America (song)
| America | |
|---|---|
| Razorlight | |
| publication | July 17, 2006 |
| length | 4:10 |
| Genre (s) | Indie rock |
| Author (s) | Johnny Borrell , Andy Burrows |
| Publisher (s) | Mercury Records |
| album | Razorlight |
America is a song by the English-Swedish indie rock band Razorlight . It was released on July 17, 2006 on the studio album Razorlight on Mercury Records . Besides Wire to Wire , it is the only single of the band that has reached very high chart positions worldwide.
Origin and content interpretation
background
According to Andy Burrows ', former drummer of the band, to the London Times , the band got the idea for the subject of the song in a hotel in the US state of Ohio , where they stayed for a few nights because of the big tour of the United States stayed. Borrell is said to have said to Burrows why there is no song with a drum background like in songs by Billy Joels by Razorlight. Then they started typing. The final version of the piece hardly shows any similarities with Billy Joel's music.
content
Although there is not a special literary meaning of the text in the foreground, but rather the special background music with guitar and atypical drumbeat in musical terms, the content can be interpreted in two different ways. On the one hand the global importance of America in terms of sadness and happiness, basically the feeling of every individual human experience and on the other hand the portrayal of America as a superpower today with its positive as well as its striking negative aspects.
- Refrain, original excerpt
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- Refrain, German translation
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In addition to seemingly unimportant aspects, for example the colorlessness of the media in and about America, more important facts are also mentioned. This includes, in particular, the continued will of the American government to manage, penetrate and influence everything, but also, in a certain sense, the domination of each individual. However, it is not a song entirely about politics, because love, personality and loneliness also play an important role.
reception
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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The song reached high chart positions internationally. In Germany it was at the highest position in 38th place, in Switzerland in 29th place and in Austria in 17th place. With America , the band Razorlight also had their first number one hit in Great Britain. Here they stayed in the charts for a full 27 weeks.
The song was allowed to enjoy mostly positive criticism. In addition to the particularly haunting voice of Borrell in the calm melodic atmosphere, the special ballad feeling that comes up when listening was praised. On the negative side and almost the only point of criticism, however, are the almost consistently bad and inappropriate rhymes at the end of the line.
Web links
- America at Allmusic (English)
- Music video on YouTube
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b On the Razor's Edge ( Memento from May 21, 2015 in the web archive archive.today ).
- ↑ a b Chart positions: DE ( Memento from April 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), AT , CH , UK .
- ↑ Andreas Bättig: You can kiss the record now! on laut.de, August 22, 2006, accessed on May 21, 2015.
- ↑ Kitty Empire: Review of Razorlight in The Guardian , July 16, 2006, accessed May 21, 2015.
- ↑ Nick Nick: Razorlight - America on drownedinsound.com, October 12, 2006, accessed May 21, 2005.