America (Simon and Garfunkel song)
| "America" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Simon & Garfunkel | |
| from the album Bookends | |
| Released | April 3, 1968 |
| Recorded | February 1, 1968 Columbia Studio A, New York City |
| Genre | |
| Length | 3:34 |
| Label | Columbia |
| Songwriter(s) | |
| Producer(s) |
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| "America" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Simon & Garfunkel | ||||
| from the album Bookends | ||||
| B-side | "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her" | |||
| Released | November 1972 | |||
| Format | 7" single | |||
| Length | 3:23 | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Paul Simon | |||
| Simon & Garfunkel singles chronology | ||||
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| "America" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by Yes | ||||
| from the album The New Age of Atlantic | ||||
| Released | 1972 | |||
| Genre | Progressive rock | |||
| Length |
10:30 (album version) 4:12 (single version) |
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| Label | Atlantic Records K20024 | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Paul Simon | |||
| Producer(s) | Yes and Eddie Offord | |||
| The New Age of Atlantic track listing | ||||
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"America" is a song by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel from their fourth studio album, Bookends (1968). Produced by the duo and Roy Halee, the song was later issued as a single in 1972 to promote the release of Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits.
The song was written by Paul Simon and concerns young lovers hitchhiking their way across the United States, in search of "America", in both a literal and figurative sense. It was inspired by a 1964 road trip that Simon took with his girlfriend Kathy Chitty. The song has been regarded as one of Simon's strongest songwriting efforts and one of the duo's best songs. A 2014 Rolling Stone reader's poll ranked it the group's fourth best song.
"America" was inspired by a five-day road excursion Simon undertook in September 1964 with his girlfriend Kathy Chitty. Producer Tom Wilson had called Simon back to the United States to finalize mixes and artwork for their debut studio album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. Simon, living in London at the time, was reluctant to leave Chitty, and invited her to come with him, forgetting the album and spending five days driving the country together. Several years later, "America" was among the last songs recorded for Bookends, when production assistant John Simon left Columbia Records, forcing Simon, Garfunkel, and producer Roy Halee to complete the record themselves. In 2004, Bob Dyer, a former disc jockey from Saginaw, Michigan, explained the song's genesis in an interview with The Saginaw News. According to Dyer, Simon wrote the song while visiting the town in 1966, when he booked him for Y-A-Go-Go, a concert series hosted by the Saginaw YMCA.
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