Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CLXV--Paul Simon: American Tune

It can be hard sometimes, in our current political climate, to not wonder if the U.S. has finally jumped the shark as a nation and question whether it's all downhill from here on out.  I'm not there myself--and might be too much of a pessimistic optimist to ever reach that point--but when you live in a nation where thirty-five percent of our people are willing to overlook the fact that our President may be in cahoots with a foreign adversary, you do have to question it.  This week's tune looks at the opposite of Thunderclap Newman's call to arms and quietly contemplates the resignation of a weary people.

Paul Simon is another in a long line of artists featured here on Friday Night Jukebox whose career can't easily be summed up in a paragraph.  Starting out with his work with Art Garfunkel as Tom and Jerry (with a couple of minor hits), moving into superstardom with Simon and Garfunkel, breaking up at the height of the band's popularity to go solo and continuing his success through the seventies, reinventing himself in the eighties with his foray into world music (among others), Simon has had quite the run.  He's won 16 Grammys (three for album of the year), been elected into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for both Simon and Garfunkel as well as for his solo work, wrote and starred in a movie (One Trick Pony), created a Broadway musical (Capeman), and showed up on several different Rolling Stone All-time lists (album, guitarists, songwriter).  This doesn't even count the numerous #1 albums, #1 singles, millions of records sold, and record breaking world tours.  Needless to say, it adds up to a career resume that isn't surpassed by many (Dylan, Springsteen, Townshend, McCartney, and maybe a couple of others that don't immediately spring to mind).

Released in 1973 on his wonderfully titled There Goes Rhymin' Simon LP, "American Tune" was the third single from the album and peaked at #35 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100.  Despite its not being the most commercially successful single of his career, the song has become a fan favorite through the years and one of the most popular on his concert tours, both solo and with Art Garunkel.

Simon says he wrote "American Tune" in the aftermath of Richard Nixon's re-election in 1972, which may have been some serious prescience on Simon's part as it would be nearly two years before Watergate brought the Nixon administration to its knees.  There's a certain resignation in the songs music and lyrics, though I've always thought the references to rest were more to rest up to fight another day rather than giving in to the powers that be.  Still, Simon sings "But it's all right, it's all right" three times as he weaves his tale, and I don't think the line is an accident.  Yes, we're all tired and weary, he seems to be saying, but we'll get there yet.  To me, "American Tune" is ageless--in this, the era of Trump, we need all the hope we can get and this song, forty-five years down the road, reminds us that though we may not be forever blessed, we can still sing an American tune as we continue the unending struggle.

Lyric Sheet:  "And I don't know a soul who's not been battered/And 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..."

Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee