 37 on the US Billboard Hot 100, staying in the chart for eight weeks, while it debuted and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, "American Life" became the first song ever to chart based on internet sales alone.
Two music videos were shot for the song, both directed by Swedish director Jonas Åkerlund. The first featured Madonna at a military-themed fashion show, depicting explosions and ending with her throwing a hand grenade at George W. Bush as he uses it to light a cigar. Prior to its release, the video caused controversy regarding its political, racial and religious implications, leading Madonna to release a statement explaining its concept. After the 2003 invasion of Iraq started, Madonna cancelled the release of the original music video, because of the political climate of the country at the time, and an edited version, featuring her in front of a backdrop of flags from around the world, was released instead. The original music video was later re-edited to remove any showing of Bush and had an official release in April 2023. The song was performed during promotion for American Life in 2003, on the Re-Invention World Tour (2004), the Miami stop of her Madonna: Tears of a Clown show (2016), the Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019 festival and the Madame X Tour (2019–20).
Recording and composition[edit]
"American Life" mixes folktronica[9] and experimental pop[10] in its composition, written in the time signature of common time with a moderate tempo of 102 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of A major with Madonna's voice spanning from C♯3 to B4. The song follows a sequence of F♯m–F♯m5–C♯–Bm during the verses and F♯m–C♯m–C♯m2–Bm–Bm2 during the chorus as its chord progression.[11] Starting with Madonna's voice multi-tracked questioning – "Am I gonna be a star?", "Should I change my name?" – the lyrics develop into what Rikky Rooksby of The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna states is a complaint about modern-day life.[8] She also questions the shallowness of modern life and the American Dream.[12] After three minutes, Madonna performs a rap naming the people who are working for her.[8]
"Basically, we [she and Ahmadzaï] had recorded the whole song and we had this instrumental thing at the end," said Madonna, "and Mirwais was like, 'You know what, you have to go and do a rap.' And I was like, 'Get out of here, I don't rap.' And he was like, 'Yeah you do. Just go in there, just do it.' He totally encouraged me. I had nothing planned, nothing written, and he just told me to do stream-of-consciousness, whatever I was thinking. Because I was always drinking soy lattes in the studio, and I drive my Mini Cooper to the studio, I was just like, 'OK, let me just talk about the things that I like.' So I went and it was just total improv and obviously it was sloppy at first, but I got out all my thoughts and then I wrote everything down that I said and then I perfected the timing of it. So it was totally spontaneous."[13] The repeated acoustic guitar riff "adds a touch of pathos" to the song, according to biographer Carol Gnojewski.[12]
The lyrics accompany a "punchy octave synth figure" synchronized with a drum and bass beat.[8] "I know it sounds clichéd," she admitted. "But I've had 20 years of fame and fortune, and I feel that I have the right to an opinion on what it is and isn't. All everyone is obsessed about now is being a celebrity. I'm saying that's bullshit, and who knows better than me? Before it happens, you have all kinds of notions about how wonderful celebrity is and how much joy it's going to bring you. Then you arrive... In America, more than any other place in the world, you have the freedom to be anything you want to be. Which is all well and good, but it only works if you have a value system – and we seem not to have one anymore. It's, 'Whatever it takes to get to the top, that's what you gotta do.' It's the allure of the beautiful life: 'Look like this, you're gonna be happy. Drive this car, you're gonna be popular. Wear these clothes and people are gonna want to fuck you.' It's a very powerful illusion and people are caught up in it, including myself. Or I was."[1]
Chart performance[edit]
"American Life" debuted at number 90 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on the week of April 5, 2003.[4] The song debuted with first-week sales of 4,000 downloads, making the first time a song ever to chart based on Internet sales alone.[23][24] A few weeks later on April 26, 2003, the song peaked at number 37, being the greatest gainer song of that week. In Canada, the song peaked at number one on the singles chart.[25] In Australia, "American Life" debuted at its peak of number seven, during the week of April 24, 2003. In the following week, the song began its decline, and experienced a total chart trajectory of eight weeks.[26] The song was certified Gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).[27] In the New Zealand, the song peaked at number 33, and remained on the chart for one week.[28] On the UK Singles Chart, "American Life" debuted at its peak of number two on the week of April 26, 2003,[29] with first-week sales of 30,000 copies and being blocked to the top position by Room 5's "Make Luv".[30]
On April 27, 2003, "American Life" debuted at number seven on the Ö3 Austria Top 40 chart, spending a total of 11 weeks in the chart.[31] The song achieved moderate chart positions in both the Flemish and Wallonian territories in Belgium, peaking at numbers 12 and 10, respectively.[32] Making its debut at number 61, "American Life" charted for a total of 11 weeks in France and peaked at number 10, before falling out on July 6, 2003.[33] The song was certified Silver by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP).[34] On the Dutch Top 40 chart, the song made its debut at number 34. The following week it rose to number 21 and peaked at number 4, before the ending of its eleven-week run.[35] On April 24, 2003, "American Life" debuted at number three on the Swedish Singles Chart.[36] Similarly in Switzerland, the song debuted at number one on the Swiss Singles Chart, spending 13 weeks on the chart.[37] In Germany, the song peaked at number 10.[38]
Credits and personnel are adapted from American Life album liner notes.[67]