Prince - America

First performance: 23/02/1985


Coverinfo

Bruce performed the song only once:
 
 
1985-02-23 Forum (The), Inglewood, CA 
 
Bruce and Madonna join Prince on stage at Inglewood's Forum during his Purple Rain Tour. Bruce's (and Madonna's) participation on the latter two tracks is not absolutely confirmed, but seems likely based on Prince's shout of "Bruce!" near the beginning of "America".
 

 

Songinfo

"America" is a song by Prince and The Revolution. It was the final US single from the group's 1985 album, Around the World in a Day and is a sardonic attack on the mid-1980s United States, referencing Communism, and worrying about nuclear war, a common theme in Prince's lyrics in the 1980s. The song begins with the sound of a record starting and stopping, as if being cued by a DJ. This leads into a guitar solo and a rising synthesized flute line. The main tune is standard rock and roll and fades out at 3:40. The 12-inch single extended version is notable for being over 21 minutes long and including various instrumental solos. The song fades just before the audio tape ran out, as Prince and the Revolution had jammed the song out until there was no more room on the tape. The video for this song, a 10-minute live version, was shot on October 27, 1985 during a "One Off" performance in Nice, France at Théâtre de Verdure and shown on MTV during an entire segment dedicated to the single. This would be the first televised interview that Prince gave since 1980 on American Bandstand. The segment included a live rendition of "America" and a one-on-one interview with fans surrounding Prince. 
 
 
 

Other cover versions

Bruce on the artist

The only time Bruce Springsteen and Prince shared the stage was during a 23 Feb 1985 Price concert at The Forum in Inglewood, CA, when Springsteen joined Prince onstage .
 
 
 
 
"Tonight we want to dedicate our show to Prince of course", he said. "There's never been any better bandleader, showman, songwriter, arranger. Whenever I would catch one of his shows I would always leave humbled. I'm going to miss that"  

Lyrics

Yeah
Peace!
Aristocrats on a mountain climb
Making money, losing time
Communism is just a word
But if the government turn over
It'll be the only word that's heard
America, America
God shed his grace on thee
America, America
Keep the children free
Little sister making minimum wage
Living in a one-room jungle-monkey cage
Can't get over, she's almost dead
She may not be in the black
But she's happy she ain't in the red
America, America
God shed his grace on thee
America, America
Keep the children free
Freedom
Love
Joy
Peace
Jimmy Nothing never went to school
They made him pledge allegiance
He said it wasn't cool
Nothing made Jimmy proud
Now Jimmy lives on a mushroom cloud
America, America
God shed his grace on thee
America, America
Keep the children free
America, America
God shed his grace on thee
America, America
Keep the children free
Freedom
Love
Joy
Peace
Boom, boom, boom, boom
The bomb go
Boom, boom, boom, boom
The bomb go boom
Teacher, why won't Jimmy pledge allegiance?