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Randy Bachman explained the origins of this song in an interview with Words & Music magazine, Spring 2005. Said Bachman: "We were playing in a curling rink in Kitchener, Ontario (Canada), and I broke a string. I was up there alone, tuning up my E an B strings on an old Les Paul. I started playing that riff and in the audience, heads started turning. The band got up, and I said, 'Keep playing this, I don't want to forget it.' When Burton had run out of solos, I yelled out, 'Sing something!' So out of the blue Burton just screamed, 'American Woman, stay away from me!' That was the song, the riff and Burton yelling that line over and over. Later, he added other lines like 'I don't need your war machine, you ghetto scenes.' Before America knew it, it was a #1 record and it was a protest song." (thanks, Darryl - Cambridge, Canada)

The lyrics are a scathing commentary on America's imperialistic attitude at the time of the Vietnam War. The Guess Who are Canadian.

Some of the lyrics were inspired by a problem the band encountered at the Canada/US border involving the Vietnam War draft. (thanks, Tony - Westbury, NY)

Due to the anti-American lyrics, The Guess Who was not allowed to play this when they performed at the White House for President Richard Nixon in 1970.

The first time the band performed this was before 150,000 people at the Seattle Pop Festival in 1969. The crowd loved it even though they had never heard it.

This is one of the most misinterpreted songs ever. Despite a very clear lyric: "American Woman, get away from me," Americans often hear it is a patriotic ode and a tribute to American women.

This was released as a double A-side with "No Sugar Tonight." It was #1 in the US for 3 weeks. The Guess Who were already huge in Canada, but this broke them in The States.

In the late-'90s, this was used in a variety of commercials, including one for Tommy Hilfiger and another for Castrol motor oil. Nike also used in an ad featuring women's soccer.

Lenny Kravitz covered this in 1999. His version was used in the movie Austin Powers 2, The Spy Who Shagged Me.

Kravitz and The Guess Who performed this September 21, 2000 at the MuchMusic Video Awards in Toronto. The Guess Who were given a lifetime achievement award.

The album version contains a 1:05 acoustic intro. Radio stations often skip past it.

Randy Bachman left the group the month after this hit #1 in America because the band's lifestyle did not jibe with his religious beliefs. Because of his departure, they did not tour the US when this was hot, which could have made them a lot of money.

The Guess Who reunited and toured in 2000, 30 years after this was a hit.

This was featured in the Jim Carrey movie The Cable Guy, where it appears in a Karaoke scene, and American Beauty, where Kevin Spacey rocks out to it while going through a mid-life crisis.

Comments:

american women, american foreign policy... what's the difference? they're a product of the same decadent culture... obviously, there are exceptions, like angela davis and many others... but i wonder if they consider her as an american woman up there in the north
- Guillermo, Mendoza, Argentina

It was definitely "Goodbye American Woman, Goodbye American Bitch."
- Bill, Chicago, IL

It's a great song, and any possible original meaning of the lyrics is now, 40 years later, beside the point. In any event, now older and wiser, Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman would no doubt concede that throughout the Cold War and even today, one of the mottos of the U.S. is "...O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!" That's why Canada is able to spend a tiny fraction of it's national treasure on "defense" - they leave it to us ;-) And hey, I married a Canadian woman for 29 years, so I know a thing or two about Canada. It's a really nice place to visit... between May and early October ;-)
- Steve, Arnol, MD

This was covered by a singer called Lenny Kravitz. Some saw the song as bieng very anti-American but I'm not sure that was the true intent. At any rate it is still a brilliant (cool) song. I have heard it off of a cd combo that featured songs from the Vietnam era and now from this very website. It's around 1:30 in the a.m. here in England and once again I am dealing with a bad case of insomnia. Cheers.
- Hugh Laurie, Cambridge, United Kingdom

The Guess Who did tour after American Woman - a 15+ minute version is on their Live at the Paramount album recorded in Seattle. Listening to this live version makes the "anti-war" theme questionable, quite the anti-American female lyrics added on by Burton live. However, always one of my favorite songs!! a
- Dave, Phoenix, AZ

You know it could be about gettin off of drugs American woman(drugs) stay away from me I dont wanna see your shadow even stuff like that. Get me
- Chase, Miami, FL

