10 Famous Songs Whose Meaning The Fans (And The Pundits) Got Wrong

There are times when one can understand why a song is misunderstood, especially if you heard the lyrics wrong. But when it comes to American Woman, it’s difficult to imagine how the meaning could be missed.

The song is often interpreted as a tribute to American women. But this ignores an inconvenient lyric that appears in the very same line taken as tribute: “American Woman, get away from me." The rest of the lyrics are scarcely less complimentary (“Don’t come a hangin’ round my door. I don’t want to see your face no more.”). Coming from Lenny Kravitz, an American, this could be taken as a backhanded compliment, but not from The Guess Who, who are Canadian.

But apart from a preference for Canadian women, some lyrics also point to strong anti-Vietnam War sentiment, as seen in the line, “I don’t want your war machines. I don’t want your ghetto scenes.” Band member Randy Bachman confirmed this: “This was the late '60s, they tried to draft us, send us to Vietnam. We were back in Canada, playing in the safety of Canada where the dance is full of draft dodgers who've all left the States."