"Living in America" is a 1985

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

composed by

Dan Hartman Daniel Earl Hartman (December 8, 1950 – March 22, 1994) was an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Among songs he wrote and recorded were " Free Ride" as a member of the Edgar Winter Group, and the solo hits ...

and

Charlie Midnight Charlie Midnight (born Charles Kaufman, 1954) is an American songwriter, record producer, and founder of Midnight Production House. He has been nominated for the 1987 Grammy Award for Best R&B Song (Writer, " Living in America" by James Brown), ...

and performed by

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

. It was released as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

in 1985 and reached number 4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. The song entered the Billboard Top 40 on January 11, 1986, and remained on the chart for 11 weeks. It also became a top five hit in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, peaking at number 5 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

; it was his only top 10 single in the UK. It was his first Top 40 hit in ten years on the US pop charts, and it would also be his last. In 1987, it was nominated for a

Grammy Award for Best R&B Song The Grammy Award for Best R&B Song (sometimes known as the R&B Songwriter's Award) has been awarded since 1969. From 1969 to 2000, it was known as the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm and Blues Song. Beyoncé has won it a record four times, while Bab ...

and won Brown a

Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance was awarded between 1968 and 2011. The award has had several minor name changes: *In 1968 it was awarded as Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance, Male *From 1969 to 1994 it was awarded as Best R&B V ...

Legacy

The song was prominently featured in the

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

Rocky IV ''Rocky IV'' is a 1985 American sports drama film written, directed by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the sequel to ''Rocky III'' (1982) and is the fourth installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise. It also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Ca ...

''. In the film, Brown sings the song during

Apollo Creed Apollo Creed is a fictional character from the ''Rocky'' films, played by Carl Weathers. He serves as the main antagonist in ''Rocky'' and '' Rocky II'' and also appears in ''Rocky III'' and ''Rocky IV''. He is a tough but agile boxer w ...

’s ring entrance, in reference to the character's patriotic image. It appeared on the ''Rocky IV'' soundtrack album. A modified version of the song was used in the film ''

Coming to America ''Coming to America'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy film directed by John Landis and based on a story originally created by Eddie Murphy, who also stars in the lead role. The film also co-stars Arsenio Hall, James Earl Jones, Shari Head ...

'' with the chorus's lyrics changed to match the film's title. The song's co-writer

later included his recording of the song on his 1994 album '' Keep the Fire Burnin'''.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album ''

Gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...

''. *

– lead vocals *

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Although his mainstream career spanned only seven years, ...

– lead guitar *

– guitar, keyboards, backing vocals *

T. M. Stevens Thomas Michael "T. M." Stevens (born July 28, 1951) is an American bass guitarist from New York City. Stevens has worked with an array of rock, R&B, and pop acts as a session musician, and also leads his own groups and works as a solo performer. ...

– bass, backing vocals *Ray Marchica – drums *The Uptown Horns (Arno Hecht, Bob Funk, Crispin Cioe, "Hollywood" Paul Litteral) – horns

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Track listings

;12" release *A. Living in America (R & B Dance Version) – 6:30 *B1. Living in America (Instrumental) – 4:33 *B2. Living in America (LP Version) – 4:42 ;7" release *A. Living in America – 4:08 *B. Farewell (Vince DiCola) – 2:58

Parody

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...

parodied the song on his 1986 album ''

Polka Party! ''Polka Party!'' is the fourth studio album by "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on October 21, 1986. The album was produced by former The McCoys guitarist Rick Derringer. Recorded between April and September 1986, the album was Yankovic's follow-u ...

'' in a song entitled " Living with a Hernia", describing various kinds of

hernia A hernia is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ (anatomy), organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. Various types of hernias can occur, most commonly involving the abdomen, and specifically the gr ...

s where Brown originally listed several American cities. The parody ends with Al shouting "I feel bad!" instead of Brown's trademark "I feel good!" The music video was shot on the same set Brown performed on in ''Rocky IV''.

Paul Shanklin Paul Shanklin (born 1962 in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American conservative political Satire, satirist, Impressionist (entertainment), impressionist, comedian, and conservative speaker. Shanklin wrote and voiced the characters for the songs and sati ...

also parodied "Living in America" on his 1999 album ''Bill Clinton: The Comeback Kid Tour'' in a song entitled "Sneaking in America", as a reference to illegal immigration to America. The song was also parodied in TV advertisements for the TV series ''

Daisy Does America ''Daisy Does America'' is a hybrid reality/comedy series that premiered on TBS on 6 December 2005. The show, similar to British actress and comedian Daisy Donovan's previous outing for British television ''Daisy, Daisy'', was adapted for US audie ...

'', substituting the show's title for the song's.

References

External links

Review
at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{Authority control Film theme songs 1985 singles 1986 singles American patriotic songs Dan Hartman songs James Brown songs Songs from Rocky (film series) Songs written by Charlie Midnight Songs written by Dan Hartman Song recordings produced by Dan Hartman Songs about the United States Scotti Brothers Records singles