I'm Amazed

Album: Evil Urges (2008)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This number that addresses politics is one of the band's more accessible songs. Frontman Jim James told Rolling Stone magazine: "I've gotten tired of normal Rock & Roll sounds. But I like that there's a song like 'I'm Amazed' where anybody who's seen us live over the years can get into it."
  • This was My Morning Jacket's biggest hit to date on Billboard's rock and alternative charts, peaking at #5 on Adult Alternative Songs.
  • On a genre-hopping album that runs through patches of soul, funk, dance, psychedelic rock, and hip-hop, this Southern-rock track is a familiar place to land for longtime MMJ fans, who recall the folk harmonies and campfire ballads of their early days. The respite was well-placed after "Highly Suspicious," a bizarre, Prince-like effort that's unlike anything in the band's catalog.
  • The band performed this song, along with the album's title track, on the May 10, 2008 episode of Saturday Night Live.
  • This is one of four songs from the album that were used on the American Dad! episode "My Morning Straitjacket" in 2009 (the others being "Highly Suspicious," "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Part 2" and "Remnants"). In the episode, featuring the band playing themselves, Stan ends up becoming a My Morning Jacket superfan after he crashes their concert to retrieve his daughter.

    Mike Barker, the animated series' co-creator, was inspired to write the episode after watching the band play their legendary four-hour set in the driving rain at Bonnaroo a year earlier. Barker recalled the experience in a 2009 interview with Rollo & Grady: "At Bonnaroo, I'm watching these guys create this lush, intense sound as the rain is washing over them… and as the sheet of rain attacks the stage, the raindrops are being illuminated by the multi-colored stage lights, and it was just… biblical. And it was one of those moments - and by moment I don't mean during a certain chorus or something, I mean the entire time the guys are playing - it was one of those moments where everyone in attendance realized they were witnessing something really special."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

When Rock Belonged To Michelob

When Rock Belonged To MichelobSong Writing

Michelob commercials generated hits for Eric Clapton, Genesis and Steve Winwood in the '80s, even as some of these rockers were fighting alcoholism.

Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty

Rob Thomas of Matchbox TwentySongwriter Interviews

Rob Thomas on his Social Distance Sessions, co-starring with a camel, and his friendship with Carlos Santana.

Gilby Clarke

Gilby ClarkeSongwriter Interviews

The Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist in the early '90s, Gilby talks about the band's implosion and the side projects it spawned.

Joe Jackson

Joe JacksonSongwriter Interviews

Joe talks about the challenges of of making a Duke Ellington tribute album, and tells the stories behind some of his hits.

Jonathan Edwards - "Sunshine"

Jonathan Edwards - "Sunshine"They're Playing My Song

"How much does it cost? I'll buy it?" Another songwriter told Jonathan to change these lyrics. Good thing he ignored this advice.

Mac Powell of Third Day

Mac Powell of Third DaySongwriter Interviews

The Third Day frontman talks about some of the classic songs he wrote with the band, and what changed for his solo country album.