Simon & Garfunkel Gift ‘America’ to Bernie Sanders
By Cameron Matthews
“I like Bernie [Sanders] … I like his fight. I like his dignity and his stance. I like this song,” Art Garfunkel told CNN’s Michael Smerconish over the weekend.
The singer, one half of legendary folk duo Simon & Garfunkel, recently agreed to lend the 1968 single “America” to Sanders’ presidential campaign.
In an era when so many politicians are publicly rebuffed for using liberal-leaning artists’ music at political rallies and in commencials, Simon & Garfunkel’s gift is a rare one.
According to The New York Times, the idea for the song’s inclusion in the ad actually came from the Sanders camp. Garfunkel admitted that even though he and Paul Simon don’t agree on everything, they are kindred “liberals in our inclination.” The duo decided, together, to allow the song to be used.
The video itself is simple yet effective, showing images of working class people from across the United States while the serene melody of S&G plays in the background.
When asked if the song was actually the right fit for the Sanders campaign, Garfunkel offered, “I don’t know if there’s a specific thing, except we’ve come to look for the country and we don’t really know who we are. We never knew who we were. We’re still working out what Alexander Hamilton was working out. How do we fuse in becoming United States of America and not Southern planters who want states’ rights? In the very Constitution, we’re working out the fusion of the nation. We’re still doing it.”
Bernie Sanders is no stranger to the folk music scene. In 1987, he released We Shall Overcome, a short album featuring five covers of Pete Seeger songs from “This Land Is Your Land” to “Where Have All the Flowers Gone.” While it is not the most melodic piece of art, it certainly showcases Bernie’s textbook Brooklyn accent and love for the working class. You can even buy it on iTunes.
Photo credits: Phil Roeder via Foter.com / CC BY and Eddie Mallin via Flickr.com / CC BY-SA 2.0
Originally published at www.thebluegrasssituation.com on January 25, 2016.
