An American Tune In Oostburg

We come on a ship they call the Mayflower
We come on a ship that sailed the Moon
We come in the age’s most uncertain hour
And we sing an American tune

“An American Tune,” Paul Simon

I don’t like to talk about politics on this blog, not directly at least. I’ve talked about conspiracies once or twice and that seems fair. But I’m not going to talk directly about politics.

But there is something operatic about the conception of America and I’m just going to touch on that today.

Regardless of what happens here, in North America, over the next few years, I think “America” as something of a global concept has been planted and taken root on a global scale and, for better and for worse, that Novus ordo seclorum is here to stay and even to flower.

Even if we, here, drop the ball—or have it knocked out of our hands—we’re not playing this game alone.


Today’s post is about a music teacher and his student in Oostburg—that’s over in Europe, in the Netherlands—performing a song called, “An American Tune,” by Paul Simon.


I’ve never been to New York. I’ve never seen the Statue of Liberty in real life. When I think of the Statue of Liberty, I think of three things.

The famous scene from “The Planet of the Apes” when the astronaut learns the truth:

And I think of the painting by Peter Max:

And I think of the song “An American Tune,” by Paul Simon. Here is a performance of that song by a music teacher on an upright piano and his student playing a cello:

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