Paul Simon: American Tune

SONG American Tune

SONGWRITER Paul Simon

PERFORMED BY Paul Simon

APPEARS ON There Goes Rhymin' Simon (1973), others

NOTE "American Tune" is essential to any Paul Simon collection. Anthologies without it should be avoided.

Back in 1973, when Paul Simon recorded "American Tune", Americans had much to worry about. The country remained bogged down in Vietnam while the body politic had become caught up in the throes of Watergate. Moreover, for idealists, the Sixties had ended in a wave of assassinations and violence culminating at Altamont. No wonder, then, that Simon pondered in "American Tune" that

I don't know a dream that's not been shattered

Or driven to its knees

He even speculated that the country had seen its best days:

But it's all right, it's all right

For we lived so well so long

Still, when I think of the road we're traveling on

I wonder what's gone wrong

But "American Tune" is not a memorable song because of its roots in a particular time and place: It remains a great song today because Simon successfully explores the gap between promise and reality, and he does it in a particularly skillful manner.

Listen to the song as alternating statements, in which the first and third verses represent the voice of the country itself; the second verse, Simon's personal testimony, and the final verse as the collective voice of an American choir. Thus, the song opens with the country feeling "forsaken", "misused", and "weary." The separation of America from its own ideals have left it feeling "far away from home."

Simon then interjects the personal observations about battered souls and general unease, wondering whether it might indeed be all over. America returns in the third verse looking down on itself, at first reassured by its "soul" but ultimately worried that its finest ideals have departed unfulfilled:

And high up above my eyes could clearly see

The Statue of Liberty

Sailing away to sea

Finally comes the closing statement, first invoking the power and successes of the American Dream:

We come on the ship they called the Mayflower

We come on the ship that sailed the moon

We come in the age's most uncertain hour

And sing an American tune

From the Mayflower to landing on the moon, America has served as a guiding light for the world, but if we don't remain vigilant, well...

You can't be forever blessed

Thus, "American Tune" serves as a cautionary statement about the dangers of straying too far from founding ideals. It's there -- not a refusal to play realpolitik or approve of the use of torture or tap phones -- lies the true danger to the republic. Perhaps the election of Barack Obama last fall was a public recognition of this. I don't want to place too much importance on a single event, but it may well have signaled a sea change that the country will no longer be run by the same coterie of the privileged. That kind of change is uplifting to some, frightening to others. But it may yet portend that our best days may not lie behind us.

LYRICS

Many's the time I've been mistaken

And many times confused

Yes, and I've often felt forsaken

And certainly misused

But I'm all right, I'm all right

I'm just weary to my bones

Still, you don't expect to be bright and bon vivant

So far away from home, so far away from home

And I don't know a soul who's not been battered

I don't have a friend who feels at ease

I don't know a dream that's not been shattered

Or driven to its knees

But it's all right, it's all right

For we lived so well so long

Still, when I think of the road we're traveling on

I wonder what's gone wrong

I can't help it, I wonder what's gone wrong

And I dreamed I was dying

I dreamed that my soul rose unexpectedly

And looking back down at me

Smiled reassuringly

And I dreamed I was flying

And high up above my eyes could clearly see

The Statue of Liberty

Sailing away to sea

And I dreamed I was crying

We come on the ship they called the Mayflower

We come on the ship that sailed the moon

We come in the age's most uncertain hour

And sing an American tune

Oh and it's all right, it's all right, it's all right

You can't be forever blessed

Still tomorrow's going to be another working day

And I'm trying to get some rest

That's all, I'm trying to get some rest

(Includes brief conversation with Dick Cavett after the song.)



New Orleans' John Boutte -- accompanied by Paul Sanchez on guitar -- performs a staggeringly beautiful version: