America (Razorlight song)



' America' is a song by English indie rock band Razorlight, and is the fourth track to their self-titled second studio album, Razorlight (2006). It was written by Johnny Borrell and Andy Burrows (credited to Borrell, Burrows, and Razorlight) and was also released as the second single from that album in October 2006.

The song garnered a negative reception from critics for its attempt at both political commentary and transatlantic crossover appeal. "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 music critics who found its attempt at serious commentary laughable and pretentious. Adam Zacharias of Drowned in Sound 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 Stylus Magazine criticized the song's attempt at being a blue-collar anthem in the vein of Bruce Springsteen but without his particular musicianship. Michael Lomas of PopMatters called the song "soft rock hell", saying that it checklists every cliché of that criteria that makes it come off as similar to Foreigner and Boston than U2 of The Joshua Tree.

John Murphy of MusicOMH was mixed towards the song, saying that it has the right amount of intimacy but found the lyrics "facile at best." Doug Kamin of ARTISTdirect 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
7" 1705367
 * 1) "America"
 * 2) "Wilfred Owen" (demo)

7" 1705369
 * 1) "America"
 * 2) "Down to the Coast" (demo)

CD 1705368
 * 1) "America"
 * 2) "Teenage Logic"
 * 3) "Fine"