Commercially, "American Life" reached number one in Canada, Denmark, Italy, and Switzerland, and the top ten in Australia, where the song was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).

The first featured Madonna at a military-themed fashion show, depicting explosions and ending with her throwing a hand grenade at George W. Bush as he uses it to light a cigar.

She stated "I look back at the 20 years behind me and I realized that a lot of things that I'd valued weren't important", in response to the non-materialistic themes of the record.

[6] "American Life" went on sale two days later, through digital services Liquid Audio, RioPort, and also through Madonna's website in MP3 format.

– the lyrics develop into what Rikky Rooksby of The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna states is a complaint about modern-day life.

Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine labeled it a "trite, self-aggrandizing and often awkward song about privilege" and a "dour and robotic" track.

[14] Stylus Magazine gave a negative review and said that when one of the world's richest women complains about commercialism and the emptiness of entertainment culture, it seems hypocritical rather than insightful.

He also panned the lyric "I like to express my extreme point of view", saying that it is difficult to hear that line without feeling a prickle of excitement.

[17] In August 2018, Paul Schrodt from Slant placed it at number 67 on his ranking of the singer's singles: If you can forget that "American Life" contains possibly the worst white-girl rap of all time, it's actually an admirably gutsy lead single for an album that would effectively end Madonna's reign on the U.S. pop charts.

She and producer Mirwais fuse a dreamy acoustic chorus with harsh skittering drums and laser-like synth sounds, and the disorienting shift reflects Madonna's state of mind in the lyrics, questioning the demands of the Dream Factory and moving toward something resembling personal satisfaction.

[18] Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker deemed it "a list celeb perks: trainer, butler, assistant, three nannies, a bodyguard or five.

It seems, at first, not like the clever self-twitting she clearly intended, but rather a facile confirmation of her haters' conviction: that the middle-aged Madonna does not have a worldview beyond her next Pilates appointment".

[21] While ranking Madonna's singles in honor of her 60th birthday, Jude Rogers from The Guardian placed the track at number 60, calling it "a genuinely interesting concept-pop comeback".

[10] In August 2018, Billboard picked it as the singer's 63rd greatest single, calling it "easily one of the most fascinating detours in the pop-diva's history, and when taken as kitsch, the rap is strangely magnetic".

[28] On the UK Singles Chart, "American Life" debuted at its peak of number two on the week of April 26, 2003,[29] with first-week sales of 30,000 copies and being blocked to the top position by Room 5's "Make Luv".

[31] The song achieved moderate chart positions in both the Flemish and Wallonian territories in Belgium, peaking at numbers 12 and 10, respectively.

[13] With "American Life", she took her music videos to a different level by focusing on war, politics and, according to media interpretation, the then-upcoming invasion of Iraq.

[39] The video begins with several male and female models dressed up as soldiers on a fashion runway, wearing military garb and gas masks with one male model sports a shirt that reads "Fashion Victim" while it is inter-cut with scenes of Madonna singing in front of a black background.

[42] During the bridge, Madonna and her group prepare to enter the runway in a restroom, while she carves "Protect Me" on the partition of a stall and dances angrily with them to the song.

[42] Madonna defended the video: I feel lucky to be an American citizen for many reasons – one of which is the right to express myself freely, especially in my work.

I have written a song and created a video which expresses my feelings about our culture and values and the illusions of what many people believe is the American dream – the perfect life.

Due to the volatile state of the world and out of sensitivity and respect to the armed forces, who I support and pray for, I do not want to risk offending anyone who might misinterpret the meaning of this video.

"[39][43] The singer later revealed that she and her team cancelled the video's premiere after the country's reaction to the Dixie Chicks' anti-Bush statements, fearing that she would be seen as unpatriotic; she also cited her children's lives and her husband's film career as other reasons.

[2] This version features Madonna singing in front of a backdrop of ever-changing flags of different countries and territories (including Greenland, Puerto Rico and Palestine).

It opened the Military-Army segment and started with the sound of a helicopter in the background as Madonna's backup dancers, dressed as soldiers, crawled on their bellies as though in the middle of battle, then hugged each other as if saying goodbye.

Madonna appeared onstage, on top of a structure made up of TV sets, wearing camouflage pants, an olive army jacket and black beret.

[52] During the performance, Madonna ran down a lengthy V-shaped catwalk that descended from the ceiling and allowed her to reach the middle of the stadium.

[54] On October 15, 2008, Madonna performed a snippet of "American Life" as the request song during the Boston stop of her Sticky & Sweet Tour.

[56] The Tears of a Clown show was over an hour long, and featured Madonna giving her opinions on the 2016 United States presidential election and attacking President-elect Donald Trump.

[59] A similar performance of the song was done on the singer's Madame X Tour, that same year; Madonna played the guitar while uniforms fell down from above the stage and dancers dressed as soldiers dragged a coffin covered with a flag.