Length 4:08 | ||
Released December 1985 (1985-12) Writer(s) Dan HartmanCharlie Midnight |
"Living in America" is a 1985 song composed by Dan Hartman and Charlie Midnight and performed by James Brown. It was released as a single in 1985 and reached number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song entered the Billboard Top 40 on January 11, 1986, and remained on the chart for 11 weeks. It also became a top five hit in the United Kingdom, peaking at number 5 on the UK Singles Chart; it was his only top 10 single in the UK. It was his first Top 40 hit in ten years on the US pop charts, and it would also be his last. In 1986, it was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song and won Brown a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.
Contents
- Music video
- Personnel
- Track listings
- Parody
- Appearances
- Altered versions and performances
- Covers
- References
The song was prominently featured in the film Rocky IV. In the film, Brown sings the song before Apollo Creed enters the boxing ring, in reference to the character's patriotic image. It appeared on the Rocky IV soundtrack album. The full version of the song (nearly six minutes long) was included on Brown's 1986 album, Gravity, and on various compilations throughout the 1990s. Live performances of the song appear on the albums Soul Session Live and Live at the Apollo 1995.
The song's co-writer Dan Hartman later included his recording of the song on his 1994 album Keep the Fire Burnin'.
Music video
The music video consists of scenes of James Brown giving a concert interspersed with still images of the United States, as well as scenes from the movie Rocky IV.
Personnel
Credits adapted from the album Gravity.
Track listings
Parody
"Weird Al" Yankovic parodied the song on his 1986 album Polka Party! in a song entitled "Living with a Hernia", describing various kinds of hernias where Brown originally listed several American cities. Paul Shanklin also parodied "Living in America" on his 1999 album Bill Clinton: The Comeback Kid Tour in a song entitled "Sneaking in America", as a reference to illegal immigration to America. The song was also parodied in TV advertisements for the TV series Daisy Does America, substituting the show's title for the song's.