| "American Tune" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Paul Simon | ||||
| from the album There Goes Rhymin' Simon | ||||
| B-side | "One Man's Ceiling Is Another Man's Floor" | |||
| Released | 1973 | |||
| Length | 3:45 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Writer(s) | Paul Simon | |||
| Paul Simon singles chronology | ||||
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"American Tune" is a song written and first performed by Paul Simon. The song first appeared on There Goes Rhymin' Simon (1973), Simon's second solo album following the breakup of Simon and Garfunkel. It was also released as a single, Columbia 45900, which eventually reached #35 on the Billboard charts in the United States.[1]
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The lyrics offer a perspective on the American experience; there are references to struggle, weariness, hard work, confusion, and homesickness. The bridge conveys a dream of death and of the Statue of Liberty "sailing away to sea." The song ends with an assertion that "you can't be forever blessed" before the lyrics return to the idea of work, tiredness, and resignation.
The tune is based on a melody line from Johann Sebastian Bach's chorale from the St. Matthew Passion, itself a reworking of an earlier secular song, "Mein G'müt ist mir verwirret," composed by Hans Hassler.[2] The melody used for "American Tune" can be heard quite distinctly in part 1, number 21 and number 23 and in part 2, number 53. "American Tune"'s melody is practically identical to that of the hymns "Mein G'müt ist mir verwirret" and "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded", although Simon expanded on the tune.
Eventually it became a concert favorite, both for Simon and in reunion concerts with Simon's former singing partner Art Garfunkel. The song appears on several of Simon's solo live albums and on Simon and Garfunkel's post-breakup live albums, most famously The Concert in Central Park. The song has also been covered by many artists, notably Willie Nelson, Dave Matthews, Eva Cassidy, Ann Wilson, the Indigo Girls, the Starland Vocal Band, Keane, Glen Phillips, Darrell Scott and Charlie Wood.
Simon performed the song live on November 18, 2008, during the airing of The Colbert Report.[3]
The song was also featured on at least one episode of the NBC television series Providence. It is included in an episode of The Wonder Years. The song is also alluded to in the lyrics of "Independence Day" by Ferron on the Driver CD: "There's a Paul Simon song that just tears me apart... about the Statue of Liberty and hole in a heart."
It was used as the theme song at the beginning and end of the Ken Burns 1980's film "Statue of Liberty".
In late October 2008, the progressive advocacy group Progressive Future produced a 60-second television ad featuring "American Tune" in support of Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign. The "what's gone wrong" line underscored a photo of President George W. Bush and Obama's opponent John McCain standing close together.
Lyrics from the song are also used at the beginning of Book 2 of Stephen King's The Stand.
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