All American Alien Boy had interesting origins and although Ronson was not fated to be on Hunter's LP he had a hand in the song. Bobby Colomby invited Mick and Ian to meet Jaco Pastorius, bass player extraordinaire and the quartet's jam was captured on It Never Happened with a Super 8 cine film of their initial effort.
The seven-minute tour de force was a lyrical discourse perfectly integrating jazz-laden brass, an inspired bass interlude from Jaco, blues, and a bit of funk with Weems' guitar and Sanborn's gutsy sax. Artfully sprinkled with both British and American allusions the collage creatively addressed the trans-Atlantic cultural voyage of Hunter.
This is one of Ian's most well known tracks, available in numerous versions, and is the title track to the LP of the same name. In its first release it was an album track although another version is a single release and the two are distinguished by length: ranging from 3:52-7:07. The musicians, most notably for this song Jaco Pastorius on bass, did it Hunter's way on the album, but for the single it was performed the musicians way.
The single version is found on compilations Gold, Once Bitten - the CBS Collection, Once Bitten Twice Shy and The Singles Collection 1975-83, and on Tilting The Mirror - Rarities (box set only). Moreover, there is a separate "early single version" (distinguished by the line "I remember all the good times me 'n The Hoople enjoyed" rather than "...me 'n Miller enjoyed"). Finally, there is a live version as recorded at the Nidaros Blues Festival, Trondheim, Norway and released on Bag Of Tricks (Vol 3) (box set only).
Hunter has lamented that the album did not do well commercially which is true and realistically it did harm his commercial career; however, the lyrics and music anticipates some of his later themes as he expanded upon in his more recent works. One of Ian's common themes is as an outsider which is explored in this song as a Britisher living in and trying to understand his newly adopted American culture at the time. It features numerous political issues and pop culture references.
The lyrics of the song describe an outsider's view of America in the 1970s. Ian found America "tacky" as his first impression as compared to Britain. He makes a reference to John Lennon since the ex-Beatle had beat a retreat to America as well. Ian takes on the commercialism of television and references to prices of hamburgers, televisions, hotdogs and pizzas. A political point Hunter makes occasionally is to guns as he does so here with a point about Saturday Night Specials. The phrase is a colloquial term in the United States for inexpensive, compact, and small-caliber handguns. Mary Tyler Moore was one of important television stars then starring in The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–1977), which helped define a new vision of American womanhood and he closed out the song by reciting a rap-like list of Native American chiefs which he relates took a long time.
One of the most striking political lines is in the song: "Don't want to vote for the left wing - don't want to vote for the right I gotta have both-to make me fly."
Nonetheless, references to guns pop up in Hunter's live recasting of Now Is the Time and Ian's appreciation of Native American history is revisited in Ta Shunka Witco (Crazy Horse).
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All American Alien Boy
I packed my bags - in the land of rags
'Cause I don't believe in them dimmo drags
Don't want to vote for the left wing - don't want to vote for the right
I gotta have both-to make me fly
Just a whitey from Blighty - heading out west
Got my little green card an' my bulletproof vest
Goin' to old tube city - where the buzz is the best
On down the line (down the line) down the line (down the line)
Well I was born (on the line) an' I was raised (on the line)
I was schooled (on the line) an' I was fazed (on the line)
An' I was used (on the line) an' I was dazed (on the line)
Just had to split (off the line) 'cause I was crazed (off the line)
An' I remember all the good times - me 'n Miller enjoyed
Up and down the M1 in some luminous yo-yo toy
But the future has to change - and to change I've got to destroy
Oh look out Lennon here I come - land ahoy-hoy-hoy
All American Alien Boy All American Alien Boy
Don't look down put your feet on the ground don't drown in the big aquarium
Don't walk slow - put on a big show - shove your meat down vegetarians
Don't get slugged, get mugged, get bugged, or they'll sling you in the jug
Shove you under some rug, give you some drug - pull out the plug and then...
And they're telling me this hamburger's cheaper than the other
An' this television's cheaper than the other
And they're selling me hotdogs cheaper than the other
An' these pizzas cheaper than the other
And I don't understand all this - I'm just an All American Alien Boy
An' they're telling me rifles are shot in Connecticut
They're telling me pistols are shot in Westchester
You can get a Saturday Night Special on Flatbush, on the Bowery, or the Bronx
Or on 42nd Street - And I don't understand all this - being an All American Alien Boy
I've got sodium nitrate rotting in my guts
My head's full of ulcers I got lungs full of butts
My heart wants a transplant - it thinks that I'm nuts
My logic won't open - my eyes won't shut
An' I'm beginning to dig all this - being an All American Alien Boy
And your women are always right (alright)
They always know so much more
'Cause the women came from heaven
An' the men came outta some store
An' they don't know who they are and they don't know what they're for
I'm an All American Alien Boy - look out Mary Tyler Moore
All American Alien Boy
Ten Bears, Two Bears, Standing Bear, Plenty Bear,
Old Bear, Brave Bear, Hollow Horn Bear
Silver Knife, Spotted Tail, Yellow Hand, Red Cloud,
Red Fox, Red Horse, Black Kettle,
White Ghost, White Bull, White Thunder, White Hog,
hold on a minute gotta frog in my throat
Cochise, Alchise, Roman Nose, Geronimo - hold on a minute - more to go
Sitting Bull, Tall Bull, Crazy Horse and Short Bull,
Low Dog, Red Dog, Yellow Wolf, Low Wolf
Loco, Victorio, Chato, Little Crow, Dead Eyes, Jak, Taza an' Colorow
My mouth's exploding that's enough of this noise
I guess we're all - All American Alien Boys.| All American Alien Boy | 7:07 | Originally a single and album track. The single and album versions are different; the album track was originally issued on All American Alien Boy and on the compilation Shades of Ian Hunter: The Ballad of Ian Hunter and Mott the Hoople. |
| All American Alien Boy (single version) | 3:52 | The single version can be found on the compilations Gold, Once Bitten - the CBS Collection, Once Bitten Twice Shy and The Singles Collection 1975-83, and on Tilting The Mirror - Rarities (box set only). |
| All American Alien Boy (early version) | 4:04 | An "early single version" (distinguished by the line "I remember all the good times me 'n The Hoople enjoyed" rather than "...me 'n Miller enjoyed") is on the 2006 and 2016 CD reissues of All American Alien Boy. |
| All American Alien Boy (live 29th April 2005) | 5:40 | This live version (recorded at the Nidaros Blues Festival, Trondheim Norway) was released on Bag Of Tricks (Vol 3) (box set only). |
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