This Is Not America

David Bowie

This is not America....
shalalalala

A little piece of you,
the little piece in me,
will die
(this is not a miracle)
For this is not America

Blossom fails to bloom this season,
promise not to stare,
too long
(this is not America)
For this is not the 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

For this is not America

shalalalala
shalalalala
shalalalala

This is not America (No)
This is not....
shalalalala

Snowman melting from the inside
Falcon spirals to,
the ground
(this could be the biggest sky)
So bloody red, tomorrow's clouds

A little piece of you,
the little piece in me
will die
(this could be a miracle)
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

For this is not America

shalalalala
shalalalala
shalalalala

This is not America (No)
This is not,
shalalalala
This is not America (No)
This is not,
shalalalala
This is not America (No)
This is not,
shalalalala


Lyrics submitted by Der_Bulle

This Is Not America song meanings
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14 Comments

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  • +2
    General CommentI'm glad we liked it and know the movie...but does anyone know the the SONG MEANING? ;-) I'm stumped.
    proteuson March 13, 2007   Link
  • +2
    General Commentsad 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
    naivadaon August 30, 2007   Link
  • +2
    General CommentTo 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.
    OldSkoolon May 16, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Commentsorry, the whole song...:)
    placebiston April 10, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General CommentIn 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.
    Chocolate Is Yummyon July 03, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General CommentTimothy Hutton's character, Christopher Boyce, goes rogue as a result of profound disillusionment with the CIA when the squalid reality of their dirty tricks overthrows his idealistic illusions. This causes him to plummet into a maelstrom of espionage wherein he is unable to orient himself in a solid sense of reality.

    "This is not America" refers to the "America" of his naïve, childlike dreams.
    rivelleon May 31, 2019   Link
  • +1
    General CommentTimothy Hutton's character, Christopher Boyce, goes rogue as a result of profound disillusionment with the CIA when the squalid reality of their dirty tricks overthrows his idealistic illusions. This causes him to plummet into a maelstrom of espionage wherein he is unable to orient himself in a solid sense of reality.

    "This is not America" refers to the "America" of his naïve, childlike dreams. "America" is an ideological illusion and fetishtic fiction.
    rivelleon December 12, 2019   Link
  • +1
    General CommentThis was one of my favorite movies from my youth - the song always touched me deeply - interpreting it from the standpoint of what it means to the film I see it as Christopher Boyce' (played by Timothy Hutton) dissillusionment of this country - Thru his government job he comes upon information of how the US is manipulating and taking advantage of weaker foriegn nations and governments- he sees it as the BIG LIE the HIGH LEVEL OF DECEPTION- to him this is not the America he believed in 'little piece of me will die" there was a time that he believed America was pure and good but with his discovery of this top secret info "I could have the faintest idea" it is not the America he grew up believing in...Bowie addresses later in the song how Boyce' disillusionment destroyed his life (most of it in prison for espionage) "Falcon spirals to the ground" "So bloody red tomorrow's clouds"...
    zen1167434on January 11, 2017   Link
  • 0
    General CommentI've always liked this song, it sounds so sad, the hole song only disappointment...
    placebiston April 10, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Commentsorry, the whole song...:)
    placebiston April 10, 2005   Link

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