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.
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.