There is a riff in another longer version of "Spanish Castle Magic" by Jimi Hendrix that is identical to the main riff in "American Woman". I believe the version I am referring to runs about 5:46.
- Jeff, Tuscaloosa, AL

Ragnbull, thank you for your comment. It is to the point and perfectly honest. I am a woman (a young one) and have lived in the U.S. all my life but I try to conduct myself in a manner that would please God. Feminism is degrading and horrible. I do not believe that women should be slaves or objects, but Feminism doesn't set a girl free from that, it only makes it worse. When women behave as women, and allow themselves to be respected and cherished by men, they can be fulfilled. Hating men only destroys us, and wanting to be a man is just ridiculous and impractical. (I don't see what tattoos have to do with anything, however. Tattoos are pretty much trans-gender, like rings or tennis shoes; and it's your choice if you want one or not.)
- Vanessa, Honolulu, HI

To be honest, i actually had no idea the guess who were canadian! Great song, too. I like the acoustic intro, too.
- Ryan, Somewhere in, NJ

In 1980 I had the opportunity to spend a few minutes speaking with Burton Cummings. I asked him the question, American Women was based on what? His reply was simply his eye opening experience as he and the band first traveled through the US. American Women for all of you that are wondering is the Statue of Liberty. He also shed light on his first trip into the US and in particular LA were they traveled to first to break in to the business south of the border. I found it fasinating to listen to him reveal his and the bands first (week)??? in LA as he explained they were taken in by none other than Jim Morrison and spent what he thinks was a week but he indicated the Mansion had all the windows blacked out and all they did was talk, play music, drink..."input your own activity here"....he said it was an incredible and frightning experience all at the same time. Morrison actually set them up with the people that went on to label them shortly there after. Bet you would'nt have ever thought there was a Door's connection in the Guess Who's past. Enjoy and God Bless.
- Clay, Calgary, AB

In fact, the Guess Who did tour the States as the song was released. I saw them in No. Dakota in Feb. 1970. The crowd loved this song. Always thought Burton Cummings was (and still is) one of the best singers in rock. Back when they hit it big, the band was very underrated, their reputation has grown over the years. Many of their hits have gained RIAA certifications for radio airplay. Now they tour as Bachman-Cummings and will be touring with some dates in the US this summer (2008).
- Al, Nutley, NJ

It's a great pop song, period. Yes, the lyrics are not complimentary to Americans and to the US. Yes I'm a proud, loyal American (naturalized,) but this song is about 40 years old, so I can let the "war machine/ghetto scene" stuff go.
- Steve, Arnol, MD

I don't know if this song is about the Statue of Liberty, the war, or whatever. I do know that after traveling all over South America and Asia this song is now my anthem. It is my ringtone on my cell phone and I am trying to put it on my horn on my car. I take the song very literal in what it says, "American woman, stay away from me". American women are ruined. They are fat, tattooed, lazy, difficult idiots for the most part. Feminism was brought to us by the Rockefeller family to destroy the family and increase the tax base in a soviet style takeover. Gloria Steinem was funded by the CIA to bring about this current state of disaster we are in now. Divorce is at over 50%, kids are raised by TV and McDonalds and now they are all fat and stupid. Men are disgusted, women are miserable because they are living a lie and their natural DNA is not being fulfilled. It's just nature baby, women are designed to have babies and raise and nurture them until the man can take over and teach them how to hunt and protect. It's a family thing, nowhere into it are tattoo's needed you tramps. Call me a women hater and you are not listening. Latina's and Asian gals are awesome. They are nurturing, loyal and feminine. Unlike these MTV, drunken, cussing floosies I see around here. So let me say in closing, "American woman, stay away from me. American woman, mama let me be, I gotta go, I gotta get away, I gotta go, I'm gonna fly away, I'm gonna leave you woman, I;m gonna leave you woman, bye bye, bye bye!!!
- Ragnbull, Dallas, TX

I remember reading the album cover (yep, the album) and it mentioned the Statue of Liberty being the american woman, and I interpreted it to mean they were saying the statue, meant to be a symbol of america and freedom, was becoming a symbol of America being a bully and browbeating the world into thinking that america was right--about the war, politics, etc.
- Gina, Raleigh, NC

