SIMPLE MINDS THE AMERICAN

[newgolddream0121]

What a song,great to see the lyrics

[AnacondaVanaspati]

I could never get the U2 comparisons either. Simple Minds were phenomonal, U2 just plain overhyped. "The American" was one of the best songs of the eighties, as was "up on the catwalk"

[tracephil]

quite probably the best band ever, besides japan, of course!

[MrJesusHJones]

Great song and a good attempt at adding a video

to it, but your attempt at the lyrics are way off the mark to the point of being embarrassingly bad.

Here's some corrections:

I see a man with an airfield plan????? NO.

I see a man with the mafia plan. YES

Ameri Ameri etc. In Collective fame ???? WHAT? NO.

Ameri Ameri etc. According to faith. YES

[grayham37]

@MrJesusHJones I see a man, With an airfield plan. I caught a boy fall out of the sky. What do you know about this world anyway?

[machanalan]

@MrJesusHJones does it matter wit hes singing its still a quality tune

[scaramonga1]

Thee song!!! :)



[orla322000]

A message for the 3 people who "dislike" this song - I pity the fuck out of ye as your taste is up yer holes. Have a nice day now :-)

[maskof]

I wonder what SM would have sounded like in the late 80s if Brian Eno had collaborated with them instead of his work with U2

[cosmicrider287]

simple minds can make a track fly.

[lemsta007]

u2 average ..SM are brilliant

[mimefan]

3 people obviously do not like this song, so to combat this, I will make a completely and utterly unwitty comment about those 3 people, and people will like it because the people who do like it are also completely and utterly dumb enough to spend their days liking shit. LIEK PLAES.

[ralft]

bass line every similiar to bass line from fad gadget's make room

[lismclis51]

Simple Minds were a great band. But too call U2 shite, you're on drugs pal. Heavy duty drugs. U2 were and still are one of the best bands of all time. Their early stuff, especially off of Boy, was incredible. U2 SHIT!!!! give me a break you a-hole. A lot of the music during this era, was fantastic. Not like todays music.

[lismclis51]

Simple Minds were a great band. But too call U2 shite, you're on drugs pal. Heavy duty drugs. U2 were and still are one of the best bands of all time. Their early stuff, especially off of Boy, was incredible. U2 SHIT!!!! give me a break you a-hole.

[123zyprexa]

wallop!!!

[VillaTragedia]

AMERI- AMERI- MARIA -MARY- MERICAAAAAN

[FaWanKa]

Look!!! Some Nugget managed to klick the dislike button 3 times before finding the right one

[sassandro]

I sow This Great Band IN ROME, about 1980 tho. Im Italian BUT... GREAT SONG!

thanks for uoload, specially LYRICs, grayam. Ciao Da Roma, 3th planet (green ONE) from Sun, Milky Way... Sassandro

[wuckle]

Fantastic vid - would be even better if the lyrics didn't clash with the background images though.

[themachman19691]

utter class!

[minniethe3rd]

Awesome song - I owe it to my ex Karen Q from Hopefield place. Thanks.

[Shine5757]

1983 Paris la mutualité....grand concert !!!!! 

[cambranson]

This track kicks ass. These guys absolutely blew me away in the 80s! Their earlier stuff was the best - way ahead of their time!

[gpark64]

i'm so embarassed by a lot of what i listened to and liked way back when...

but this song fucking kills it! just as much today (Sept 2010) as when i used to hear it on KROQ all those years ago. timeless, transcendant, and just plain fuckin' awesome.

[LeonardoEraRicchione]

Fuck Bono. Jim Kerr is a real humble man......

[kezzah8]

Amazing track. So good to be rediscovering early Simple Minds after all these years. Class!

[ukshelf]

love Forbes bass playing on this one...one of their more under-rated tracks...but a cracker...

nice post...cool slide show too...nice one.

[colshythecomedian]

saw them for free in the Barrowland in 1991. Prob best ever concert i've been at!

[TheSodiumhaze]

Ive still got this record!!!!!!!! Amazing! I love it!!!

[soundmanhaven1]

first song i ever heard from them in 1980

[docmontauk]

Brilliant.

