"And I don't know a soul who's not been battered

[edhopper]

I don't have a friend who feels at ease
I don't know a dream that's not been shatter
or driven to its knees
But it's all right, it's all right
We've lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the road
we're traveling on
I wonder what went wrong
I can't help it, I wonder what went wrong
"
American Tune by Paul Simon 1973

So prescient for our time under Trump.

[CTyankee]

1. I remember that song when they first sang it.

Is Paul Simon still around? Maybe he can do a serious part of SNL next season...like Kate McKinnon's singing "Hallelujah" when Trump was elected...

[edhopper]

2. He did his last tour last year

I saw him in NY.
He sung this song, it was beautiful and chilling.

[CTyankee]

3. One of the reasons for this is that he stole the tune from J.S. Bach...

well at least the opening. Go listen to "O Sacred Head Now Wounded."

But maybe Bach stole it, too...

[blaze]

4. Peter, Paul and Mary did a great cover of this as well.

[CTyankee]

5. Well, I guess the tune is in the Public Domain, so no worries...

[edhopper]

6. I checked

and it doesn't look like Simon hides this.

And actually the tune predated Bach

wikipedia:

The tune is based on a melody line from a chorale from Johann Sebastian Bach's St Matthew Passion, itself a reworking of an earlier secular song, "Mein G'müt ist mir verwirret," composed by Hans Leo Hassler.[3] The melody used for "American Tune" can be heard quite distinctly in part 1, number 21 and number 23 and in part 2, number 54. The melody to "American Tune" is similar to that of "Mein G'müt ist mir verwirret" and "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded," although Simon expanded on the tune.

[CTyankee]

8. Yes, I remember reading that. Thanks for reminding me.

I didn't think Paul Simon tried to hide it, but thanks for the Wikipedia reference.

My son, who is a music buff (with day job as a prosecutor in the Brooklyn DA's office), has the opinion that both Simon and Garfunkel were "kind of jerks." That made me laugh out loud.

[edhopper]

10. Well, if you ask either one

if the other was a jerk, they would tell you so.

[CTyankee]

11. I believe it!

[dalton99a]

7. .

[mcar]

9. One of my favorite Paul Simon songs