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American Dream Lyrics
I used to see you on every T.V.
Your smiling face looked back at me
I used to see you on every T.V.
Your smiling face looked back at me
Then they caught you with the girl next door
People's money piled on the floor
Accusations that you try to deny
Revelations and rumors begin to fly
Now you think about reaching out
Maybe get some help from above
Now you think about reaching out
Maybe get some help from above
Reporters crowd around your house
Going through your garbage like a pack of hounds
Speculating what they may find out
It don't matter now
You're all washed up
You wake up in the middle of the night
Your sheets are wet and your face is white
You tried to make a good thing last
How could something so good, go bad, so fast
American dream, American dream
American dream, American dream
Don't know when things went wrong
Might have been when you were young and strong
Don't know when things went wrong
Might have been when you were young and strong
Reporters crowd around your house
Going through your garbage like a pack of hounds
Speculating what they may find out
It don't matter now
You're all washed up
Don't know when things went wrong
Might have been when you were young and strong
American dream, American dream
Don't know when things went wrong
Might have been when you were young and strong
American dream, American dream
I'm not positive, but it might be about Jimmy and Tammy Baker?
It is indeed about that among other things.
This song is about Gary Hart, disgraced US Democratic Presidential nominee.
His tumultuous campaign ended in March of 1988. This album was released in November. “Used to see you on every TV” references Hart’s ubiquitous media coverage at the time. The ambiguous lyrics refer to reporters “Going through your garbage like a pack of hounds.” This signifies the extra-marital affair Hart was having with Donna Rice, and the media frenzy that ensued, resulting in reporters following the candidate around incessantly.
“People’s money piled on the floor” most likely refers to the $1.3 million dollar debt Hart had racked up during his 1984 presidential bid.
The lyric “Don’t know when things went wrong / Might’ve been when you were young and strong” may be up for interpretation. ‘You’ may be Hart, or America itself. Perhaps Neil Young was asking if America went wrong long ago when it was young and strong, and indeed whether the American dream had died long ago.