“Young Americans” – David Bowie
(Words/music: David Bowie, available on Young Americans, Virgin 1975)
In completely isolated circumstances – never having heard the song before nor knowing that it is a David Bowie song – “Young Americans” requires a slight leap of faith to get into it. Knowing the song, the opening drum notes are enough to guarantee that I will do nothing but listen to this song for the next five minutes. However, I understand how the unfamiliar might be put off by the opening; the cascading piano keys and the absurdly prominent honking saxophone makes the song sound like the type of soft-rock fare heard while shopping in a drug store. Bowie eventually rewards the listener’s patience as slowly all of the different layers come in, starting with the moment the backing vocals enter during the first chorus. Featuring future star Luther Vandross, Bowie’s backing singers push his own vocal performance as he tries to keep up with them. Slowly, he settles into the song and works himself up into a soulful fervor. Maybe it’s his background singers pushing him to compete with them, perhaps Bowie gets more worked up as he goes deeper into his cynical look at life in the 70s, or maybe it’s just a superb arrangement with an excellent bridge leading into the final climax. Regardless, Bowie turns in perhaps his finest vocal performance, especially in the last minute and a half as he sounds like a man possessed, tossing off line after line until his band stops and Bowie puts his cracking falsetto squarely into the spotlight. Bowie’s vocal performance alone makes this an essential song, but it’s the flawless arrangement that catapults “Young Americans” into the stratosphere. I even kind of like that damn saxophone even though it’s a little too loud for my taste.
You’re so right to hone in on the backing vocals on this song. They are the secret weapon - the element that raises the game on this track, yes, to the point of diluting what should be a horrid sax line. In fact, it’s worth noting that pretty much every other song on this album is utter tripe, almost entirely due to that cancerous saxophone.
3 years ago