As was the case with many of her hits of this era, Janet Jackson wrote "Rhythm Nation" with the songwriting and production team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. The trio got the idea for the song after seeing news stories about the
Stockton playground murders, when Patrick Purdy shot up a school playground in California and killed five children before turning the gun on himself. They wanted to write a positive song focusing on the "Nation" of people they came across in New York dance clubs. These people came to the clubs from many different backgrounds and were united in their love for the music.
"I was reading about all these clubs and I thought it would be great if we could create our own nation," Jackson told the
Los Angeles Times. "One that would have a positive message and that everyone would be free to join."
The distinctive bass groove was based on Sly & the Family Stone's "
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)," which
Jimmy Jam told Songfacts is one of his favorite songs of all time. Describing how he came up with the idea to use it, he said, "I was actually at a restaurant, I might have been with Janet, I can't remember who I was eating with. But I remember they were playing music in the background, sort of ambiance. And I remember all of a sudden just hearing the guitar lick on the break of 'Thank You,' which is 'da jing da jing jink.' I heard that, and I've heard that a million times, but it was the first time I heard it kind of out of context where I wasn't really listening and all of a sudden that part just grabbed my ear. And I immediately said, 'I'm going back to the studio because I'm going to loop that part and make a song out of it.' I had no clue that it was going to be 'Rhythm Nation' or anything like that. I just knew that that track, that was fine. That that was going to be just beyond – that was the spark of the idea."
The video created a new look for Jackson and introduced her military-style dance moves she became famous for. The video won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography and the Soul Train Music Award for Best Music Video.
In an interview with Michael Jackson, he said that Janet called to ask if she could use the military-style dance she saw in Michael's short film Captain EO in her video for this song. Michael refused at first since he wanted to do a video with all the dances in military style, but he eventually let Janet use it.
Pink covered this song for the animated movie Happy Feet Two in 2011.
When she headlined the Super Bowl halftime show in 2004, Jackson transfixed the crowd with a rousing rendition of "Rhythm Nation" that was forgotten two minutes later when Justin Timberlake, brought on to perform his hit "
Rock Your Body" with Jackson,
tore away part of her outfit, revealing her breast. This "wardrobe malfunction" was big news and put Jackson in the doghouse with Viacom because they owned MTV, which produced the show, and CBS, which aired the Super Bowl. Viacom retaliated by banishing Jackson from MTV and their many radio stations, and disinviting her to the Grammy Awards, where Timberlake performed and took home two awards.
Rhythm Nation 1814 was a defining album of its time. It was released in September 1989 but made most of its impact in 1990. There were a staggering four #1 hits on the album, but "Rhythm Nation" wasn't one of them. Released as the second single following the #1 "Miss You Much," it got stuck at #2 behind "
Another Day in Paradise" by Phil Collins. The other three chart-toppers were "
Black Cat," "Escapade" and "
Love Will Never Do (Without You)." Another single, "Come Back To Me," also reached #2, stopped by Mariah Carey's "
Vision Of Love."
Janet Jackson was the perfect person to lead the rhythm nation. Thanks to her previous album, Control, she was a huge star, but still just 23. She was a voice for young people but had the attention of an older generation as well. Her message was strong and accessible, coated in irresistible dance grooves that made it a lot easier to process. Many young people found it uplifting and empowering.
The song is called "Rhythm Nation" but the album is
Rhythm Nation 1814. That's because the album was assigned number 1814 as a project number, and someone with a great knowledge of history noted that was the year Francis Scott-Key wrote the
American national anthem. They also figured out that "R" is the 18th letter of the alphabet, and "N" is number 14, so that number seemed to have a special significance and was added to the album title.
On the Rhythm Nation 1814 album, some of the songs have spoken introductions. "Rhythm Nation" is the first track, and it begins with this interlude, called "Pledge":
We are a nation with no geographic boundaries, bound together through our beliefs. We are like-minded individuals sharing a common vision, pushing toward a world rid of color lines: music, poetry, dance, unity.
There is then a countdown from five to one, and the music kicks in.
This song supports the overarching theme of the album, which is unity through music and dance. A few other songs on the album also have messages, including "State Of The World" and "
The Knowledge," but for the most part, the rest of the album has much lighter themes like love ("
Miss You Much") and adventure ("
Escapade").
The music video is part of a 30-minute film directed by Dominic Sena that's also called Rhythm Nation 1814. It's set in a city where Jackson and her crew occupy a warehouse, but outside there's trouble on the streets. When a young boy gets shot, his friend is invited to join the Nation.
The song "Rhythm Nation" is the grand finale, bringing it all together with showstopping choreography. The film debuted on MTV and was then sold on home video. It earned Jackson her first Grammy Award, taking the trophy for Best Long Form Music Video.
The "Rhythm Nation" video is a 4:26 extract from the film that includes the "Pledge" introduction.
The countdown that's part of the song's introduction is illustrated in the video by Janet Jackson doing it on her hand, but in an unusual way, first closing her thumb (4), then her index finger (3), then dropping her pinky and ring finger and bringing the index finger back for 2, then dropping the middle finger for 1. Be sure to practice it before you try it in public - if you drop the wrong finger at the end, you might get in trouble.
The incisive sketch comedy show In Living Color skewered Whitney Houston with a parody of this song called "Rhythmless Nation." Houston wasn't known for her dancing, so in the bit she dances like a drunk dad at a wedding.
