America Lyrics
L'amour, l'amour America
L'amour, l'amour America
[Verse 1]
And you can feel it growing
On my skin it's burning up inside of me
Where are all the things you've did and said and done
I basically just disagreed
Would you believe in something
That your mama told you you could never be
Cause probably she got It wrong
And didn't notice what Columbus did
[Pre-Chorus]
But there's something I can't explain
Looking but nobody's saying
When no word can heal my pain
Cause no one only we
[Chorus]
We don't look back
Won't give up
We're gonna go to America
Way up high, you and I
We're gonna make it happen
We don't look back
Won't give up
We're gonna go to America
L'amour, l'amour America
L'amour, l'amour America
[Verse 2]
How can you tell me what it’s like
To travel if you’re not a pioneer
I appreciated all the dreams you had
They basically just disappeared
[Pre-Chorus]
But there's something I can't explain
Looking but nobody's saying
When no word can heal my pain
Cause no one only we
[Chorus]
We don't look back
Won't give up
We're gonna go to America
Way up high, you and I
We're gonna make it happen
We don't look back
Won't give up
We're gonna go to America
We're going to- America (x3)
We're going to- believe it
Cause no one only we
[Chorus]
We don't look back
Won't give up
We're gonna go to America
Way up high, you and I
We're gonna make it happen
We don't look back
Won't give up
We're gonna go to America
About
“America” explores a desire to reach America, possibly written from the viewpoint of an immigrant/refugee or at least inspired by the dreams of many immigrants/refugees from poorer, more oppressive countries. For them the concept of America is synonymous with a better life, so many are prepared to sacrifice everything in order to get there. The sample of young children chanting played throughout the song represents the joy associated with the prosperity America represents.
Meller hinted that she’d been working with Justin Parker and Fred Ball in a deleted tweet written in early December 2015, with “America” being the supposed outcome.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
This was produced with Fred Ball (Madonna, Rihanna) and Justin Parker (Lana Del Rey, Rihanna), in a lil studio in the garden of Fred’s West London home. The guys didn’t expect to play African instrument that day – they had a big speculative look at me! I was sad that day, and I was in a mood. I felt that it would either be or an amazing song or nothing. I wanted a choir, Fred was recording his son singing gibberish, I made the guys play bongos, and high life guitar riffs.
We were like children. Fred also played a Beethoven line on the Omnichord – he has 2 of them. We needed a break so we went to a local bar and I defeated them in arrow shooting. Back in the studio, we were listening to what we did and there was a silence, be cause suddenly we all heard a word in the gibberish that made us all open our eyes in excitement, ‘AMERICA’. That’s what we heard, and that’s what the song is about. Pioneers, the curiosity to discover new continents and never lose hope.
- Meller for the Independent [27/09/2016]
