Young Americans (song)

"Young Americans" was a major musical departure for David Bowie. Following years of glam rock and hard rock releases,[1] the song represented a full embracement of the R&B and Philadelphia soul sound of the mid-1970s.[2][3][4] Bowie himself referred to the sound as "plastic soul".[1][5][6][7] Discussing the stylistic departure in his book Starman: The Definitive Biography, author Paul Trynka describes the song as a "statement of intent", wherein Bowie was "repositioning the brand".[8]

"Young Americans" compositionally stands out from Bowie's prior recordings.[5] With an improvisational song structure containing three verses and refrains, a saxophone solo, a bridge, a breakdown and two additional extended verses and refrains,[9] author James E. Perone says the use of four-measure phrases flow together through the usage of dominant chords "in a completely natural way".[5] The song is primarily in the key of C major; the verses end on G major, extending into the refrains with F major before reverting back to C on the title phrases. The bridge deviates into A minor before the guitar closes it with A major, while the fourth verse is in D major.[9]

According to biographer Nicholas Pegg, "Young Americans" presents a rapid lyric "sketching an Englishman's impressionist portrait of 20th century America".[11] Production team the Matrix noted "America" as "a bit like a teenager: brimming with energy and imagination, occasionally overstepping the mark, but always with a great sense of possibility".[12] The title itself does not appear in the song, only "the young American", who runs through various myths to the point that by the end, he does not know which ones to believe or follow. Author Peter Doggett interprets the song, in one way, as "the portrait of a fantasy: the global dream of how it would feel to have life laid out before you in the land of plenty".[13] The opening verse describes a frigid sexual encounter, which "took him minutes, took her nowhere".[lower-alpha 1][11] Perone says the story informs listeners that issues related to sex and "emotional impotence" exist both outside and in mainstream society, while additional verses reveal the discriminations between race and social classes that exist in American society.[5]

Unlike the fractured imagery of Bowie's previous album Diamond Dogs (1974), "Young Americans" is observational and lyrically influenced by the works of Bruce Springsteen;[lower-alpha 2][8][14] biographer Chris O'Leary compares the song's clutter of characters to Springsteen's The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle (1973).[9] Throughout the song, allusions are made to the Watergate scandal – US President Richard Nixon having resigned only three days prior to its recording[8] – the McCarthy witch hunts ("now you have been the un-American") and civil rights struggles ("sit on your hands on a bus of survivors").[11] Additional references are made to charms of American society, including "Afro-sheen" – a hair-care product regularly advertised on Soul Train[8] – "Ford Mustang", "Barbie doll", "Cadi" and "Chrysler", and lyrics that provoke images of violence and anguish ("would you carry a razor in case, just in case of depression?" and "ain't there a woman I can sock on the jaw?")[11] Pegg argues the lyrics "cut as deep as 'I'm Afraid of Americans' twenty years later".[11]

The song also makes several British allusions. The opening line, "they pulled in just behind the fridge", was a reference to the comedic English duo Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's stage revue Behind the Fridge,[lower-alpha 3] which Bowie had attended in London in 1973.[11] The revue painted American life as a British comedy rather than, in O'Leary's words, "a standard-issue American make-out session in a car parked off the highway".[9] "Young Americans" also contains a vocal quotation of the Beatles' "A Day in the Life" (1967): "I heard the news today, oh boy",[lower-alpha 4] which anticipated Bowie's imminent collaboration with former band member John Lennon.[lower-alpha 5][11] Drawing further Lennon comparisons, Perone relates the song's production on saxophone to Phil Spector's work on Lennon's initial post-Beatle recordings.[5]

Recording for "Young Americans" began at Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during the first day of the Young Americans album sessions, on 11 or 13 August 1974.[15] Additional recording took place later on in November.[9][13] With Tony Visconti producing and Carl Paruolo engineering, the lineup consisted of Bowie, Carlos Alomar on guitar, Willie Weeks on bass, Mike Garson on piano, Andy Newmark on drums, David Sanborn on alto saxophone and Larry Washington on congas. Singer Ava Cherry, Alomar's wife Robin Clark and then-unknown singer Luther Vandross contributed backing vocals.[9][16]

Unlike other songs recorded at Sigma Sound, the song's structure was mostly already written before the sessions began. The gospel and soul backing vocal arrangements in the refrains were constructed by Vandross with help from Clark, and eagerly added by Bowie.[9][11] Bowie wrote the middle section after visiting various New York clubs in the spring of 1974 and learning DJs enjoyed singles with breakdowns, such as Eddie Kendricks' "Girl You Need a Change of Mind". For "Young Americans", this sequence initially boasted a phased guitar solo by Alomar.[9]

In September 2009, take three of the song, dated 13 August 1974 on the Sigma Sound reel tape, was leaked online. In this version, all the lyrics are the same but the saxophone and backing vocals are absent, and Bowie's vocal delivery is more conventional than the funkier, syncopated feel of the final version.[11]

In subsequent decades, "Young Americans" has attracted acclaim.[3] Deemed a masterpiece by AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine,[48] Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield hailed the song as one of Bowie's finest, with "the rhythm inspiring his most passionate (and compassionate) love letter to his fans".[49] Doggett praises Bowie's vocal performance and overall commitment to the song.[13] Terry Staunton of NME called it his best single ever in 1991.[50] Several critics commended Bowie for a successful transition to soul music and his full commandeering of the style.[5][7][51] Perone opines that Bowie effectively established a "new hybrid [soul] style" rather than being a white singer merely attempting to sing soul music.[5] The Guardian's Alexis Petridis commented, "A white British rock star adopting the breezy, sumptuous sound of Philly soul shouldn't have worked at all, but it did, to life-affirming effect."[51] The "ain't there one damn song..." vocal break was later selected by Mojo magazine as the most impressive passage in Bowie's entire catalogue,[1] and by a Rolling Stone writer as his "royal peak".[52]

Following Bowie's death in 2016, Rolling Stone listed "Young Americans" as one of Bowie's 30 essential songs.[3] The song has also appeared on lists compiling Bowie's best songs by The Telegraph,[53] NME (4),[54] The Guardian and Mojo (7),[51][55] Consequence of Sound (13) and Uncut (17).[7][56] NME readers also voted it number 14 in a 2018 list of Bowie's 20 best songs.[57] In 2016 lists ranking every Bowie single, "Young Americans" placed at numbers three and five by Ultimate Classic Rock and Slant Magazine, respectively. The former argued the song "summ[ed] up the mid-'70s in five catchy minutes", while the latter called it one of the decade's "best examples" of blue-eyed soul.[4][58]

The song has also appeared on other best-of lists. In 2003, Blender magazine placed "Young Americans" on its list "the 1001 greatest songs to download right now!"[12] One year later, the song ranked at number 481 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time,[59] and moving up to 204 in its 2021 revised list.[60] In 2016, Pitchfork ranked it number 44 on its list of the 200 best songs of the 1970s.[2]

Vandross frequently performed the song on stage after 1975,[11] while Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash has spoken about the song's influence on him as a musician.[56] The song has accompanied the end credits of Dogville (2003)[61] and Manderlay (2005), the first two films of Lars von Trier's trilogy USA – Land of Opportunities, and also appeared briefly in the Nicolas Cage film Lord of War (2005).[11]