Songfacts®:

• The first single from Bob Seger's Like a Rock album, "American Storm" was often misinterpreted as a patriotic anthem, but it is really about the dangers of drug use. Seger explained to Creem magazine in 1986: "People who do drugs probably recognized it right away. That song isn't from my experience, but from observing the experiences of those around me. I'm no saint, but I've never had a serious drug problem. I thought it was a bad thing three years ago, but it's gotten worse. It's a world problem now. Personally, I was never really affected by drugs. I was the kind of guy who, in high school, would buy a six-pack out of peer pressure, drink half a can and pour the rest out. Cocaine is just bad stuff. I've seen too many people act like idiots on it."
• "American Storm" was the first single from Like a Rock, released ahead of the title track, probably because uptempo rockers were considered more suitable when introducing an album. It was a solid hit but didn't have much staying power and vanished from his setlists after his 1986 tour, which was called the American Storm Tour.