Talk:America (Simon & Garfunkel song)

Jimmy Carter
I May be wrong, but didn't Paul Simon perform "American Tune" for Carter, not "America"? Cheers, Vera, Chuck &amp; Dave 21:48, 3 September 2006 (UTC)
 * I can't find anything (apart from sites starting to mirror this article) confirming "America" was the song performed. Please cite the sourse or I will remove it. A citation request was made on 13 Oct. and questioned it's inclusion on the 3rd. Vera, Chuck &amp; Dave 14:29, 18 October 2006 (UTC)


 * There is nothing I can find to confirm this song was performed for Jimmy Carter, I am removing it. If anyone can find a sourse, (other than a mirror) please put it in Vera, Chuck &amp; Dave 18:14, 22 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Yo...'source' not 'sourse'. 😉 Wayniack (talk) 22:25, 20 July 2023 (UTC)

Basis for humorous short story
Although I can't find it, the song was the basis for a short story published in (I think) a "best of the year" mystery short story anthology. In the story, a young man named Paul is being questioned by an anonymous official, and as the dialog progresses it becomes apparent that the reason Paul is being questioned is that he and his girlfriend seem to have breached the cover of a spy whom they encountered on a Greyhound bus ... 76.126.4.90 (talk) 22:59, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Paul Simon's 'America' lyrics appearing on abandoned structures in Saginaw, Michigan ( 2010 )
Lyrics on the wall

Saginaw, Michigan rarely warrants musical muse status — at least on a national level — but on “America,” a song written by Paul Simon, released in 1968 and performed with Art Garfunkel, Saginaw garners its mention alongside the likes of the New Jersey Turnpike, Pittsburgh, Pa. and Mrs. Wagner pies.

At least two lyrics from the song have appeared in spray-paint form on abandoned structures throughout the city, including the lyric, “All gone to look for America,” on a boarded up building at the corner of South Washington and East Genesee in Downtown Saginaw; and, “so we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner pies,” painted in red on the outside of Mama Lillie’s, a long-abandoned soul food restaurant at the end of Potter Street in Saginaw.

How did Saginaw make it into a Paul Simon Lyric?

Bob Dyer, a former Saginaw disc jockey and organizer of Y-A-Go-Go, a concert series hosted by the Saginaw YMCA, 1915 Fordney, booked Simon and Garfunkel to play three months before “Sounds of Silence” became a No. 1 national hit in 1966, according to Saginaw News records.

“I asked Paul Simon if they were still charging the $1,250 we paid them to play and he said they were getting about four times that much then,” Dyer told The Saginaw News in 2004. “Then I asked him why he hadn't pulled out, and he said he had to see what a city named Saginaw looked like.

“Apparently, he liked it; he wrote ‘America' while he was here, including that line about taking four days to hitchhike from Saginaw.”

http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2010/12/paul_simons_america_lyrics_ran.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.250.155.34 (talk) 20:17, 14 December 2010 (UTC)

Anonymous artist explains motive for America lyrics appearing on abandoned buildings in Saginaw Michigan
The poignant lyrics to Paul Simon’s song “America” began curiously sprouting up on decrepit landmarks throughout Saginaw about three months ago.

“Michigan seems like a dream to me now. It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw. I've gone to look for America,” Simon wrote in the 1968-released tune.

A Saginaw artist has taken those wanderlust-filled lyrics and painted them as graffiti at various locations in Saginaw, including a soccer goal post at Wickes Park, railroad tracks, abandoned buildings and bridge supports.

They appear disconnected at first glance, but there is a system to the work. With the help of friends, the artist strategically painted one line from the song on each of 28 structures throughout the city.

The artist, who asked to remain anonymous to avoid legal trouble, said the lyrics spoke to him years ago, as he pondered his dying hometown from college far away.

The song was written at a time when Saginaw’s population nearly doubled the US Census-estimate of 55,000 residents in 2009.

“For me and several people I know who are from Saginaw, it is our homesick song,” the painter said. “When I was in school and really missing Saginaw, I would keep playing that song over and over again, and would be thinking about how I left Saginaw to find my dreams, too, and wondered if that was really the right decision.”