I was deeply involved in the so called "Sixties Revolution"but I still hated this song. What right do a bunch of Canadians have to self righteously sit up there and bash America when CANADA has done ITS share of contributing to the genocide of the Native American and despoiling of the environment? I smell rank hypocrisy here.
- Doug, Oakland, CA

I am also an American woman, and prefer to be judged for who I am, rather than a continental-wide stereotype which cannot possibly work anyhow because America has too many varieties of culture and subculture . . . I do feel hurt when I hear this song, hoping everyone listening to it will think it is only political, not any kind of accurate judgment of me, and almost holding my breath as it plays through. (And there are a couple of other songs, too, that make me feel this way.:( ) Maybe this song has something to do with the sharp anti-American sentiment American women experience as they travel through the rest of the world.
- flufferstuff, South Jersey, NJ

I had seen an interview in Canada with Cummings he said that the song was arrived at by him dating an american woman from Buffalo who chewed him up and spit him out he was used to Canadian women not the tough Newyorkers. The balance of the song came later about war machines being a note about America also he said his band didnt like the song and thought it may hurt their newly found American audience so he started singing it on stage but the band had no other choice than play along with him singing american woman the fans loved it .
- Brent, canada, Canada

It ain't American women that one needs to keep away, it's Canadian women. I have memorized everything about Karla Homolka (the serial killer from St. Catherine's, Ontario), and if she crosses my path, I will blow her head to shreds with .00 buck from my pump-action, double-barrel 6-gauge WWII-surplus Mossberg military shotgun for what she did to those three (possibly more) young girls.
- Darrell, Eugene

This song is about WOMEN not foreign policy. The band is saying, basically, glad to be back in our home land, we want to see the women of our homeland who are the most beautiful in the world, yada yada. Stupid snipes about war machines are just there to make something rhyme, and reflect a bit of anti-vietnam sentiment. If you want a political protest song, go to Rage Against the Machine or something. There are no backwards messages or anything either. I suppose if you really were looking to be offended, you could find this song offensive. Either it goes right over the heads of Americans, or they have too much good sense to get their panties in a knot over something as stupid as this. Also, the guitar riff seems more than somewhat similar to "Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin.
- Liquid Len, Ottawa, Canada

Contrary to the war theory, I think this song is about just what it says, american women. The brief mention of war machines and ghetto scenes are merely what come attached to an american woman. Bachman and I have the same sentiments in this regard, which is why I married an Indian woman.
- Randy, Fuquay Varina, NC

American Woman gonna mess your mind! Great anti-vietnam song. This song was one of the songs at the "beginning of the end" of the sixties love movement. PJ
- P J, OKC, OK

After viewing the lyrics I always thought they said at the end of the song Goodbye American Ship but now the correct lyrics are Goodbye American Chick
- Tom, Mishawaka, IN

(Prologue) American woman gonna mess your mind American woman, she gonna mess your mind American woman gonna mess your mind American woman gonna mess your mind Say A, Say M, Say E, Say R, Say I, Say C, Say A, Say N, American woman gonna mess your mind American woman gonna mess your mind American woman gonna mess your mind
- Mike, Germantown, MD

I'm surprised that this hasn't been mentioned (unless I missed it), but the "American Woman" in question here is the Statue of Liberty -- the whole song is about America itself (which other commentators have noted: "I don't need your war machines; I don't need your ghetto scenes"). But honestly, the biggest joke is that Americans think that this is some kind of compliment. They just like to be mentioned, I guess, the way "One Night in Bangkok" was initially quite popular in Thailand... for a brief while anyway.
- Joe, Winnipeg, Canada

Randy Bachman didn't appear in the video, despite the fact that he wrote it and recorded it. Kurt Winter and Don McDougal are in the video.
- Warrinder, A Town, Canada

They sing "Goodbye American sh*t" right at the very end, though it always gets faded out beforehand on the radio. In my sixth grade class, we were very excited to let it play all the way to the end during lunchtime when we were allowed to play records! Some of the vocals during the repeat and fade ending seem reminiscent of the same part of The Beatles' Come Together.
- fyodor, Denver, CO

