Songfacts®:

• "Miss America" by Blur appears to be a critique of American ideals of womanhood and domesticity. Frontman Damon Albarn repeatedly refers to the titular character as "a Jemima." This is likely alluding to Aunt Jemima, the breakfast food brand that employed racial stereotypes in its logo and marketing campaigns. Specifically, the mascot was based on the problematic "Mammy" stereotype, which faced widespread criticism for exploiting enslaved African American women.
• An intoxicated Graham Coxon can be heard yelling "Michael!" at the beginning of this song. The guitarist was speaking to Blur's publicist, Mike Smith. Smith had walked into the studio to find Coxon drunkenly hammering on the leg of a chair. This also ended up on the recording of "Miss America," as Blur's actual drummer, Dave Rowntree, spent that evening down the pub, according to the Modern Life Is Rubbish liner notes.
• Blur has only played "Miss America" live on two occasions, with both performances taking place in 1993. Coxon, however, has been known to occasionally include the song in his solo concert repertoire over the years.
• In an interview with Dazed in 2008, bassist Alex James said "Miss America" is his favorite song on Modern Life Is Rubbish, adding: "We went from being an indie band to a group with wider aspirations and yearnings. Everyone hated us back at that point but we thought we were doing the right thing and that has been proven in the end."
• Blur's sophomore album, Modern Life Is Rubbish, was released on May 10, 1993. Most of the songs were written by Albarn following the band's ill-fated tour of the US in 1992. With grunge dominating the airwaves, American audiences were largely uninterested in Blur's sound. Consequently, the frontman responded with his most Anglo-centric album to date. "It was me attempting to write in a classic English vein using kind of imagery and words which were much more modern," Albarn told the BBC in 2007. "So it was a weird combination of quiet nostalgic-sounding melodies and chord progressions, these weird caustic lyrics about England as it was at that moment, and the way it was getting this mass Americanised refit."