During his 1980s pop period, David Bowie did not shy away from collaborations. One of his most memorable duets came in 1977 when he and Bing Crosby recorded the Christmas medley “Peace on Earth”/”Little Drummer Boy.” Bowie really hit his stride by teaming up with a trifecta of superstars in the ‘80s, charting with Queen on “Under Pressure,” Tina Turner on “Tonight,” and Mick Jagger on their remake of Martha and the Vandellas’ “Dancing in the Street.”
In the midst of Bowie’s run of high-profile duets was his collaboration with the Pat Metheny Group on the single “This Is Not America.” While the song became a part of Bowie’s string of ’80s pop hits, it was not a typical collaboration for either party. As one of the era’s preeminent jazz fusion groups, Metheny’s quartet had become mainstays on the Billboard 200, but they were nobody’s idea of a singles band. When Metheny brought in vocalists to augment the rest of his band, he turned to Brazilian percussionist Naná Vasconcelos and Argentinian folk and rock musician Pedro Aznar, rather than the likes of Jagger and Freddie Mercury.
Yet the combination of Bowie’s crooning vocals and Metheny’s mellow brand of jazz fusion fit together perfectly. What brought these two stars from different musical spheres together? And how were they able to create a song that delighted fans of both artists? The events that led to these achievements likely surprised Metheny as much as anybody.
David Bowie? Who’s That?
When Metheny and his bandmate Lyle Mays were hired to write the score for the 1985 film The Falcon and the Snowman, the former had yet to meet or work with Bowie. In fact, Metheny was barely familiar with Bowie’s music. For Uncut’s Ultimate Record Collection series, Metheny recalled “he wasn’t exactly sure who David Bowie was.” If you’re wondering how that would have been possible in the mid-’80s, Metheny explained, “I could have told you who played drums on any Wes Montgomery or Ornette Coleman or Miles Davis record, but I just wasn’t that interested in or even aware of most English pop music around that time.”
However, Metheny would soon get better acquainted with Bowie’s music when the film’s director, John Schlesinger, wanted to have Bowie sing the theme song for the movie. Upon exploring some of Bowie’s recordings, Metheny realized he knew some of the icon’s bigger hits, but he just hadn’t realized it was Bowie who recorded them.
Getting Down to Work
Metheny and Bowie’s collaboration began with the two of them watching an early cut of the movie. Bowie made note of several lines from the film he thought would be candidates for a song title, around which he could compose a complete set of lyrics. He and Metheny settled on “This is not America,” which was a line uttered by a guard in one of the scenes that was taking place in Mexico.
Bowie returned home to Switzerland, where he fleshed out the lyrics. Metheny had given Bowie the demo for what had previously been an instrumental track called “Chris” (named after Timothy Hutton’s character Christopher Boyce, aka “The Falcon”). With backing tracks in hand and an understanding of the movie’s plot, Bowie wrote the song’s lyrics. Some, such as those from the third verse, related specifically to the fate of the young American spies who are the story’s protagonists.
Snowman melting from the inside
Falcon spirals to the ground
This could be the biggest sky
So bloody red, tomorrow’s clouds
It wasn’t until Bowie and the Pat Metheny Group convened in Montreux to record the final version that one of the most notable parts of the song was created. Much of what makes the chorus such an earworm is the Sha-la-la-la-la backing vocal part, and Bowie came up with the idea for that during the recording session. According to Metheny, Bowie wanted the band to help with those vocals, but since no one in the Pat Metheny Group was a vocalist, he recorded those parts as well. Metheny said Bowie “appeared to transform into three distinctly different people singing three distinct parts, first takes all.”
The Impact of “This Is Not America”
While “This Is Not America” did not get the same traction as some of Bowie’s other ‘80s hits, like “Let’s Dance,” and “Modern Love,” “This Is Not America” was one of nine singles he placed in the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 during the decade. It reached as high as No. 32 and spent a dozen weeks on the Hot 100—just one week less than “Modern Love.” “This Is Not America” has also been popular during the streaming era. Its total of more than 45 million plays on Spotify is far greater than that of “Blue Jean” or “Day-In Day-Out,” both of which charted substantially higher upon release.
Bowie repurposed his vocal from “This Is Not America” for P. Diddy’s “American Dream,” which appeared on the soundtrack album for the 2001 film Training Day. “This Is Not America” has been covered by several artists, including Petra Haden and Juliette Lewis.
While it may not be Bowie’s best-known collaboration, “This Is Not America” is right up there with his Bing Crosby duet as one of his most unexpected. While Bowie was knocked for becoming a little too predictable during the mid-’80s, he and the Pat Metheny Group gave fans a gem of a hit that no one could have seen coming.
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Photo by Steve Back/Daily Mail/Shutterstock
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