You Never Knew What These Misunderstood Songs Were Really About
American Woman – The Guess Who
To modern listeners, especially those more familiar with Lenny Kravitz’s 1999 cover, “American Woman” is a song all about sex appeal. The song’s true meaning, as explained by co-writer Randy Bachman, had less to do with sex and much more to do with the Vietnam War and U.S. politics of the time. According to Bachman, “We had been touring the States. This was the late ’60s. One time at the U.S./Canada border in North Dakota they tried to draft us and send us to Vietnam.
We were back in Canada, playing in the safety of Canada where the dance is full of draft dodgers who’ve all left the States.” Co-writer Burton Cummings added, “When I said ‘American woman, stay away from me,’ I really meant ‘Canadian woman, I prefer you.’ It was all a happy accident.”