History
The first studio result of Bowie’s mid-1970s obsession with soul music, "Young Americans" was a breakthrough hit for the artist in the United States (where the single was released in an edited 3:11 version). The sound, often later reflected on by Bowie as "plastic soul", was matched by a cynical lyric, making references to McCarthyism, black repression via Rosa Parks, Richard Nixon (who had resigned the U.S. Presidency two days before the recording session), as well as a near-direct lift from The Beatles’ "A Day in the Life" with the line "I heard the news today oh boy!" (John Lennon, who originally authored the line, appeared twice on the Young Americans album, providing background vocals and guitar on his own "Across The Universe" and "Fame", for which he also received a co-writing credit.) In falsetto, Bowie asks the question: "Ain't there one damn song that can make me... break down and cry?". The backing vocal arrangement came at the suggestion of Luther Vandross.
The song was a massive breakthrough in the United States, where glam rock had never really become very popular outside the major cities. The song reached #28 in the Billboard charts, making it his biggest success there up until that point. The song is ranked at number 481 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Read more about this topic: Young Americans (song)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
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—Carrie Chapman Catt (1859–1947)
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“I am ashamed to see what a shallow village tale our so-called History is. How many times must we say Rome, and Paris, and Constantinople! What does Rome know of rat and lizard? What are Olympiads and Consulates to these neighboring systems of being? Nay, what food or experience or succor have they for the Esquimaux seal-hunter, or the Kanaka in his canoe, for the fisherman, the stevedore, the porter?”
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