[mayangod1isback]

Let's focus on the positive side, I could not find this song before but now that I know that Youtube has it, I am going to be playing it every day. xoxoxoxo from USA.

[FaWanKa]

Fan...fucking...tastic!

[mimmymimmymim]

I always end up humming this when i ride my Cannondale. Sad really :)

[princessparkle01]

My favourite version... feels like yesterday when I was dancin like a crazy thing 2 it!

[twocan67]

r u from wales

[ministryofsumthing]

this is my song!

i found this album at the thrift store for a dollar

[sizone]

@ministryofsumthing thats how i got all of my early minds about 4-6 years after it all came out in the late 80s... built my collection that way. such a great way to discover music - cherished much more than just finding it on youtube or torrents now - i'd show my finds to my friends and they to me, and you could walk out of the store with 5 new hunks of vynil for like $15... man those were the days :/ i miss them.

[danzxr]

Still the best Simple Minds song....

[maladict24]

Jim Kerr's voice still sends little thrills up my spine.  :-D

[nalla3]

Real and Raw as it gets ! Fae the streets man !

[MrLozzer]

Well I can only say you guys were fantastic in your day but hey ho you're not too bad now.

[johnfish1]

the nouvelle vague cover isnt bad either

[msshortbread1]

wish people would stop comparing sm to u2.lets get it right .u2 are shit and bono is a twat.always bleating on about the third world.maybe if he gave up a quarter of his wealth to save it before wanting more money from us peasants!

[johnfish1]

amen to that

[TheFranksantana]

I agree with you msshortbread. U-2 is overated, Bono always talking about 3rd world countries and helping the poor, yet he's moving his company out of Ireland so he can pay less taxes.... ¿Waz up with that? Cheap bastard, I loved U-2 decades ago now they are commercial.

[huddle1888drums]

TUNE !!

[bl3263]

wow what a fantastic blast from.......... brilliant:))))).

[musicfunkydude]

ooo i feel a lifetime achievment coming on, back in the day the were the epitome of cool as soon as one of their tracks came on in a club the place went wild and the could also blow all others away live,viva Simple Minds.

[a1videovault]

I just dont get the comparison with U2.

[plopplop1983]

nor me....

u2 dont come close

[dja51]

@a1videovault  NO WAY

[kezzah8]

Amazing track. So good to be rediscovering early Simple Minds after all these years. Class!

[Drweavil]

@a1videovault I guess that the comparison with U2 came from the home countries. Ireland had U2, Scotland had Simple Minds, Wales had The Alarm and England had The Clash (and many others besides). All of these challenged society in ways that convention couldn't understand or respond to in many ways. They also overtly supported and rallied to popular causes. U2's War album is a case in point. just my 2c (€) :D ...

[DAVEYBOND007]

@a1videovault There is no comparison Simple Minds Rock and U2 are Shit!

[zzhamstring]

@a1videovault , I hear you what comparison ?

[MerseysideAlice]

God this song always drove me crazy and still did then! Just boss for dancing etc and the instrument playing is superb. One of those volume turn upper absolutely! And have loved reading a lot of great comments from fans on these postings. All totally true!

[MsCaptainSensible]

Blondie, do u know Techno?

[Hooverdan]

TECHNO well before TECHNO.

[TheEnergie88]

WTF

[nalla3]

sit up and listen please

[ChadHesdon]

Nobody's commented on the other band that didn't chase shadows, didn't sell out and didn't sound like any other band. In fact they sowed the seeds which grew into other popular big bands at large this very day.

[franckmilo62]

Bla bla bla love simple minds not?

[DieJennyProductions]

OMG HOW STOOOPID!

[docnurse40]

Brilliant!!!!!

[hotgeorge44]

love the way they use the word play in this song, very chilling!!!!

[GandT66]

What do you know ?

[200405InVision]

They went shit about 1985! Sorry its true this stuff is how I remember them. After that their just an 80's corporate rock band chasing U2's shadows.

[jaibobro]

wrong pal , nothing to compare to u2, may be in the beggining (u2 did great songs) but they sell themselves the pop (lemon and similar shit) simple minds never did that , after the succes , they never recorded commercial stuff like u2 did

may you dont like them , and maybe you need some musical education.....................­..

