30 | August | 2026 | Bob Schwartz

O Canada: American Woman by The Guess Who

Don’t come a-knockin’ around my door
Don’t wanna see your shadow no more
Coloured lights can hypnotize
Sparkle someone else’s eyes

Many people like or love Canada. One of the reasons is that without the roster of Canadian artists, modern pop music would be much, much poorer:

Neil Young
Joni Mitchell
The Band
Leonard Cohen
k.d. Lang
Rush
The Weeknd
Celine Dion
Justin Bieber
Drake
Arcade Fire
Shania Twain
Etc.

Nobody likes a bully, except for those who benefit from the bullying. History and the current world are filled with bullies. Russia bullies Ukraine. Israel bullies Palestine.

The U.S., in addition to its finest moments, has also been a bully. Currently, the strangest and most perplexing bullying involves our longtime friend, neighbor and provider of great musicians Canada.

Canadian artists frequently include their love of Canada in their songs. The songs may also include issues with the United States, even (especially?) for those artists who have adopted it as home.

No Canadian song about the U.S. is more fitting than American Woman (1970) by Winnipeg natives The Guess Who. The United States was not a favorite nation in much of the world in 1970, especially among young people rejecting America’s deadly and tragic Vietnam War.

American Woman still sounds just about right.

American woman gonna mess your mind
American woman, she gonna mess your mind

American woman
Stay away from me
American woman
Mama, let me be
Don’t come a-hangin’ around my door
I don’t wanna see your face no more
I got more important things to do
Than spend my time growin’ old with you
American woman
Get away from me
American woman
Mama, let me be
Don’t come a-knockin’ around my door
Don’t wanna see your shadow no more
Coloured lights can hypnotize
Sparkle someone else’s eyes

American woman
Said get away
American woman
Listen what I say
Don’t come a-hangin’ around my door
Don’t wanna see your face no more
I don’t need your war machines
I don’t need your ghetto scenes
Coloured lights can hypnotize
Sparkle someone else’s eyes

You’re no good for me, I’m no good for you
Gonna look you right in the eye, tell you what I’m gonna do
You know I’m gonna leave
You know I’m gonna go, you know I’m gonna leave
You know I’m gonna go, woman
I’m gonna leave, woman
Goodbye, American woman

Cover the earth with leather? Easier to wear shoes.

Chapter 5 – Guarding Awareness
13.
How could there be sufficient leather
To cover the earth entirely?
With just the leather for my soles,
It is as if the whole earth’s covered.
–Shantideva (7th-8th century CE), The Way of the Bodhisattva, translated by Khenpo David Karma Choephel

Making things better. Making other people better. Making the world better.

All for the good.

As Shantideva says in his classic work of Buddhist wisdom, one way to smooth our walking would be to cover the entire earth in leather. Of course that would be impossible.

Instead, we could just choose to wear shoes. Simple.

While we want things, other people and the world to be better, we should start with ourselves. Get those shoes, make those shoes, wear those shoes. Easier than covering the earth.

Bob Schwartz

August 30, 2026

O Canada: American Woman by The Guess Who

August 30, 2026

Cover the earth with leather? Easier to wear shoes.