When I was first wooing Amy in 2002, I was warned off of her by some mutual friends who described her as “kinda conservative.” It was later sussed out that they’d been making a “kinda understandable” mistake. Amy was not and is not politically conservative; she’s just patriotic–a distinction too few people make in our post-you-know-what America.
Amy has since introduced me to the genius of The West Wing and The Contender, and she’s lovingly recounted her trip to the National Cathedral in D.C. She’s explained her love of Jimmy Carter and her need to call in sick the day after national elections. All of which has made me wonder lately how I rate as a patriot. I mean, is there anything colored red, white and blue that can be said to move me? Is there any American process or product that has caused my heart to swell with pride?
“American Tune” is a song very specifically about sailing in the Mayflower (the narrator’s dream-vision of the Statue of Liberty notwithstanding). It’s hard to talk about, because it doesn’t in any way address the looming massacre of Native Americans or the eventual suffering of African slaves. Come to think of it, “American Tune” is mostly hard to talk about because it could easily be mistaken as conservative…when in fact it’s just patriotic.
But at the time he wrote it, I’m sure Paul Simon wasn’t thinking of some genius way to dodge issues of political correctness. It just so happens that the story of the song takes place on the ocean, well before any buckle-hatted nutbag had a chance to practice genocide or slavery. In other words, it simply can’t be about the dodgy circumstances under which our country was founded. Instead it depicts the struggles of our first citizens as they shivered in a boat and wondered if they’d even get here alive.
And as such, it’s incredibly moving–not to mention applicable to any struggle this country’s had since. My brother pointed out that “American Tune” could be about Vietnam, and he’s right. And the song certainly came to my mind when the World Trade Center fell. The final verse always gets me: “We come in the age’s most uncertain hour / and sing an American tune.” I think it’s because living in this young nation, you always feel like you’re in the age’s most uncertain hour. You’re never sure if you’re going to get to where you need to be fully intact. Especially, certainly, now.
