United States Live is the third album release by avant-garde singer-songwriter Laurie Anderson. Released as a 5-record boxed set (later reissued on four CDs), the album was recorded at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City in February 1983.
United States was Anderson's magnum opus performance-art piece featuring musical numbers, spoken word pieces, and animated vignettes about life in the United States. Segments ranged from humorous, such as "Yankee See," which gently chided Anderson's record label, Warner Bros. Records, for signing her in the first place, to the apocalyptic anthem "O Superman," which had been an unexpected Top 10 hit for Anderson on the UK music charts in 1981.
Part One
01 Say Hello 5:01
02 Walk The Dog 6:45
03 Violin Solo 2:13
04 Closed Circuits (For Voice And Amplified Mic Stand) 6:03
05 For A Large And Changing Room 2:50
06 Pictures Of It (For Acoustic Tape Bow) 1:31
07 The Language Of The Future 8:02
08 Cartoon Song 1:12
09 Small Voice (For Speaker-In-Mouth) 2:03
10 Three Walking Songs (For Tape Bow Violin) 4:19
11 The Healing Horn 3:01
12 New Jersey Turnpike 11:19
13 So Happy Birthday 6:23
14 EngliSH 2:08
15 Dance Of Electricity 3:02
16 Three Songs For Paper, Film And Video 6:02
Part Two
01 Sax Solo (For Tape Bow Violin) 0:55
02 Sax Duet 0:38
03 Born, Never Asked 5:16
04 From The Air 2:46
05 Beginning French 2:16
06 O Superman 11:05
07 Talkshow 6:57
08 Frames For The Pictures 1:08
09 Democratic Way 1:41
10 Looking For You 1:19
11 Walking And Falling 1:21
12 Private Property 3:04
13 Neon Duet (For Violin And Neon Bow) 3:52
14 Let X=X 6:17
15 The Mailman's Nightmare 0:46
16 Difficult Listening Hour 3:10
17 Language Is A Virus From Outer Space 7:55
18 Reverb 0:26
19 If You Can't Talk About It, Point To It (For Ludwig Wittgenstein And Reverend Ike) 0:33
20 Violin Walk 2:44
21 City Song 3:34
22 Finnish Farmers 5:13
Part Three
01 Red Map 1:57
02 Hey Ah 3:50
03 Bagpipe Solo 3:17
04 Steven Weed 1:05
05 Time And A Half 2:14
06 Violin And A Tape 1:28
07 Example #22 2:33
08 Strike 2:11
09 False Documents 1:59
10 New York Social Life 3:32
12 A Curois Phenomenon 1:06
12 Yankee See 7:58
13 I Dreamed That I Had To Take A Test… 1:19
14 Running Dogs 0:38
15 Four, Three, Two, One 1:15
16 The Big Top 2:52
17 It Was Up In The Mountains 2:14
18 Odd Objects (For Light-In-Mouth) 4:03
19 Dr. Miller 5:18
20 Big Science 7:20
21 Big Science Reprise 1:47
Part Four
01 Cello Solo 2:44
02 It Tango 1:51
03 Blue Tango 9:38
04 Hothead (La Langue D'amour) 4:47
05 Stiff Neck 1:33
06 Telephone Song 1:34
07 Sweaters 3:58
08 We've Got Four Big Clocks (And They're All Ticking) 2:24
09 Song For Two Jims 2:56
10 Over The River 3:30
11 Mach 20 2:47
12 Rising Sun 3:25
13 The Visitors 3:01
14 The Stranger 1:57
15 Classified 5:25
16 Going Somewhere? 0:55
17 Fireworks 2:46
18 Dog Show 0:48
19 Lighting Out For The Territories 3:13
Bagpipes – Rufus Harley (tracks: 3-1 to 3-21)
Clarinet, Saxophone – Chuck Fisher (tracks: 2-4 to 4-19)
Engineer – Leanne Ungar
Engineer [Tape Operator] – Bob Davis
Flute, Saxophone – Bill Obrecht (tracks: 2-4 to 4-19)
Keyboards [Synclavier, Obxa] – Ann DeMarinis (tracks: 2-4 to 4-19)
Percussion, Drums – David Van Tieghem (tracks: 2-4 to 4-19)
Producer – Laurie Anderson, Roma Baran
Saxophone – Bill Obrecht (tracks: 1-1 to 2-3)
Soprano Vocals – Shelley Carson (tracks: 3-1 to 4-19)
Synthesizer [Prophet] – Peter Gordon (tracks: 1-1 to 2-3)
Violin [Electric, Neon], Keyboards [Obxa], Electronics [Vocoder, Harmonizer, Glasses], Voice – Laurie Anderson (tracks: 2-4 to 2-22)
Violin [Electric], Keyboards [Obxa, Synclavier], Electronics [Vocoder, Telephone], Jew's Harp, Voice – Laurie Anderson (tracks: 4-1 to 4-19)
Violin [Electric], Performer [Violin Bows], Electronics [Harmonizer, Pillow Speaker], Saxophone [Toy], Voice – Laurie Anderson (tracks: 1-1 to 2-3)
Violin [Electric], Violin [Tape Bow, Neon], Keyboards [Obxa, Synclavier], Electronics [Vocoder, Harmonizer, Glasses, Telephone], Voice – Laurie Anderson (tracks: 3-1 to 3-22)
Voice – Geraldine Pontius (tracks: 1-1 to 2-3), Joe Kos (tracks: 1-1 to 2-3)
Written-By – Laurie Anderson (tracks: 1-1 to 3-19, 3-22 to 4-19)
