Pick four songs from any band and you can tell a lot about their sound. This summer, I’m featuring #RockBlocks, four picks from bands across various genres. They might be wildly different from each other, but what binds them together is the fact that they’re all a part of my life soundtrack.
With Prince running around on stage without his shirt or dressed in elaborate purple-colored wardrobe, it was often hard to take this artist seriously. But that would obviously be a huge mistake. Prince was a genius. Bested by no one else in music. Over the years, a very underrated aspect of his musical contributions were the depth of his lyrics, which often took a turn toward political commentary. The album Around the World in a Day seemed to cover a lot of ground, from teenage romance on “Raspberry Beret” to depression on “Pop Life”. But “America” is the one song on the album that has held up the best in my opinion.
Musically, “America” was quite unlike most of Prince’s catalog. It strung together a series of minor guitar chords and seemed to exist in a non-melodic universe. It wasn’t catchy or accessible, but it was mesmerizing. This was Prince’s personal critique and disillusionment with America, with topics ranging from nuclear war and communism to corporate greed and poverty. By releasing it as a single, Prince proved he was often more interested in making a statement than he was in making more money.
“America, America. God shed his grace on thee. America, America. Keep the children free.”