Released 2000 Length 3:31 Producer(s) Pual Corkett | Genre Alternative rock Label Virgin Records | |
Writer(s) Steve Hewitt, Brian Molko and Stefan Olsdal | ||
"Blue American" is a song on alternative rock band Placebo's third album, Black Market Music. The song is soft and not heavily dependent on instruments, having more of a concentration on lyrics.
"Blue American" has a dark tone; in it, the protagonist seems to reflect over his life while referring to novels (such as Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin) and self-help books. The character expresses acceptance of his nature as "pretentious" and also expresses gratitude to his mother.
According to singer-lyricist Brian Molko, the character is "attacking his parents, his culture, his culture's history, self-help, psychiatry." Regarding the mention of his mother, Molko explained "[I]t just fitted. When it came out, I thought it would be really nice to make her quite happy. Because I'm sure most of the subject matter of our songs doesn't make her very happy. So, at one point, maybe for one verse at least, she might think, 'Oh, that's nice. My son still loves me.'"