Lyrics to
American Tune

This version of American Tune was released by Paul Simon in 1973.

Our About Paul Simon page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for American Tune from 1973 as well as all of the other lyrics from Paul Simon that we have in our lyrics database.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Paul Simon or about the 1970s in general.

Many’s, the time I’v been mistaken
And many times confused
Yes, and often felt forsaken
And certainly misused
But I’m all right, I’m all right
I’m just weary to my bones
Still, you don’t expect to be
Bright and bon vivant
So far away from home, so far away Irom home

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

And I dreamed I was dying
And I dreamed that my soul rose unexpectedly
And looking back down at me
Smiled reassunngly
And I dreamed I was flying
And high up above my eyes could clearly see
The Statue of Liberty
Sailing away to sea
And I dreamed I was flying

We come on the ship they call the Mayflower
We come on the ship that sailed the moon
We come in the age’s most uncertain hour
and sing an American tune
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

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Want more lyrics and songs by Paul Simon?

Paul Simon has released many songs over the years besides American Tune. Paul Simon released songs from 1965 to 2000 spanning across albums like The Paul Simon Songbook, Paul Simon, There Goes Rhymin' Simon, Paul Simon In Concert: Live Rhymin', Still Crazy After All These Years, One-Trick Pony, Hearts And Bones, Graceland, The Rhythm Of The Saints, Songs From The Capeman, and You're The One. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Paul Simon.

If you're a fan of the music of the 1970s looking for more songs from 1973 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and American Tune by Paul Simon

When you decide to study the lyrics to American Tune, you're looking at the words, verses and background chorus from the 1973 song by Paul Simon. Some of the lyrics to American Tune have clear meanings and some contain metaphorical references. Like most songs, only Paul Simon and their collaborators know the full story behind any of the their songs.

You can understand the lyrics to American Tune if you take apart the structure of the words. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to American Tune" means the words set to the music of American Tune, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Paul Simon. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to American Tune and the lyrics to American Tune are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Paul Simon who came here looking just for the lyrics to American Tune, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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