"America" Songs Week

July 4th 2022

A little history of this song… 4th of July by X

I can't really tell you much about the band X other than they are/were a prominent LA Punk Rock band that formed in 1979. Ray Manzarek (Doors keyboardist) discovered the band one night while he was at the Whisky A Go Go nightclub on the Sunset Strip. A short way into X’s set, one song sounded familiar to him. “I was completely hooked. It was like you were standing behind a 747 with the engines on full blast.” Manzarek wasn’t the only one who was won over. Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea lists X alongside The Doors and Love as one of the LA bands “who capture and define the times in their music”. Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament cites X, along with Jane’s Addiction, as “the two LA bands we looked up to the most”. Henry Rollins describes them simply as “one of the best live bands ever”. As X bassist John Doe says: “When you mention the name X, people say either ‘You changed my life’ or ‘Who?’”

In 1986 Dave Alvin, who has gone on to a very successful slot career after being in X, joined the band and wrote "4th of July" (a tale of a heartbroken, lovesick man smoking cigarettes alone, wishing for his love to return, he pleads “what ever happened I apologize, so dry your tears baby and walk outside, it’s the Fourth of July") for the Album "See How We Are". ... ( in an interview Dave Alvin explained that as a student of poetry and literature, he learned to appreciate the beauty in the mundane, which is how he arrived at lyrics about a typical, working-class 4th of July) and interestingly I can't find a link to the Album or Song on either Spotify or Apple Music, even though I bought the Album on Apple Music years ago. I did however find the Original Video for the song. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. It's a great 4th of July song that you may never have heard, but I think you'll really like.

Happy 4th of July !!

July 6th 2022

A little history of this song… America by Imagine Dragons

The second song in my "Songs About America Week" is the Song "America" from the 2011 EP "It's Time" by Imagine Dragons. It's one of Imagine Dragons lesser known tracks but well worth listening to more than once. I never realized the deep meaning in this song until I read at the lyrics. Very intense and well worth reading the story behind the song when you click the lyrics link. The song was dedicated to those who serve/served in the military. The song references America's past as well as her present as it relates to our military, those who have served, and the tragedies of war and in particular the 9/11 attack. The year1776 is referred often in the song.It is the year of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence, but also the height of the One World Trade Center sometimes called Freedom Tower. The lyric..."Of all the ones who gave until they died" is referring both to the founding fathers, who contributed to America's growth until they died, but also the heroes of 9/11. "To the tallest of towers that rise and fall"refers to the former Twin Towers before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and how America fell but rebuilt itself through its strength. Did you know that Freedom Tower was purposely built to a height of 1,776 feet high to honor both our Independence in 1776 and those who gave their lives on 9/11. Imagine Dragons has woven how service to our country, the perils of any war, and the idea that America can rebuild itself after events as devasting as 9/11 into a Rock song that honors these people and events is creative and listening experience in and of itself.

Enjoy!

July 8th 2022

A little history of this song… America by Simon & Garfunkel

I'll preface this review by stating that I am not a Simon & Garfunkel fan for a variety of reasons, however I think the song "America" by Simon & Garfunkel from their 1968 Album"Bookends" is one of Paul Simon's best songwriting efforts of his career. The imagery captures the 1960's like very few songs do. The lyrics, the melody, and the vocal harmonies that make up song that is beyond description. I don't think there is another songwriter that could have captured the moment and the song so brilliantly as Paul Simon. Of the song, one Rock Critic put it this way "America" is a song that "creates a cinematic vista that tells of the singer's search for a literal and physical America that seems to have disappeared, along with the country's beauty and ideals." Art Garfunkel once described the song as "young lovers with their adventure and optimism looking for the American dream". The song begins as the narrator spends four days hitchhiking from Saginaw to join his girlfriend Kathy in Pittsburgh, where together they board a Greyhound bus to continue the journey. And, as what begins as two young lovers searching for not only themselves, but also the American dream, turns to the narrator scared and lonely as he states" "Kathy, I'm lost ... I'm empty and aching and I don't know why". In 2014, a Rolling Stone readers poll ranked it fourth among the duo's best compositions, with the magazine writing, "it captured America's sense of restlessness and confusion during the year that saw the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, as well as the escalation of the War in Vietnam", declaring it one of their most "beloved" songs. From a Simon & Garfunkel naysayer it truly is a great song by any standard. Oh, and by the way “Toss me a cigarette, I think there’s one in my raincoat” what great lyric for the times! The video below is from the Concert for Central Park that Simon & Garfunkel performed in 1982 before what was estimated to be close to 500,000 people!

**** NOTE: the original video I posted here was from YouTube. It was subsequently taken down off YouTube by S&G over copyright infringement in September '22. This is a substitute video of the concert starting with "America". Sorry... but at least you are getting to see the entire concert and not just one song!

Enjoy!

July 10th 2022

A little history of this song… California Revisited by America

This week I've been selecting Songs about America, but today's Song is not a

about America, it is a Song by the band America. The band America is a British-American rock band formed in London in 1970 by Dewey Bunnell, Dan Peek and Gerry Beckley. The trio met as sons of US Air Force personnel stationed in London, where they began performing live. Achieving significant popularity in the early 1970s, the trio was famous for its close vocal harmonies and light acoustic folk rock sound. And while none of them are UK citizens, the London Rock scene and the British Invasion had a huge influence on the band. So much so that their second album "Homecoming" from 1972 saw the Beatles producer George Martin produce most of the songs for that album. Today's song "California Revisited" is from that Album. The story behind the song is simple according to Gerry Beckley: "Dan, Dewey, and I took a trip to Stonehenge. It was before they fenced it in. We were sitting on those ancient rocks, listening to a group of young American tourists. We were well immersed in British culture by this time, and the loud, brash American kids were all talking at once. Saying things like 'I'm from L.A., and I'm from Long Beach'. I turned to Dewey and Dan and said, 'Everyone I meet is from California!'" The song is different in texture and style from most America songs in that it's very electric-guitar heavy and not the acoustic style that America fans have come to know and love from the band. If you don't remember the song or haven't played it in a while... give it a spin I think you'll like the difference from the typical America song.

Enjoy!!