Liberty at a Distance

In all my travels to New York City I’ve only ever seen the Statue of Liberty from a great distance. And every time I’ve pulled into Philadelphia I’ve remarked that I have yet to see the Liberty Bell. I arrive in your town to organize, to breathe life into the American myth of Freedom.

This doesn’t leave me a lot of free time.

As C.T. and I sat in a New York bistro, the air was uncharacteristically quiet as the sound system played Paul Simon singing American Tune. I felt some sort of vague gut punch at how applicable that song and its shellshocked mood is to the Occupy movement.

I don’t know a soul who’s not been battered
Don’t have a friend who feels at ease
Don’t know a dream that’s not been shattered
Or driven to its knees.
But it’s all right, 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.

I first heard this song, not from Paul Simon’s recording, but the bubble-gum group Starland Vocal Band. They were known for their harmonies, and they did a beautiful, defeated rendition I haven’t heard since the 1970’s. Hearing the song pops me back to those days, and thinking about Bill and Taffy Nivert, the songwriters at the core of SVB, who actually had some songwriting chops, collaborating with John Denver on “Country Roads” and others. But this is a passing thought as the lyrics play on. I move on to memories of hearing this song in busy moments, and stopping to appreciate how it captures the fall of empire. I’m heartbroken at the trap of American individualism, and the lie of the American Dream. Sometimes I’m struck at the coma the programmers must be in when they plan this song to play in malls. I imagine Paul Simon himself worked such thoughts out long ago, and is pensive all the way to the bank.

Here are the lyrics in full:

Many’s the time I’ve been mistaken, and many times confused
And I’ve often felt forsaken, and certainly misused.
But it’s all right, it’s 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 from home.
I don’t know a soul who’s not been battered
Don’t have a friend who feels at ease
Don’t know a dream that’s not been shattered
Or driven to its knees.
But it’s all right, 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. I dreamed my soul rose
unexpectedly, and looking back down on me, smiled
reassuringly, and I dreamed I was flying.
And far above, my eyes could clearly see
The Statue of Liberty, drifting away to sea
And I dreamed I was flying.
We come on a ship we call the Mayflower,
We come on a ship that sailed the moon
We come at the age’s most uncertain hour
And sing the American tune
But it’s all right, its all right
You can’t be forever blessed
Still, tomorrow’s gonna be another working day
And I’m trying to get some rest,
That’s all, I’m trying to get some rest.