We cannot wait for Margaret Cho’s album American Myth to be released on April 29th. It’s her first album in six years, and we’re so glad to be able to share the work behind her creative process. Margaret was on the cover of our spring 2000 issue and is a longtime BUST favorite. She’s already released music videos for several songs on the album, like “Fat Pussy,” which celebrates body positivity. She’s been able to seamlessly tackle controversial topics with a sense of composure and tasteful humor with songs like “(I Want To) Kill My Rapist” and “Ron’s Got a DUI.”
“I am extremely proud to release American Myth. This is an album of anthems and showcases my first efforts as a composer,” Margaret said. “I made it with my longtime collaborator Garrison Starr and an incredible and inspiring crew of artists. It is my glamorous and glittering tribute to family, comedy, anger, fame, gayness, grief, fat pride, love and hate.“
We’re beyond thrilled to exclusively premiere the track list and commentary for American Myth:
The following songs were written in Atlanta, Los Angeles and on the road, and recorded in Koreatown with Garrison Starr.
Come with Me
I wrote this song to honor my own past as a sex worker and to bring love and caring to a profession that is often misunderstood and vilified. It’s what Mary Magdelene would have said to Jesus and vice versa.
Ron’s Got a DUI
My favorite love song to all the gay men I have loved and now miss, for a generation of beautiful people we have lost to AIDS — it’s a tribute and an anthem to love and loss.
Moran and Miiri
I also wrote this song on my own, which is about Korean names and 60s immigration. I did some shows with Wilco drummer Glenn Kotche and his wife’s name is Miiri which is close to my Korean name Moran. This track was also produced in LA by Garrison Starr.
Daddy I Miss You
A song for fathers, mine and everyone’s.
Georgia Sky
My only true hate song, as complex and thunderous and overwhelming as love can be, so is hate.
Fat Pussy
My fat pride anthem, which is a glorious and joyous celebration of my body and all female fatness- a love song to my fat.
Beautiful in L.A.
I have always wanted to cover this song, by the amazing Garrison Starr, and she helped me to reinvent it with her stellar production. It’s got a real dark swing, bringing in the film noir history of LA into the light.
Anna Nicole
This is a wonderful collaboration with Garrison Starr and it’s a requiem for Anna Nicole Smith that is as beautiful and quirky as she was. It’s my version of Candle in the wind, and about the archetype of someone who is too good for this world that exists in all of us.
Gentleman Jim
I wrote this one on my own when I was in Atlanta and recorded with Garrison Starr in Los Angeles. Garrison produced the track. I wanted an old fashioned country track with lap steel and a rise then a descent in the melody. It’s kind of a longer 70s country fantasy song, something you could sing on Hee Haw.
Topaz
This is by Edward Herda with my lyrics. I met a young sessions saxophone player in Austin named Topaz. He lived in a gold trailer and he was just perfectly a song in human form. Production again by Garrison Starr in Los Angeles.
Bonus Tracks:
Kill My Rapist
I wanted to have a song that expressed cathartic rage, with the purpose of murdering the memory of sexual abuse so it stops hurting the one who remembers. It’s an anthem to healing and the power of anger.
We So Worry
I wrote this song with the wonderful artist Bitch for my parents, and they sing on it! They were extremely nervous, but they are also musicians and complete showbiz professionals so of course they did a great job. This was written and recorded in LA at Ben Lee’s studio.
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