David Bowie’s I’m Afraid of Americans feels like it was penned not three decades ago but yesterday, its sharp critique reverberating through today’s tangled headlines. It’s a song of unease, of skepticism toward a culture that turns consumption into creed and influence into an unyielding shadow. Bowie’s jittery rhythms and snarling delivery mirror a world where global discontent grows louder, fed by unchecked ambition and fractured empathy. Today, the song’s paranoia feels prescient, capturing the tensions of a world wrestling with America’s outsized role—both beacon and bane. Bowie’s words present us sardonic anthem for a civilization perched on the brink.
Now, Brooklyn’s The Amatory Murder tackles I’m Afraid Of Americans in a blistering cover, which is also the second single off their EP Crazy In A Coffin (On A Saturday Night). They inject a jagged edge and their own additional lyrics into Bowie’s classic, lacing it with a contemporary anxiety that snarls at the state of today’s increasingly chaotic world. Their interpretation is mostly faithful to the original, but brings a harsher 90s alternative flavour to the fold.
“While we wanted to keep some of the integrity of the original, our version is an attempt to encapsulate the chaos and discord of what some days feels like a world on fire,” says Xian Murder, in a statement written before these words became, unfortunately, more literal, “This classic has always been a favorite, but somehow this reimagined version feels perhaps more timely than ever before.”
The lyric video, directed by Husnain Arif and Morticia Murder, indeed feels even more prescient given the tragic events of this past week. Hang on to your hats, friends.
Listen to I’m Afraid of Americans at the link below and order the track here.
Crazy In A Coffin (On A Saturday Night) by The Amatory Murder
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The post NYC’s The Amatory Murder Releases Lyric Video for Their Cover of David Bowie’s “I’m Afraid of Americans” appeared first on Post-Punk.com.