American Girls

Album: Hard Candy (2002)
Charted: 33
Play Video
  • She comes out on Fridays every time
    And stands out in a line
    I could've been anyone she'd seen

    She waits another week to fall apart,
    She couldnt make another day
    I wish it was anyone but me
    I could've been anyone you see
    She had something breakable just under her skin

    American girls all weather and noise
    Playing the changes for all of the boys
    Holding a candle up to my hand
    Making it feel so incredible

    She comes out of closets every night
    But then she locks herself away
    Where she could keep everything from me
    I could've been anyone you see
    She's nothing but porcelain underneath her skin

    American girls are weather and noise
    Playing the changes for all of the boys
    Holding a candle right up to my hand
    Making me feel so incredible

    Little shiver shaking me everyday
    But I could get this same thing anywhere
    So if she goes away, well, it's alright and I'm ok
    She said come back again tonight
    and I said I might I might I might
    She said well that's alright
    If it's alright, it's alright with you
    And it's alright if it's alright with me

    I waited for an hour last Friday night, she never came around
    She took almost everything from me
    I'm goin' through my closets, tryin' on her clothes almost everyday

    I could've been anyone you see
    I wish it was anyone but me
    There's nothin but pills and ashes under my skin

    American girls are weather and noise
    Playing the changes for all of the boys
    Holding a candle right up to my hand
    Making me feel so incredible

    If I made you cry, please tell me why
    I'll try again if you let me try
    American girls are feathers and cream
    Come into bed so edible

    American girls, oh American girls
    American girls, oh oh oh oh
    American girls, oh American girls
    American girls, oh oh oh oh

    You made me cry
    You made me cry
    You made me cry
    You made me cry
    Yeah, you made me cry
    You made me cry
    Hey miss American girl
    Oh, oh oh oh oh
    Oh oh oh oh yeah
    Writer/s: ADAM FREDRIC DURITZ, BEN G MIZE, CHARLES THOMAS GILLINGHAM, DANIEL JOHN VICKREY, DAVID A IMMERGLUCK, DAVID LYNN BRYSON, MATTHEW MARK MALLEY
    Publisher: IMAGEM U.S. LLC , Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 8

  • Mark from Elko, NvEver since I was a kid, I thought this song was about a dude that was a woman trapped in a man's body and he/she was having a difficult time coping. "I wish it was anyone but me. She could've been anyone you see.". But, the explanations above make sense too.
  • Gabe from Antioch, CaShe's coming out of the closets she's doing drugs in. She locks herself away from him physically and emotionally, immune to his constant pleads for her to get help.
    The "little silver" he's talking about is heroin, instead of him changing her she changed him. She says come back tonight referring to come back tonight for more drugs. She never came last friday because she ran off with some other guy. She took his heart when he talks about almost everything, and she robbed his apartment. He's going through his closets meaning he's doing all the drugs she used to do. He wishes it was someone else becuz his heart is broken and he's on drugs.
    The last line in the chorus, when he refers to the incredible feeling he means the feeling of the drugs. The rest of the song sounds kinda gay, but he did get a dark message in there. Stay away from broken hearted girls, and drugs.
  • Gabe from Antioch, CaShe comes out on Fridays every time to get her drugs. He was a random guy she saw on the streets that night, it could've been any guy. She's going to seduce him into taking her out and giving her money. She was clean for a week, but then started doing drugs again. The constant reference to "she had something breakable under her skin" is meant to allude to the needle she's using and her heart. American girls are all weather and noise because he's talking about the exhilarating emotions he goes through while being with the girl (happy, miserable, etc). The incredible feeling he's talking about is the love he feels for the girl.
  • Liah from Kansas City, Moi agree with rain king. but i dont think the part about putting her clothes on is really what he is trying to put across. he is saying he has the same baggage as her, he bares the same clothes as her metaphorically.
  • Kara from Montreal, QcAccording to Adam Duritz, this song is really quite simple..."Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, girl leaves, boy wears the girls clothes."
  • Charlie from Durham, EnglandAh comment below is SO right, I realised that all my favourite songs are superficially happy sounding, even poppy at times (tho a lot more folky) but all have deeper, sad meanings... I love the contrast!

    And though I am a dedicated fan of Crows, I can even agree with Jackh's comment - Duritz' voice can get a little whiney, my ex used to always groan when I put them on, tehe
  • Rainking from Chicago, IlLike other CC songs, American Girls has a poppy sort of sound to it, but is very dark and depressing. It's about thinking you're in love, then realizing love has nothing to do with it. The girl didn't stay with him the one night because she liked him, it was because of her vulnerabilities and her frame of mind, etc. He could have been anyone that night. She just needed someone. Ironically, he's sort of in the same position as her. He's lonely. He needs somebody else too, but the difference is she meant something to him, but not vice-versa. You know you're pretty lonely and twisted when you're trying on some girl's clothes weeks after a one-night-stand, but there's something very honest and realistic about it. He's basically not a bad guy and his sensitivities are being trampled all over by this screwed-up, self-confident, but confused, American girl.
  • Jackh from Spokane, WaI just dont like Counting Crows they bug me
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")

Director Mark Pellington ("Jeremy," "Best Of You")Song Writing

Director Mark Pellington on Pearl Jam's "Jeremy," and music videos he made for U2, Jon Bon Jovi and Imagine Dragons.

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

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Greg talks about writing songs of "universal truth" for King Crimson and ELP, and tells us about his most memorable stage moment (it involves fireworks).

Paul Williams

Paul WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine Band

Harry Wayne Casey of KC and The Sunshine BandSongwriter Interviews

Harry Wayne Casey tells the stories behind KC and The Sunshine Band hits like "Get Down Tonight," "That's The Way (I Like It)," and "Give It Up."

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And Hell

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Heaven And HellSongwriter Interviews

Guitarist Tony Iommi on the "Iron Man" riff, the definitive Black Sabbath song, and how Ozzy and Dio compared as songwriters.