American Tune by Paul Simon

Written in the mid-1970's when the WTC was just opening, set to a quiet minor chord melody by J.S. Bach, some of it's lyrics are a haunting premonition of what was to come:

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 it's 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 flying.
I dreamed my soul rose unexpectedly,
And looking back down on me,
Smiled reassuringly,
And I dreamed I was dying.
And far above, my eyes could clearly
see
The Statue of Liberty,
Drifting away to sea
And I dreamed I was flying.

On Sept. 11th, I watched the Towers burn from my office across the street. The souls rising "unexpectedly" remind me of those innocents who died in the Towers or on the planes. Looking down, the would have, of course, seen the Statue of Liberty in the harbour next to the Towers.

For those of us who survived, the closing lyrics are a painful lament. After the horror, we know that, in the end, our future is to be a return to the mundane workaday world, for which we will need to rest before starting the next day over again.

But it's all right, it's 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.

Here is a link for the entire song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQbU-irVNFY

DALE A. WILKER