We're from America

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This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. This article is about the song
"We're from America"
We're from America cover
Song by Marilyn Manson
Album The High End of Low
Released March 27, 2009
Recorded March 2008–January 2009 in Los Angeles and Hollywood, California
Genre Dance-punk, industrial metal, gothic rock
Length 5:04
Label Interscope
Writer Marilyn Manson
Composer Twiggy, Chris Vrenna
Producer Marilyn Manson, Chris Vrenna, Twiggy, Sean Beavan

"We're from America" is the twelfth track from Marilyn Manson's 2009 release The High End of Low. Its title was revealed on March 18, 2009, in the week's issue of Kerrang!. The article erroneously states that the song was released during the second week of March 2009, however this did not actually happen until March 27, when it was released for free as a 320kbps MP3. It was later reissued as a digital single on April 7 and as a physical single, scheduled for release through Hot Topic on April 14. On March 30, "We're from America" was made available for streaming on Marilyn Manson's official MySpace profile.

Music details[edit]

In the March 18, 2009 issue of Kerrang!, Marilyn Manson said of the song that "I think a lot of people will hear the track and initially think it's just political, but it's not just that, it's also me describing a lot of fucked-up scenarios that I'm going through in my personal life. Someone asked me, 'Why are you so fucked up?', 'Well, I am from America.' I hate the fact that so many people have fucked the country up, and so many people fucked up my personal life and I allowed it to happen. So in a way, I feel like America as a whole feels, but in no way does that make me a tree-hugging patriotic freedom rocker."

In response to this interview, Rudy Coby, who earlier gave a brief explanation of "Devour", said about the song on his MySpace profile, "I love the song but it doesn't sound like any other song on the album - it was the one I said he played eleventh or twelveth almost as an afterthought. [...] It's one part of a journey - but it isn't giving away the game. I totally understand why Kerrang would want this as their special preview download though - everyone is reevaluating our country right now and this song is "America the (Un)Beautiful" and doesn't take any fucking shit."

A blog by Metal Hammer describes "We're from America" as seeing the tempo of the album "finally elevated to fist-pumping pace, and features a riff that sounds like a Manson-ed up Muse riff and another Manson signature, the low rumbling toms. The lyrical themes are overt and feature the good old Manson wit we all love: "We're from America, where Jesus was born; we're from America where we speak American" and "God is an excuse." There is also the overt criticism of the pro-life neo-cons and their anti-abortion policies – this is by far the most direct song on the album, and will doubtless become an anti-anthem in line with Fight Song or Beautiful People. Again, while the backing track offers little musical complexity, it hammers home the message and allows Manson's voice to carry the tune – building like some apocalyptic dance track... played by a metal band."[1]

Reviewing for Thrash Hits, Hugh Platt explained that "In the moments the album does dare dream of a theme, it's of a commentary on American hypocrisy in the face of its own self-made myth. America's failure to live up to the lofty self-image it sets itself has forever been Manson's greatest muse – manifesting itself here in bazooka blasts of vitriol like 'We're From America'."[2]

The Quietus' John Robb noted that "A weird reverbed industrial drum sound starts the track off before the song kicks in: "We're from America / Where we eat our young / Where Jesus was born / Where they let you come in their faces!" Robb cites this as "Manson at his very best with funny, pithy put downs of the American dream. This is the mirror held up to all that is ugly about his home nation." Robb did not move on in his review before declaring "We're from America" one of the record's top tracks.[3]

In his review for Allmusic, Phil Freeman, who was unsatisfied by the album, described "We're from America" as aggressive, and having "bursts of lyrical wit, but when your opening line, 'We're from America where we eat our young,' is cribbed from Funkadelic circa 1972, you're pretty much advertising that you're out of ideas." Freeman also noted that the song's title was "perhaps the most unwittingly revelatory" one on the album.[4]

Appearances[edit]

Albums[edit]

Singles[edit]

Versions[edit]

  • "We're from America" — Appears on The High End of Low
  • "We're from America" — Appears on the "We're from America" digital and CD singles

Lyrics[edit]

    We're from America, we're from America
    where we eat our young
    We're from America, we're from America
    it's where jesus was born
    We're from America, we're from America
    where they let you come on their faces
    We're from America, we're from America
    and we speak 'American'
    
    We don't believe in credibility,
    because we know that we're fucking incredible
    we don't believe in credibility,
    because we know that we're fucking incredible
    I wanna be a martyr
    I don't wanna to be a victim.
    Be a killer with a god,
    so they call me a hero.
    I wanna be a martyr,
    I don't wanna to be a victim
    Be a killer with a god,
    so they call me a hero.
    god is an excuse
    god is an excuse
    god is an excuse
    god is an excuse
    god is an excuse
    god is an excuse
    god is an excuse
    
    so sing it with me:
    We're from America
    We're from America
    We're from America
    
    You can sing it with me
    We're from America
    We're from America
    We're from America
    You can sing it with me
    We're from America
    
    we don't like to kill our unborn
    we need them to  grow up
    and fight our wars.
    we don't like to kill our unborn
    we need them to grow up
    and fight our wars.
    We believe in everything we say,
    and we say it
    because we believe it
    We believe in everything we say,
    and we say it
    because we believe it
    
    We're from America
    We're from America
    We're from America
    
    You can sing it with me
    We're from America
    We're from America
    We're from America
    
    You can sing it with me
    We're from America
    You can sing it with me
    We're from America
    You can sing it with me
    
    We're from America, we're from America
    we turn literature into litter
    We're from America, we're from America
    we believe in 'being a quitter'
    I'm in recovery, I'm in recovery
    I'm in recovery
    from America
    from America
    from America
    
    so sing it with me:
    We're from America
    We're from America
    We're from America
    
    You can sing it with me
    We're from America
    We're from America
    We're from America
    
    You can sing it with me
    We're from America
    You can sing it with me
    We're from America
    You can sing it with me
    
    where we eat our young
    where we eat our young
    where we eat our young
    where we eat our young
    where we eat our young
    where we eat our young
    where we eat our young
    where we eat our young
    where we eat our young
    where we eat our young
    where we eat our young
    where we eat our young

Trivia[edit]

  • During his appearance on the pilot episode for Swedish talkshow Söndagsparty med Filip & Fredrik, Marilyn Manson jokingly exclaimed "I speak American," in reference to the song.
  • The song's opening line "We're from America, We're from America / Where we eat our young" may be a nod to American psychedelic funk band Funkadelic's 1972 album America Eats Its Young.
  • When performed live, Manson "wears" the American Flag, much like during "Irresponsible Hate Anthem".
  • The lyrical theme is similar to "Irresponsible Hate Anthem".
  • The intro of the song is very similar to "Lagartija Nick" by Bauhaus.
  • The song may share some audio similarities with "The Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch" by Brian Eno.

References[edit]

  1. Marilyn Manson 'High End Of Low' Album Track-By-Track. Metal Hammer. April 7, 2009.
  2. Album: Marilyn Manson - The High End Of Low. Hugh Platt. Thrash Hits. May 25, 2009
  3. Marilyn Manson's High End Of Low Reviewed Track-By-Track. John Robb. The Quietus. May 12, 2009
  4. The High End of Low. Phil Freeman. Allmusic. May 16, 2009.