This Is Not America
| This Is Not America | |
|---|---|
| David Bowie and the Pat Metheny Group | |
| publication | January 28, 1985 |
| length | 3:51 |
| Genre (s) | Soft rock , synth pop |
| Author (s) | David Bowie, Pat Metheny , Lyle Mays |
| album | The Falcon and the Snowman |
This Is Not America is a song of the British singer David Bowie and the American jazz - fusion band Pat Metheny Group , which from the soundtrack of the film The Falcon and the Snowman (German The Falcon and the Snowman comes) of the 1985th The single was released in January 1985. It peaked at number 14 in the United Kingdom and number 32 in the United States. In Europe the song was even more successful and could reach top ten positions in some countries.
Emergence
The instrumental title , on the This Is Not America is based, was developed by Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays wrote. In its original version the song was called Chris ; this title is also included on the film's soundtrack. However, a drum track was added using a Linn drum computer and David Bowie's vocals were added. The recordings took place in May 1984. Bowie and Metheny were the producers.
Although Metheny said in 1986 that he retrospectively found working on movie soundtracks "time consuming and ultimately unsatisfactory," it offered him the opportunity to work with David Bowie. "It was the first time the group really made a commitment to making a real pop record instead of just pointing out pop elements," said Metheny. It turned out that his band was a "hot little pop group"; he could imagine making a less improvisational, unambiguous pop record at some point.
Publication and reception
The single was released on EMI America on January 28, 1985 , matching the film's release on January 25 of that year. The B-side contains an instrumental version. The 12 ″ Maxi was released on February 1, 1985. The song has appeared on numerous compilations since 1985 , later including on Bowie's 2002 best-of album, Best of Bowie , on all but the Australian and Japanese pressings of this album.
The single reached number five in Germany and Austria and number six in Switzerland . The song made it to number two in the Netherlands , Belgium and Sweden and number three in Norway .
Metheny later called Bowie's text "profound and meaningful - and absolutely perfect for the film."
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1985 | This Is Not America |
DE5 (20 weeks) DE |
AT5 (14 weeks) AT |
CH6 (12 weeks) CH |
UK14 (7 weeks) UK |
US32 (12 weeks) US |
David Bowie and The Pat Metheny Group
|
Cover versions
Cover versions exist among others of:
- Xavier Naidoo
- Claudia Bridges & Paul Rutherford
- Juliette Lewis
- Laith Al-Deen
- Sophia Anne Caruso and Original New York Cast of Lazarus
- Charlie Haden and the Liberation Music Orchestra
- Guano apes
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g David Bowie / Pat Metheny Group - This Is Not America - hitparade.ch. In: hitparade.ch. Retrieved May 10, 2019 .
- ^ Pat Metheny Group - Chris - hitparade.ch. In: hitparade.ch. Retrieved May 10, 2019 .
- ↑ Peter Keepnews: X Marks Spot for Metheny's Move to Majors , Billboard, June 7, 1986, pp. 22-24
- ^ Pat Metheny: Pat Metheny Song Book . Hal Leonard Publishing, 2000. ISBN 0634007963 .
- ↑ Chart sources: Singles (Pat Metheny Group) / Albums (Pat Metheny Group) / Albums (Pat Metheny) / Billboard 200 (Pat Metheny Group) / Billboard 200 (Pat Metheny)
- ↑ US albums: Joel Whitburn : Joel Whitburn presents the Billboard Albums . 6th edition. Billboard Books, New York 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
- ↑ Awards: DE US