OK, Burton has said many times how he had just come back from touring the states, and that the US girls were more forward, wilder and more game for anything. He was thinking Canadian Woman, you are fresher and purer, Canadian Woman I prefer you better. He wrote the lyrics and he should know what he was thinking about. The song was origninated at the Strung & Drum curling club in Hamilton, ON. The Guess Who took a break because Randy had broken a string. Burton was out trying to make a deal on some old 45's of which he is a fanatical collector. Heard the band start jamming, a blues type of thing, then they went into the 'Whole Lotta Love' riff. Burton came back on stage started looking at the fresh Canadian girls faces, and when Randy told him to sing something, American Woman came out. After the show, a member of the audience had recorded the concert and played it back for the guys. They confiscated the cassette and took it to the studio to expand on the tune. A lot of this is included on the liner notes for 'Track Record'.
- Richard, Lansing, MI

warrrinder, listen to the lyrics. It's not about the vanity of American women. Or better, yet there is a section on this page where you can view the lyrics. There are clearly references to war machines, etc, etc.
- Stefanie, Rock Hill, SC

This was the very first Canadian song to be a U.S. #1. Later that year they played at the white house but didn't play American Woman because it's about the vanity of american women, which seems to be lost on most of them.
- Warrinder, A Town

I believe the line in the longer fade is "American chick".
- Brian, La Mesa, CA

The Guess Who was one of my first and favorite albums as an early teen. I recently picked up a CD of their hits and noticed something different about this song. As I remember it, the 70's version faded out with the last words "American Bitch". The CD compilation I have clips that lyric off.
- Phil, San Ramon, CA

This is a great song and it is ironic that it made top seller in the U.S.A. because of all it's anti-American slogans, but many band in the U.S.A. were singing anti-american style music
- bryon, sandusky, OH

I met Randy bachman and he is a giant of a man. He towered over me and I am 6'2. He is very humble and generous. He is very religous. He has since lost half his body weight due to stomach procedure. He is a big star in Canada. American Woman is about how in Canada we prefer our women. They are cuter. Because they are almost all part Indian.
- kevin, Canada, Canada

great song! I like it. Makes sense why it would be about the U.S. foreign policy and it's attitude toward Vietnam, and not about American women. I kind of noticed that during the song, when I first heard it.
- Stefanie magura, Rock Hill, SC

"Due to the anti-American lyrics, the band was not allowed to play this when they performed at the White House for President Richard Nixon in 1970." Why would they pley for Nixon, then? This band actually is over-rated. Sorry guys.
- Nessie, Sapporo, Japan

I happen to be an american woman myself, and this song is very offensive to our breed.
- mgjghh, hghfghfg, MT

I really like this song I like to dance to it like Felicy Shagwell in Austin Powers two I love this song!
- Jude, Los Angeles, CA

Randy Bachman went on from this to form Bachman-Turner Overdrive, who had a big hit with "You Ain't Seen Nuthin' Yet".
- Roy, london, England

It is 1:15 acoustic intro.
- Tom, The far corners of the globe

During the early 90's a radio announcer doing a special on the Guess Who reported that Burton Cummings was running late to a concert performance and the band created the riff on the spot to quiet the crowd. Cummings was reported to have entered during this riff and made up the lyrics as the band played. It was also reported that the only way the song was able to be reproduced was due to a concert go-er illegally taping the concert. The tape was confiscated and used to reproduce the notes and vocals. Randy, KCMO
- RC, Kansas City, MO

The line "I don't need your war machines/I don't need your ghetto scenes" makes the meaning of this song clear. I've never seen it used in its proper context in a film, only about, literally, an American woman. I've considered the Statue of Liberty thing before. But it doesn't have to be that specific. The line, "Colored Lights can hypnotize/Sparkle someone else's eyes." suggests that the US is like some women: enticing and beguiling, but hiding a more sinister side.
- Brian, La Mesa, CA

It's really a shame that Bachman left the group...the Guess Who could have been the Canadian version of Zeppelin if they'd stayed together and put out more songs.
- Ty, Niagara Falls, Canada

In a great book on the group by John Einarson he quotes songwriter Burton Cummings as saying that the "American Woman" in the title may allude, in part, to the Statue of Liberty.
- Tony, Westbury, NY

I haven't seen the movie in a while, but I'm pretty sure it was an old guy singing the song kareoke. Jim Carrey sings Somebody to Love.
- Nick, Paramus, NJ

A great song from a great band.
- Jared, Norwalk, OH