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"Kids in America" by Kim Wilde (Kim Wilde, 1981)

The Arc of Flame: Digital Art by Shawn Michel de Montaigne





Kids in America

Kim Wilde


Here's the video


~~*~~




Looking out a dirty old window

Down below the cars in the city go rushing by

I sit here alone and I wonder why


Friday night and everyone's moving

I can feel the heat but it's soothing, heading down

I search for the beat in this dirty town (downtown)


The young ones are going

(Downtown) the young ones are growing

We're the kids in America--whoa!

We're the kids in America--whoa!

Everybody live for the music-go-round!


La la la la la la

La la la la la la--say!


Bright lights, the music gets faster

Look, boy, don't check on your watch, not another glance

I'm not leaving now, honey, not a chance


Hot shot, give me no problems

Much later, baby, you'll be saying never mind

You know life is cruel, life is never kind (kind hearts)


Don't make a new story

(Kind hearts) don't grab any glory

We're the kids in America--whoa!

We're the kids in America--whoa!

Everybody live for the music-go-round!


La la la la la la

La la la la la--say!


Come closer, honey, that's better

Got to get a brand new experience, feeling right

Oh, don't try to stop, baby, hold me tight


Outside a new day is dawning

Outside suburbia's sprawling everywhere

I don't want to go, baby


New York to east California

There's a new wave coming, I warn ya

We're the kids in America--whoa!

We're the kids in America--whoa!

Everybody lives for the music-go-round!


La la la la la la

La la la la la--say!


We're the kids

We're the kids

We're the kids in America!

We're the kids

We're the kids

We're the kids in America!

We're the kids

We're the kids

We're the kids in America!




~~*~~

I remember the practice by music video directors to film

them making absolutely sure no one ever smiles in them.

Punk rock was raging at the time--

angry, full of rebellion, spiked hair, flying saliva,

cold lighting, black leather, middle fingers

permanently thrust into the sky.


Kim Wilde works hard at not smiling in this,

one of the earliest videos to air on MTV.

Even so, it was impossible for me not to see

it as a smitten 19-year-old.

I love the way she moves in this song,

totally unsure but still determined,

clumsy but still somehow graceful.

The video's director plainly

had no idea what he wanted her to do.


I love her voice, her haircut, her eyes.

Like I said, I was smitten.

And this tune has never gotten old for me.





~~*~~


Digital Art: The Arc of Flame by yours truly





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