American Tune Lyrics
and many times confused
Yes, and I've often felt forsaken
And certainly misused
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
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
For we've lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the road
We're travelling on
I wonder what's gone wrong
I can't help it, I wonder what's gone wrong
And I dreamed that my soul rose unexpectedly
And looking back down at me
Smiled reassuringly
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 that sailed the moon
We come in the age's most uncertain hour
And sing an American Tune
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
I cannot believe no one has written about this song. I am a huge Paul Simon fan, and like all of his songs - love most of them - but this song is one of the best songs ever written, in my opinion. He is excellent at expressing moods.
I'd like to point out that the melody is exactly like the church tune "O Sacred head now wounded" which was originally written in German as "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden" by Paul Gerhardt in 1607 and is based on a german middle-age love song "Mein Gemüt ist mir verwirret". Hence, we have a german secular love song transformed into a religious anthem transformed into a "American tune". Given that Simon has a Bachelor degree in Music Science, I suppose he knew this. The history of this melody thus very nicely mirrors the "mistaken" and "confused" mood in the lyrics. Far away from home, the "american-ness" of tunes is just as uncertain as the age and especially the singer himself.
There are over a dozen comments about this song filed under Paul Simon. The song first appears on "There goes Rhymin' Simon".