Dennis DeYoung wrote this in 1975 as America was gearing up for its bicentennial celebration in 1976. The song is not a celebration of the event, but a look at how it was being exploited. He explained in Classic Rock Revisited: "The 200th anniversary of America was being totally taken over by commercialization in a rather unceremonious fashion. I had a moment of reflection. I had grown up in the so-called glory days of the United States of America, which was post World War II until 1970. To live in this country at that time was really the golden age. The fallibility of the United States was something that struck me and that set the tone for 'Suite Madam Blue.' Maybe I was fearful of being literal - I think I probably was."
This is the last song on Equinox, the fifth Styx album and their last with guitarist John Curulewski. Tommy Shaw joined the band on their next release, Crystal Ball. He soon joined Dennis DeYoung as a main songwriter and vocalist in the band.
Styx borrowed the structure from this song for their 1978 track "Queen Of Spades," from the album Pieces Of Eight.
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