Snapshot: "No Kings" and an "American Tune"

A brief reflection on Saturday's major protest with the help of a beautiful song by Paul Simon

I’m trying to make this Friday a quiet day—to rest up for tomorrow’s “No Kings” protest and gather my thoughts. I don’t want to overstate the significance of tomorrow’s protests across the country—there will be more to come—but it surely does feel like we are at an inflection point after this week’s alarming events.

The physical assault and handcuffing of a U.S. Senator expressing his 1st Amendment rights while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stood by. That same cabinet member talking about “liberating” Los Angeles from its top elected officials. Threats of arresting California’s governor and L.A.’s mayor. An illegal imposition of the Marines and the federalizing of the California National Guard to intimidate protestors and silence dissent. A fascistic military parade tomorrow in our nation’s capital to glorify the White House occupant.

All this is part of the ongoing effort to remove immigrants and ignore due process, the rule of law and our Constitution. All this is why I have such high hopes that millions and millions of Americans—the largest collection of its kind—will come out in public to say they’ve had enough.

I happened upon a music clip this morning that is lingering in my mind. It’s a portion of Paul Simon’s tender and touching song, “American Tune,” sung by the gloriously gifted Leslie Odom Jr., who played Aaron Burr in “Hamilton.”

I love the lyrical reflections, both in their expression of personal struggle and the larger struggle to hold onto the dream of America. The song was released 52 years ago, in 1973, another period of great anxiety and uncertainty, but it surely evokes thoughts and questions for our time now.

And I don't know a soul who's not been battered
I don't have a friend who feels at ease
I don't know a dream that's not been shattered
Or driven to its knees

But it's alright, it's alright
For we lived so well so long

Please do enjoy the following portion of Leslie Odom’s cover and the full lyrics and recording that follow. Expect to hear from me on Substack Live tomorrow during the protest in New York City, assuming I heed Paul Simon’s words to get some rest.

I hope you too will heed his counsel—and maybe I’ll see you in the daylight of a great and uplifting event that can remind us what it means to be American and part of a nearly 250-year-old democratic tradition.

American Tune

(sung here by Paul Simon)

Many's the time I've been mistaken
And many times confused
Yes, and I've often felt forsaken
And certainly misused

Oh, but I'm alright, I'm alright
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

And I don't know a soul who's not been battered
I don't have a friend who feels at ease
I don't know a dream that's not been shattered
Or driven to its knees

But it's alright, it's alright
For we lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the
Road we're traveling on
I wonder what's gone wrong
I can't help it, I wonder what has gone wrong

And I dreamed I was dying
I dreamed that my soul rose unexpectedly
And looking back down at me
Smiled reassuringly

And I dreamed I was flying
And high up above my eyes could clearly see
The Statue of Liberty
Sailing away to sea
And I dreamed I was flying

We come on the ship they call The Mayflower
We come on the ship that sailed the moon
We come in the age's most uncertain hours
And sing an American tune

Oh, and it's alright, it's alright, it's alright
You can't be forever blessed
Still, tomorrow's going to be another working day
And I'm trying to get some rest
That's all I'm trying to get some rest

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