Songfacts®:

• Band leader Richard Ashcroft explained to Q Magazine June 2010 that on this song he's looking for America's soul. He said: "I nearly didn't go back there because of Bush and the way he poisoned everyone else's mind so that even the airline stewards seemed to be paranoid and infected with his mindset. That is so sad cos that country has given so, so much in the way of art and music and film. In the song I'm trying to see it beyond the s--t that Bush brought."
• The album was released in the United States under the name of Richard Ashcroft. It is a collaboration with hip-hop producer No I.D. (Kanye West, Jay-Z, Drake) and this track features strings courtesy of arranger Benjamin Wright (Gladys Knight, Barry White). "We built a great atmosphere early on," Ashcroft told Spin magazine of the song. "No I.D. put a fantastic tribal loop on it. I built up a big monk-like chant with some whistles to give it some Morricone flavor. Benjamin took it to a whole new level with the strings. Some of America's best helped make it. The voice is searching for the soul of America. I found some alive and well."