[200405InVision]

You misunderstand. I said "chasing U2's shadows". In wanting to be as big as them they stopped being art rock type experimentation and went mainstream. Every big rock band has an ego. Jim Kerr in Simple Minds case. Listen to the band playing on this. Are his vocals and lyrics the thing here or the music? .

As for U2, yes I agree with others that Simple Minds had a big influence on them. Problem is about 1985 post Live Aid Simple Minds came over as a 'popish' version of U2.

[huthut91]

couldn't agree more. Shame.

When all's said and done though Simple Minds of 80-84 was better than anything U2 ever did by a distance.

[Yakovlievich]

Some of their stuff was okay after Sons and Fascination - but nowhere near as good.

As far as the U2 comparison goes, I don't remember very many people caring about them until the Joshua Tree came out (I suspect it was different in the UK). Sparkle in the Rain might sound unintentionally like U2 only b/c Steve Lillywhite produced it.

[abagail4me]

Can't stop listening.Probably my favorite Simple Minds song ever.

[ladymuckefuck]

The music of Sister feelings call is much better, becaus is more harmony in it. Simple minds are from U.K. and so they never create their best song for the crazy Disney loving Americans. But the lyrics are probably the best ones of them and dangerous minds for Simple Minds. Is it possible that this is the reason why Simple Minds are Still out now ????????????+~;)

[Sheikybackfour]

The Bandwagon in Edinburgh were you there.

[fstop77]

Damn! This song still packs such a punch and it's almost 30 years old!

[abagail4me]

A very powerful song that emerged in the midst of the early 80's new wave era.

[yohppoy]

this could be an hit if published by a nothing-sub-new wave-band from today...

[muddingwithjeeps]

Awesome Tone they did. One of the best New Wave bands of the 80s

[kjman62]

darrenverno i agree

[VanKoren]

...sweat in running mind to hear...sound come sound go...dancing boy sings his way...talk talk.. yes you can...head full of wonder we go...

[darrenverno]

I wish people on here stop saying they went shit after 1984, because they went more main stream. Yes they did a little bit, but they never crave for media attention or nothing. What about real life album in 1991? Fantastic album. They just do good music because its in their blood.

[ppgrp]

And then you remember how bobbins they got about 18 months later.

[NearlySane]

Have argument whether this or LoveSong is the best SM track - but then again there is a I Travel - great band

[08041965]

10/10 another minds classic

[DerVampyrEngel]

OMG I love this so much

[Juliainrob]

Thanks for posting this, absolute classic

[superleeds73]

What a tune,

Superb

[markSTINKS]

God bless Johnny and the Self Abusers. The early Minds were brilliant. This is one of postpunk's finest moments - I remember Peel raving about the guitar solo.

[DAVE1R1111]

biting-excellent words !!!! catchy-grand music ! lov it.

[k80katster]

Quality song, thanks for sharing it, one of the minds best

[BearBabyB]

For a band from Scottland,Simple Minds' sound is so Funky and modern.I love this Song!

[goodgawdalmighty]

BearBaby, yes the Minds are a great band but a Scottish band were the epitomy of Funk - The Average White Band.

[Longnez]

smashing quality, my favorite single from bande FM "LA voix du Lézard" and "Radio 7" in the early 80'!

[polite777]

one of my favourite songs yet I missed that creepy riddle

[Crijevo]

A brillian song. Their way of wordplay sends shivers down the spine :) ('Ameri-ameri-ameri-ameri-amer­icain :)))'

[superleeds73]

top song 5/5

[embalm]

one of the best 80's songs PERIOD!

[jangenk]

the excellence of the early minds were lost after new gold dream

[franckmilo62]

j'adooooore !!! trop classe !

[Lalo3001]

Great, great song! Glad to hear it again. thanks for the memories!

[alansready]

yes this is a great song from a great album. i love themes for great cities as well. sisteers feeling calling and sons and facisnation are great albvums

[thosewerethedays]

Yr TOO GOOD grayham37!!! thanks a mil for all of these, bin hangn for the recorded versions for ages! Love 'em...Good on ya!

[matitsarichy]

QUALITY.....