He eventually returned home and began working with Saginaw’s artist community. Today, he hopes to positively impact his hometown.

“I don’t think Saginaw is done shrinking, and I never think it will return to the state it was, but that doesn’t mean that something great won’t take place here,” he said.

Saginaw, like other towns along Interstate 75’s automotive corridor, Flint and Detroit, has experienced abandonment by industry and residents, “so we decided to put the song up on the buildings to make them think about it a little more,” the artist said.

Bob Dyer, a former Saginaw disc jockey, explained in a 2004 interview with The Saginaw News how Saginaw garnered a mention in the song performed by Simon and Garfunkel.

Also an organizer of Y-A-Go-Go, a concert series hosted by the Saginaw YMCA during the 1960s, Dyer booked Simon and Garfunkel to play a concert three months before “Sounds of Silence” became the duo’s first No. 1 hit in 1966, according to Saginaw News records.

“I asked Paul Simon if they were still charging the $1,250 we paid them to play and he said they were getting about four times that much then,” Dyer said. “Then I asked him why he hadn't pulled out, and he said he had to see what a city named Saginaw looked like.

“Apparently, he liked it; he wrote ‘America' while he was here, including that line about taking four days to hitchhike from Saginaw.”

The artist who pioneered the public art display said he hopes people will reflect on his work that some might only see as vandalism.

“Saginaw gets such a bad reputation nationally — for crime, pollution, there are a million things — but it’s still our town, and to me it’s the best place to live in, because it’s my city,” he said.

http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2010/12/anonymous_artist_explains_moti.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.89.208.254 (talk) 03:06, 20 December 2010 (UTC)

blank verse?
In the lyrics section it is said that the song is written in a blank verse. According to the article on blank verse, in is supposed to be iambic, but America is written in Dactyl meter.

Bass
I know that some sources credit Larry Knechtel on bass, but can anybody provide a reliable source to verify that it is Joe Osborn on bass, assuming it's him at all? I have listened to the song and the bass part does resemble the characteristics of Osborn's style (a Fender Jazz Bass with a bright resonant sound because of flatwounds that he didn't change for 20 years and use of a plectrum). The source that verifies Knechtel and Hal Blaine's involvement makes no mention of Osborn, so if somebody can provide a reliable source to verify his involvement, that'll be good. Thank you. 203.221.15.210 (talk) 21:39, 8 February 2018 (UTC)
 * I do not know how "reliable" a discog like this is, but it lists Knechtel on bass guitar, which in a way makes sense, as "America" was recorded the day before "Mrs. Robinson", a song that also lists Knechtel on bass (Feb 2, 1968). I picked the recording dates from a listing in the "Old Friends" CD box. Dorthonion (talk) 12:51, 14 April 2021 (UTC)

Meter, tempo and key
This currently reads According to EMI Music Publishing's digital sheet music for the song, "America" is composed in the key of E-flat major and set in a 6/8 time signature, and has a moderately fast groove of 172 beats per minute.

but links to musicnotes.com sheet music in 3/4 without a tempo marking. (It's played as a 6/8 though.) Usually 6/8 are counted as two dotted quarter notes so this would be called a moderately slow groove with 58 BPM.

Also, the recording is in D major.

--2003:D4:DF00:EE28:2D45:60C1:4064:34B8 (talk) 20:28, 4 March 2021 (UTC)

Grammar Grommet!
The 2nd sentence in the Background section is grammatically incorrect and ambiguous: "Producer Tom Wilson had called Simon, living in London at the time, went back to the United States to finalize mixes and artwork for their debut studio album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M." There needs to be a pronoun before "went back...", or "and asked him to come back...". As is, I'm not sure who went back. Wayniack (talk) 22:39, 20 July 2023 (UTC)

Who, What, When, Where, Why?
The description of the event under Backgroud, that was the basis for the song, feels incomplete and leaves me asking the questions: Where did they (presumably Simon & Chitty) fly from London to? Where did he need to go to finalize mixes and artwork? Why didn't they fly directly to that location? Wayniack (talk) 22:41, 20 July 2023 (UTC)