Lyrics:
I'm going to a town that has already been burnt down
I'm going to a place that has already been disgraced
I'm gonna see some folks who have already been let down
I'm so tired of America
I'm gonna make it up for all of The Sunday Times
I'm gonna make it up for all of the nursery rhymes
They never really seem to want to tell the truth
I'm so tired of you, America
Making my own way home, ain't gonna be alone
I've got a life to lead, America
I've got a life to lead
Tell me, do you really think you go to hell for having loved?
Tell me, enough of thinking everything that you've done is good
I really need to know, after soaking the body of Jesus Christ in blood
I'm so tired of America
I really need to know
I may just never see you again, or might as well
You took advantage of a world that loved you well
I'm going to a town that has already been burnt down
I'm so tired of you, America
Making my own way home, ain't gonna be alone
I've got a life to lead, America
I've got a life to lead
I got a soul to feed
I got a dream to heed
And that's all I need
Making my own way home, ain't gonna be alone
I'm going to a town
That has already been burnt down.
At the time the song was penned G.W. Bush was still president, wars raged in Iraq and Afghanistan, housing bubble, done with bubbling under, was ready to burst - loudly. "I'm so tired of America....." Wainwright wrote, and sang.
The song tells that the singer was going to Berlin, maybe for good - to a city "already burnt down" (in World War 2, its people let down and disgraced by their then leader).
In interview Wainwright had said, “We all love America.....but we have to admit that there’s just been too many mistakes made in the recent past over too many issues, and we’ve just got to deal with that fact.”
Seven years on, the song comes up as fresh as if it were written yesterday, in spite of the fact that Bush Jnr has been out of the White House for years.
I have a mild criticism, and it's of the spirit of this song. The singer is about to leave his native land because he dislikes what it has become - yet it is a country where a section of its population had been appreciative and generous enough to make a star of the singer-songwriter. This scenario doesn't seem particularly admirable. Staying, rather than leaving, leading or joining a struggle to help make the country more comparable to what it had once been (if indeed it had) would have presented useful and positive thoughts to fans.
Rufus Wainwright's version (sorry about the ad at the beginning!)
George Michael's version (sorry about the ad - again).
