Miss America (Styx song)
| "Miss America" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Styx from the album The Grand Illusion | |
| Released | 1977 |
| Recorded | 1977 at Paragon Recording Studios, Chicago |
| Genre | Progressive rock, hard rock |
| Length | 5:01 |
| Label | A&M |
| Writer | James Young |
| Producer | Styx |
"Miss America" is a song by Styx taken from their 1977 album The Grand Illusion. It was included on the A&M compilation Styx: Greatest Hits. The song was written by guitarist James Young, and is usually considered his most popular song.
Background
The song is a gritty look at the whole charade of the importance of Miss America and the shallowness of being the role model, illustrating how commercial the image is. The song explores how the Miss America winner must go through being labeled larger than life, only to be cast away and forgotten when it's all over.
The idea for the song came to Young in the middle of the night. Its sole riff was inspired by the Jethro Tull song "Minstrel in the Gallery". The song gained notoriety as an example of life imitating art during the 1983 scandal in which nude photographs of reigning Miss America Vanessa Williams were published in Penthouse magazine.
Personnel
- Dennis DeYoung – Keyboards, synthesizers, vocals
- Chuck Panozzo – Bass, vocals
- John Panozzo – Drums, vocals
- Tommy Shaw – Guitars, vocals
- James Young – Guitar, lead vocals