American Tune (Paul Simon)

[JeffR]

Many's the time I've been mistaken
And many times confused
Yes, and I've often felt forsaken
And certainly misused
Oh, 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 flying

We come on the ship they call the Mayflower
We come on the ship that sailed the moon
We come in the age's most uncertain hours
and sing an American tune
Oh, and it's alright, 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

[saltpoint]

1. Sublime language grafted onto a beautiful composition.

And reason to remain on American soil.

Thank you for putting this up for us tonight, JeffR.

[JeffR]

2. Thank you OC

Got thinking about this tonight because a friend is hurting, and I don't live on American soil anymore. Tonight is one of those nights I'm glad I don't, but whatever relief that provides is deeply tinged with melancholy for home and what it means.

[saltpoint]

16. Someone with your range would naturally be the audience for a

composition like this.

Makes sense that the keen ear would listen close to the fine song.

Home indeed. I hope you find it anyplace you ever stand.

[Blue_In_AK]

3. One of my favorite tunes, JeffR.

Thanks. :)

[JeffR]

4. Hey Blue!

I'm up at a ridiculous hour posting on the damn internet!
One of my favorites too. I was going to post a Youtube link to a Simon performance of this from '75, but he looked so weird with that mustache I couldn't bear to do it. It is a lovely anthem, that song. Based on a motif from a Bach Mass, I think. And the words just get to the heart of being American, somehow. Or just humans trying to be Americans, maybe.

[Blue_In_AK]

5. Paul Simon is very good with those American themes.

Americans are such good people -- it's a shame about our government, though. I do hope things get better.

[JeffR]

6. Soon

:thumbsup:

[trusty elf]

13. That's poignantly beautiful.

Thanks for posting it JeffR! I hadn't heard it before.

It sounds very much like it's based on the chorale "Herzlich thut mich verlangen" by Hans Leo Hassler that Bach made at least ten arrangements of.

The tune was obviously dear to his heart as well.

[JeffR]

22. Didn't know that connection.

I just did a Youtube search and found this arrangement by the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdUhLZMqMDA

Maybe takes the song back to its roots a little.

[fishwax]

7. one of my favorite Paul Simon tunes -- here it is on youtube

thanks for posting the lyrics and reminding me of this great song :thumbsup: ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE3kKUEY5WU

[JeffR]

8. Thanks for the link!

he's a lyricist with few peers, and a criminally underrated guitarist, too.

[Bluebear]

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

I LOVE this song. Always have.

[Hissyspit]

10. A friend of mine just put that song on a mix CD compilation for me.

The name of the compilation: "Neoconned No More."

[JeffR]

11. That's excellent

:D

[unhappycamper]

12. I'll have to dig up my Kodachrome CD.

I haven't listened to that for quite a while.

[wolfgirl]

14. To really hear

this in it's magnificence, check out Starland Vocal Band (they did Afternoon Delight). This group toured with John Denver & hearing them sing American Tune sans instruments was truly a delight!

[SalmonChantedEvening]

15. Bless ya JeffR for posting this

Wonderful respite from what is going on.

:hi: :pals: :toast:

[Patsy Stone]

17. Paul Simon

:loveya:

I tell people he was my first husband -- when I was nine. I still can't listen to Homeward Bound without tearing up.

Thanks for posting that.

[Le Taz Hot]

18. Great lyrics (and music)

from a great American composer.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

19. So beautiful... I just figured out that I have loved Paul Simon for close to 40 years now.

He's a few years older than me and we grew up in the same neighborhood in Queens, and although I have never met him, my brother has worked with Paul's brother Eddie and has sold Paul a couple of classic guitars.

The last time I saw Paul perform live was at the huge free concert in Central Park (1981) that he performed with Artie. It was a blast! :)

[ekwhite]

20. I remember hearing this during the 9/11 benefit concert

I just broke down and cried. Such beautiful lyrics, so appropriate to these times. Paul Simon, may you be forever blessed. O8)

[Laurab]

21. An all time favorite of mine.

The song gives me chills. Willie Nelson does a cover of it on one of his albums, with Paul Simon singing harmony, too. Nothing beats Paul singing it though.

[saltpoint]

23. I'm kicking this for the sound impulse of the OP for posting it in the

first place and for a perilous and perilously beautiful vision of my country.

[checks-n-balances]

24. Lyrics are even more poignant not just after 911 but after the GOP

will have devastated this country. Every time I listen to it I think of how great we've been and how far down we've been going. "You can't be forever blessed" indeed; the song title should probably now be "American Tragedy" instead. But those lyrics are still brilliant

Eva Cassidy recorded a beautiful live version but didn't include all the lyrics; no matter, Paul Simon himself is said to have liked her version as much as any. She wasn't a songwriter but her voice was so angelic & enhanced what others had written. These clips from her downloadable "American Tune" CD are well worth a listen:

http://www.amazon.com/American-Tune-Eva-Cassidy/dp/B0000ADXF9/ref=m_art_li_5