Like a lot of other songs in this very long series thing, it took a while for me to get into this track. When I first listened through Modern Life Is Rubbish, years ago now, I think I was 18, ‘Miss America’ stood out as the really slow and much longer track in an album where the pace was quite rapid and frantic. I thought it was boring. But a few years later, you can guess where this is going, I listened to the album yet again, and it all made sense. Coming after the heavy, two minute, shoegaze-ish ending of ‘Oily Water’, ‘Miss America’ brings a needed calmness to the proceedings.

A horrible touring experience in the US where the band were broke and the members basically starting hating each other spurred the whole music-for-the-British-people thing that Damon Albarn was all for during the 90s, and I think that ‘Miss America’ is pretty much about missing the UK while he was having the worst time across the pond. He sings about how he doesn’t understand ‘Miss America’ and loves only ‘you’, ‘you’ in this case being the United Kingdom. There are some other lyrics about jellybeans and ‘Jemima ho hos’ that don’t make much sense, but I think those are just in there to fit the music. Could also be a part of the huuuge Syd Barrett influence on this track too.

What I think really drew me in though, is the whole dreamlike atmosphere of the song. These reverb-drenched acoustic guitars take up the frame with these twinkling wind chimes (I think) throughout. There’s a proper haze about it. I’ve been in bed while listening to this and never wanted to get up, I feel so comfortable when this comes on. The track’s very loose, and I think it’s a live take too. There’s a short moment at the beginning where a drunk Graham Coxon yells out ‘Michael’, and Alex James and Albarn share a laugh about it before beginning the track. The only thing that I would point out about it is that Albarn’s vocal is very upfront in the mix… Kinda wish the instruments were louder so the vocals were more subtle. But, hey, the producers know what they’re doing.