"America" is a song by English

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

Razorlight Razorlight are an English indie rock band, formed in 2002 in London by lead singer and guitarist Johnny Borrell. Along with Borrell, the current line-up of the band is composed of founding members Björn Ågren on guitar and bassist Carl Delemo ...

, included as the fourth track on their self-titled second studio album (2006). It was written by Johnny Borrell and

Andy Burrows Andrew William Burrows (born 30 June 1979) is an English songwriter and musician. He's best known as the drummer for Razorlight from 2004 until 2009 before rejoining in 2021. He's also served as the drummer for We Are Scientists from 2009 to ...

(credited to Borrell, Burrows, and Razorlight) and was also released as the second

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from that album on 2 October 2006. The song garnered a negative reception from critics for its attempt at both political commentary and transatlantic crossover appeal. Nevertheless, "America" became the band's first and only number-one single in the United Kingdom and was the country's 17th best selling single of that year. The song also peaked within the top 10 in Ireland, the Netherlands and New Zealand, and within the top 40 in Austria, Belgium, France, Switzerland and Germany.

Critical reception

"America" received generally negative reviews from

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s, who found its attempt at serious commentary laughable and pretentious. Adam Zacharias of ''

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'' panned the song for cribbing the same lyrics from the previous single " In the Morning" and for coming off as trite commentary for the mass public, calling it "a terrible piece of faux-sentiment". Liz Colville of ''

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'' criticised the song's attempt at being a

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anthem in the vein of

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but without his particular musicianship. Michael Lomas of ''

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'' called the song "

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hell", saying that it checklists every cliché of that criteria that makes it come off as similar to Foreigner and

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than U2 of ''

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''. John Murphy of ''

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'' was mixed towards the song, saying that it has the right amount of intimacy but found the lyrics "facile at best". Doug Kamin of

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praised Borrell's delivery of the song's overall message, saying that, "It's sung without judgment or criticism and could grab the ears of rock and pop lovers on both sides of the pond."

Track listings

UK 7-inch single :A. "America" :B. "Down to the Coast" (demo) UK limited-edition 7-inch single :A. "America" :B. "Wilfred Owen" (demo) UK maxi-CD single # "America" # "Teenage Logic" # "Fine" European CD single # "America" # "Teenage Logic"

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:America (Razorlight Song) 2006 singles 2006 songs British soft rock songs Mercury Records singles Razorlight songs Song recordings produced by Chris Thomas (record producer) Songs about the United States Songs written by Andy Burrows Songs written by Johnny Borrell UK Singles Chart number-one singles Vertigo Records singles