American Canyon Sutra

Album: Tip of the Sphere (2019)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "American Canyon Sutra" finds Cass McCombs stepping into spoken-word territory as he conjures a symbolic urban landscape with a mixture of fear and disgust. He told Uncut magazine "American Canyon" is not a real place:

    "It's like a city in all of us," McCombs explained. "It's like in William Burroughs' Cities of the Red Night - you have to pass through them to get to a place where there is no thought. If you want to eliminate thoughts, if you want to be free from this corrupted mind, you have to pass through the cities of the red night, but to get there you're going to have to go through hell. You're going to have to see all kinds of horrible humans and be just terrified."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Angelo Moore of Fishbone

Angelo Moore of FishboneSongwriter Interviews

Fishbone has always enjoyed much more acclaim than popularity - Angelo might know why.

Fire On The Stage

Fire On The StageSong Writing

When you have a song called "Fire," it's tempting to set one - these guys did.

Melanie

MelanieSongwriter Interviews

The singer-songwriter Melanie talks about her spiritual awakening at Woodstock, "Brand New Key," and why songwriting is an art, not a craft.

Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica)

Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica)Songwriter Interviews

The former Metallica bassist talks about his first time writing a song with James Hetfield, and how a hand-me-down iPad has changed his songwriting.

The Truth Is Out There: A History of Alien Songs

The Truth Is Out There: A History of Alien SongsSong Writing

The trail runs from flying saucer songs in the '50s, through Bowie, blink-182 and Katy Perry.

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions Answered

Why Does Everybody Hate Nu-Metal? Your Metal Questions AnsweredSong Writing

10 Questions for the author of Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces