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This Is Not America
"This Is Not America" is a song by the English singer David Bowie and American jazz fusion band the Pat Metheny Group, taken from the soundtrack to the 1985 film The Falcon and the Snowman. It was released as a single in February 1985, reaching number 14 in the United Kingdom and number 32 in the United States.
Having finished his 1984 album Tonight and being dissatisfied with it, Bowie began a series of soundtrack projects (Labyrinth, Absolute Beginners and When the Wind Blows, all in 1986) that started with this collaboration with the Pat Metheny Group. Recorded in late 1984, "This Is Not America" was released as a single in early 1985 and on the soundtrack to the movie.
Metheny had written an instrumental piece for the movie called "Chris" and wanted to turn it into a full-length song; "This Is Not America" was the result of their collaboration. Bowie watched an early screening of The Falcon and the Snowman and took notes on lines and themes that they might use; "This is not America" is a line said by one character to another, and both Bowie and Metheny agreed it was interesting.
Despite Metheny being known as a jazz musician, the song was described by Bowie biographer Chris O'Leary as "hardly a jazz piece", as Metheny plays a simple rhythm guitar throughout the song, with no solos or improvisations. Metheny later noted that Bowie's lyrics were "profound and meaningful—and absolutely perfect for the film."
Bowie does not appear in the corresponding music video for the single as it was made up entirely of clips from the movie.
Cashbox called "This Is Not America" a "brooding pop tune", saying that the song's "light Calypso beat punctuates Metheny's moody synthesizer backing, as Bowie's ever dramatic ballad style surges with characteristic verve." They concluded that the song was "a radio attention-getter" with "melodic hooks for CHR". Billboard magazine characterised the song as "an enigmatic mood piece with the singer in his West-End-musical mode." Reviewing the single for Music Week, Jerry Smith described it as a "dramatic track" that possessed "yet another fine vocal performance from Bowie with a moody cinematic style backing". He felt that the song was "not immediately memorable" after the first listen but was "unforgettable" after a few plays.
The song appeared on The Singles Collection (1993). The 1995 reissue of Bowie's 1984 album Tonight includes "This Is Not America" as a bonus track. "This Is Not America" appears as a B-side to Bowie's 1997 single "I Can't Read". It was also released on Best of Bowie (2002), appearing on all but the Australian and Japanese pressings of that album, The Platinum Collection (2005), The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987 (2007), Nothing Has Changed (2014; two-disc and three-disc editions), Bowie Legacy (2016; two-disc edition), and Loving the Alien (1983–1988) (2018; box set).
A remix by the Scumfrog was released on Club Bowie (2003), and the song was also performed in Bowie's musical Lazarus (2016). A cast recording from the musical, which also included a performance of the song, was released in October 2016.
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This Is Not America
"This Is Not America" is a song by the English singer David Bowie and American jazz fusion band the Pat Metheny Group, taken from the soundtrack to the 1985 film The Falcon and the Snowman. It was released as a single in February 1985, reaching number 14 in the United Kingdom and number 32 in the United States.
Having finished his 1984 album Tonight and being dissatisfied with it, Bowie began a series of soundtrack projects (Labyrinth, Absolute Beginners and When the Wind Blows, all in 1986) that started with this collaboration with the Pat Metheny Group. Recorded in late 1984, "This Is Not America" was released as a single in early 1985 and on the soundtrack to the movie.
Metheny had written an instrumental piece for the movie called "Chris" and wanted to turn it into a full-length song; "This Is Not America" was the result of their collaboration. Bowie watched an early screening of The Falcon and the Snowman and took notes on lines and themes that they might use; "This is not America" is a line said by one character to another, and both Bowie and Metheny agreed it was interesting.
Despite Metheny being known as a jazz musician, the song was described by Bowie biographer Chris O'Leary as "hardly a jazz piece", as Metheny plays a simple rhythm guitar throughout the song, with no solos or improvisations. Metheny later noted that Bowie's lyrics were "profound and meaningful—and absolutely perfect for the film."
Bowie does not appear in the corresponding music video for the single as it was made up entirely of clips from the movie.
Cashbox called "This Is Not America" a "brooding pop tune", saying that the song's "light Calypso beat punctuates Metheny's moody synthesizer backing, as Bowie's ever dramatic ballad style surges with characteristic verve." They concluded that the song was "a radio attention-getter" with "melodic hooks for CHR". Billboard magazine characterised the song as "an enigmatic mood piece with the singer in his West-End-musical mode." Reviewing the single for Music Week, Jerry Smith described it as a "dramatic track" that possessed "yet another fine vocal performance from Bowie with a moody cinematic style backing". He felt that the song was "not immediately memorable" after the first listen but was "unforgettable" after a few plays.
The song appeared on The Singles Collection (1993). The 1995 reissue of Bowie's 1984 album Tonight includes "This Is Not America" as a bonus track. "This Is Not America" appears as a B-side to Bowie's 1997 single "I Can't Read". It was also released on Best of Bowie (2002), appearing on all but the Australian and Japanese pressings of that album, The Platinum Collection (2005), The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987 (2007), Nothing Has Changed (2014; two-disc and three-disc editions), Bowie Legacy (2016; two-disc edition), and Loving the Alien (1983–1988) (2018; box set).
A remix by the Scumfrog was released on Club Bowie (2003), and the song was also performed in Bowie's musical Lazarus (2016). A cast recording from the musical, which also included a performance of the song, was released in October 2016.