American Storm

"American Storm"
Single by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band
from the album Like a Rock
B-side	"Fortunate Son"
Released	March 1986
Recorded	1985-1986
Genre	Heartland rock, country rock
Length	4:17
Label	Capitol
Songwriter(s)	Bob Seger
Producer(s)	Punch Andrews, David N. Cole, Bob Seger
Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band singles chronology
"Understanding" (1984) "American Storm" (1986) "Like a Rock" (1986)

"American Storm" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Bob Seger. It was recorded with The Silver Bullet Band and released in March 1986 as the lead single from their album Like a Rock. The single peaked at number 13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and at number 2 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

Background and writing

In 1986, Seger told the New York Times that the song is about cocaine abuse. "I wrote it after reading 'Wired,' Bob Woodward's biography of John Belushi. That was two and a half years ago, when there was a lot of publicity about cocaine abuse in show business. At the time, I thought that it was just a trend that would quickly die out and that the song would be out of date when it came time to record. But the situation has gotten worse. Maybe cocaine isn't quite as fashionable on the East and West Coasts these days, but the plague has spread into the heartland -- into the Middle West and the South. The key line in 'American Storm' is 'You never feel the need.' You never feel anything when you're on drugs. You're numb. You're afraid to feel for one reason or another, and that's why you turn to drugs. I want to see people not do that."

"American Storm" is in the key of E major. Music critic Maury Dean explains that the song builds tension in the verses by playing rhythm guitar chords on the backbeat and by playing more softly in the 1st verse to enhance the power of the refrain. The chorus generally uses the chord pattern of E, C#m, A and B7, but during the fade-out he changes the pattern to a chromatic C, D, E which produces what Dean describes as an "incredible" effect.

Reception

Maury Dean praised the song effusively, calling it "one of the Top 38 Rock and Roll Songs of All Time." Dean praised Seger's "vocal power" as being comparable to the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Roy Orbison, Paul McCartney and Elvis Presley.

Music video

The music video featured Lesley Ann Warren, James Woods, Randy Quaid and Scott Glenn. It is designed to resemble soundtrack videos where scenes from the movie are intercut with the artist performing the featured song except in this instance, there was no originating movie. The video was directed by Brian DePalma, known for his features Carrie (1976 film), The Untouchables (film) and Mission: Impossible (film).

Chart performance

Chart (1986)	Peak position
Canadian RPM Top Singles	26
UK Singles Chart	78
US Billboard Hot 100	13
US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	2