David Bowie – This Is Not America

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A little piece of you
The little peace in me
Will die
For this is not America

Blossom falls to bloom
This season
Promise not to stare
Too long
For this is not a miracle

There was a time
A storm that blew so pure
For this could be the biggest sky
And i could have
The faintest idea

Snowman melting
From the inside
Falcon spirals

To the ground
So bloody red
Tomorrows clouds

A little piece of you
The little piece in me
Will die
For this is not America

There was a time
A wind that blew so young
For this could be the biggest sky
And i could have the faintest idea

This could be the biggest sky
This could be a miracle
This could be etc

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Lyrics submitted by Der_Bulle

Track duration: 03:52

"This Is Not America" as written by Bowie/metheny/mays

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


This Is Not America song meanings
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10 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:Gorgeous song, from one of my favorite movies. The story actually is about a guy that gets a job at a private contractor that handles the US secret services communications. He stumbles upon an old file, obsolete secrets about an armament project that never happened. All the while keeping this job he feels his faith for his country fading, and with these secrets he sees an opportunity to protest against the US. He devises a plan to sell the useless secrets to the Russians. He gets his childhood friend to act as a go between : he gives his friend a piece of information and the friend goes to Mexico, to the KGB's offices, to sell them the secrets. But the plan eventually turns against them, as the Russians get hungrier for more info and the friend develops a heroin addiction that requires more and more money. This is all based on the true story of Christopher Boyce and Daulton Lee, and their story is well documented on the net.

    That song holds its own, but in the context of the movie takes all its meaning. True that it is a direct allusion to lost dreams, the American dream.
    Flag swanpason September 13, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think it's a great song. It seems that the original meaning in the movie is about how many other nations don't enjoy the freedoms that Americans do. But I think that a couple of other meanings have emerged. Bowie plays the song to a British crowd in 2000 - check youtube - and there it seems to have the meaning of "we're British, not American." Another youtube video also used the song to spread a progressive message - that the George W administration did not represent America.

    Part of the lyrics seem refer to a dying dream, (the American dream?) to promise unfulfilled - "this could be the biggest sky." But instead, the clouds will be bloody tomorrow. So, although it doesn't fit the movie script, the critique of America seems like a main theme.
    Flag dokdoforeveron July 21, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:To me it's the theme of alienation, that Bowie feels his 'normal' envoirment changing for the negative. As he doesn't have a 'faint idea' how these changes came along (or are in progress) he feels that he no longer is in a place he knows.

    just the title says it all: 'This is not America'
    This is not the country I grew up in.
    Not how I know it.
    Flag OldSkoolon May 16, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:In the film The Falcon and the Snowman that this was made for, the main character is captured and beaten by the police in Mexico(?) or maybe somewhere else, it's been awhile since I've seen it. He protests, saying "I am an American citizen!" which gets the reply, "This is not America". To me, the song's about one's rights and privileges that get taken for granted until they're gone. Really paranoid song, but that's the 1980s in a nutshell.
    Flag Chocolate Is Yummyon July 02, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:sad it is hahaha
    in my view it speaks of desillusions..
    beatuiful lines telling about one's hopes not reaching destination, becoming a melting identity..

    it can be seen as a song about aknowledging the fact that you've lost something precious in which you believed in.
    - America representing that 'glorious destination' ...the land of milk and honey! -
    yeah i sure love the music and melodies
    and it suits well the lines if it speaks of shattered hopes
    ...it can be seen as someone's broken dream
    or broken love?
    maybe...
    anyway...something like that
    Flag naivadaon August 29, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I'm glad we liked it and know the movie...but does anyone know the the SONG MEANING? ;-) I'm stumped.
    Flag proteuson March 13, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:is a soundtrack from the eighties film falcon and the snowman
    Flag goldendawnon September 05, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:sorry, the whole song...:)
    Flag placebiston April 10, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:sorry, the whole song...:)
    Flag placebiston April 10, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I've always liked this song, it sounds so sad, the hole song only disappointment...
    Flagged placebiston April 10, 2005   Link

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