Tag: American Tune

The Fourth of July in Song

american flag There are a number of popular songs that reference the Fourth of July and Independence Day. There are songs that take a historical approach to focus on the drafters and signers of the Declaration of Independence as in the play and movie 1776. And there are popular songs about America like the version of “America the Beautiful” by Ray Charles or the song we discussed on Chimesfreedom last year, Paul Simon’s “American Tune.” But there are also a number of songs that refer to the modern version of the holiday without singing about Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, or purple mountains majesty.

Shooter Jennings: “Fourth of July”

Shooter Jennings, son of the great Waylon Jennings, recorded an excellent song about the holiday in “Fourth of July” off his debut album, Put the O Back in Country (2005). Although the song does not mention the Declaration of Independence or our Founding Fathers, it evokes the Fourth of July that is more familiar to Americans today of having a nice holiday.

Unlike many of the other Fourth of July patriotic songs, Shooter Jennings’s song is completely about the holiday. And it is a fun song. (Unfortunately, the official video is no longer available on YouTube so below is a fan video with the lyrics. A live version is here.)

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“The Great Compromise”

John Prine invokes patriotic imagery as he remembers “a girl who was almost a lady” born on the Fourth of July in his wonderful “The Great Compromise.” The song appeared on Prine’s album Diamonds In The Rough (1971).

The girl in “The Great Compromise,” however, really represents the United States.  Prine’s song about disillusionment with the country during the Vietnam War is one of the great songs about our country. [Thanks to Lucia Ferrara for reminding me about the Prine song.]

Other Singing References to the Fourth

Many other singers and songwriters have planted references to the holiday in their songs.  For example, there are songs by James Taylor (“On the Fourth of July”), U2 (the instrumental “4th of July”), Elliott Smith (“Independence Day”), X (“4th of July”), Ariel Abshire (“Fourth of July”), and Aimee Mann (“4th of July”).

Tom Waits mentions the holiday in “This One From the Heart.” So does Chicago in “Saturday in the Park” but the band was not completely sure about the day:  “Saturday in the park/ I think it was the Fourth of July.”

And Lucinda Williams sang about a “Metal Firecracker,” although the song title referred to a tour bus. PopMatters has a good list of July Fourth songs, and check out the comments below for some more additions.

What is your favorite Fourth of July song? Let us know in the comments. And have a happy and safe Fourth of July.

 

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    American Tune

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    Happy Fourth of July weekend for our readers in the U.S. In a recent post, we considered Willie Nelson’s recording of “Graceland” on his album, Across the Borderline (1993). That CD also featured another classic song written by Paul Simon, “American Tune.” The beautiful music in the song, though, was not original to Simon.

    The music we know from “American Tune” appears in the chorale from “St. Matthew Passion,” BWV 244, written by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) about the crucifixion of Christ. You may hear “American Tune” in that composition in No. 21 (Chorale – “Acknowledge Me My Keeper”), No. 23 (Chorale – “Near Thee I Would Be Staying,” and No. 53 (Chorale – “Wha’ever may vex or grieve thee”). But Bach did not create the theme.

    Bach’s composition reworked “Mein Gmüth ist mir verwirret,” composed by Hans Hassler (1564-1612), a German composer who wrote the tune around a century before Bach was born. Hassler’s song was a secular love song known in English as “My Heart is Distracted by a Gentle Maid.” Hymnist Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676) also borrowed Hassler’s tune in one of his compositions. We might call Hassler the “Father of Recycling.” Through Gerhardt and Bach, Hassler’s love song became a religious hymn (“O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down,/ Now scornfully surrounded with thorns, Thine only crown.”). Here’s the Bach version:

    Paul Simon took the beautiful music and transformed it with new meaning in “American Tune,” which appeared on There Goes Rhymin’ Simon (1973), released as Simon’s second album after his breakup with Art Garfunkel and as America was tangled in Viet Nam and Watergate. As columnist Anne Hill explained, the song “captures perfectly all the complexity of an idealism that died but still lives; the bitter disappointment and deeper hope which are intertwined in the soul of this country.” The lyrics are vague enough to allow for various interpretations, but the music conveys the melancholy of the song while still maintaining the beauty.

    But it’s all right, it’s all right;
    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.

    Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel performed Simon’s song, “American Tune,” at their famous free concert in Central Park on September 19, 1981. The performance appears on the CD, Concert in Central Park.

    Here is Willie Nelson and Simon performing “American Tune” from Nelson’s CD, Across the Borderline. On the album version, Paul Simon produced the recording and backed up Nelson. Check it out below (YouTube also has a live version of the song performed by Nelson and Simon.)

    Eva Cassidy does a beautiful version of the song too. Among others, Peter, Paul and Mary recorded a folk song, “Because All Men Are Brothers,” which was written by Tom Glazer and is based upon the same Bach music. The song’s lyrics include: “My brother’s fears are my fears, yellow, white, or brown; / My brother’s tears are my tears, the whole wide world around.”

    Thus, Hassler’s tune written in 1601 has functioned as a song of brotherhood, a love song, a hymn of faith, and an American tune about dreams surviving a time of lost innocence. That’s a pretty good record, and a nice theme for Independence Day.

    Photo of flag and barn via woodleywonderworks.

    What do you think “American Tune” means? Which version of the music do you prefer? Leave a comment.

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