I Like America & America Likes Me

## *Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships* chronology

**"I Like America & America Likes Me"** is a song by British indie rock band, The 1975. The track is the eighth song on their third studio album, *A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships*. The song is about Generation Z, gun violence in the United States, and thanatophobia.

## Background

The eighth-track on *A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships* is a political song about gun violence. Matty takes a clear stance against the usage of guns in America. He has expressed similar sentiments on Twitter in the past.

In "I Like America & America Likes Me" Healy’s voice is transformed into a smear of Auto-Tuned slogans, an adbot on the fritz. But listen closely and his bionic spasms start to sound like the meter readings of a society that’s moving too fast to process anything in a meaningful way. “Am I a liar?!/Will this help me lay down?!” Healy yelps, too harried to stop for answers, too wired to take a nap. It’s impossible to tell exactly where his actual voice ends and where the digitized effects take hold.

The title of the song "I Like America and America Likes Me" stems from artwork of conceptual artist Joseph Beuys from 1974. The work of Joseph Beuys was a performance during which he locked himself in a room with a wild coyote for 3 days. At first, the coyote was hostile, but slowly the two learned to live with one another.

## Lyrics

I'm scared of dying (Don't go)

Is that on fire?

Am I a liar? Ooh (I can't be quiet)

I'm scared of dying

No gun required, ooh

My skin is fire, it's so desired

Is that designer?

Is that on fire?

Am I a liar?

Oh, will this help me lay down?

My skin is fire, it's so desired

No gun required

Oh, will this help me lay down?

I'm scared of dying, it's fine

Oh, what's a fiver?

Being young in the city

Belief and saying something

Would you please listen?

Would you please listen?

We can see what's missing

When you bleed, say so we know

Being young in the city

Belief and saying something

Would you please listen?

Would you please listen?

We can see what's missing

When you bleed, say so we know

Council, being listed

Man I kinda miss it, hey

I'm a designer, unite pariahs

Am I a liar?

Oh, will this help me lay down?

Kids don't want rifles, they want Supreme

No gun required

Oh, will this help me lay down?

We're scared of dying, it's fine

What's a fiver?

Being young in the city

Belief and saying something

Would you please listen?

Would you please listen?

We can see what's missing

When you bleed, say so we know

Being young in the city

Belief and saying something

Gone off designer

It's all on fire

And we're all liars

So won't you help me lay down

My skin is fire, it's so desired

No gun required

Oh, won't you help me lay down?

I'm scared of dying

It's fine

Oh, what's a fiver?

Being young in the city

Belief and saying something

And saying something

And saying something

## Personnel

* **Composer:** Adam Hann, George Daniel, Matthew Healy, Ross MacDonald
* **Lyricist:** Adam Hann, George Daniel, Matthew Healy, Ross MacDonald
* **Associated performer:** George Daniel, Guendoline Rome Viray Gomez, Matthew Healy
* **Background vocalist:** Guendoline Rome Viray Gomez
* **Engineer:** Jonathan Gilmore
* **Keyboards:** George Daniel, Matthew Healy
* **Mastering engineer:** Robin Schmidt
* **Mixer:** Mike Crossey
* **Programmer:** George Daniel
* **Studio personnel:** Jonathan Gilmore, Mike Crossey, Robin Schmidt
* **Synthesizer:** George Daniel
* **Vocals:** Matthew Healy

## References

1. ↑ https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/the-1975-a-brief-inquiry-into-online-relationships/