“American Tune” by Paul Simon

"American Tune" was the third single from There Goes Rhymin' Simon, Paul Simon's third solo album, released on Columbia in 1973, and it's his long, grave look at what it means to be an American. He borrowed the melody from the hymn "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded", and it carries echoes of Bach. Simon later said he didn't write overtly political songs, but this one came close: he wrote it just after Nixon's election.

Simon produced it with Paul Samwell-Smith as co-producer and plays guitar, backed by Bob James on keyboards, Bob Cranshaw on bass and Grady Tate on drums. Cash Box heard it as gorgeous and haunting, with sweet strings lifting a soft vocal. It reached 35 on the Hot 100, and Rolling Stone later placed it at 262 among its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.