2 years ago

103

Bill Sharkey Sharky William Sharkey WFJS Hawaii Hawaii Kai Oahu Honolulu Acoustic Guitar Vocals

America (Simon & Garfunkel, 1968). Live cover performance by Bill Sharkey, Home Studio, Hawaii Kai, HI. 2021-09-15. "Keeping the Oldies Alive"

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"America" was released on the Bookends album but didn't hit the Billboard Hot 100 chart until 1972, barely chipping the bottom of the chart stalling at #97 for 2 weeks (Whitburn, 2013). Gerry Beckley of the group America made an interesting observation. "The entire song is prose. There's not one line that rhymes . . . We're oblivious to that being an ingredient because we're so involved in the story. You're not sitting there going, 'That didn't rhyme, wait a second.' It's not an issue" (songfacts.com, 2021). The group Yes, revamped the song, and were able to move up the Billboard Hot 100 chart to #46, also in 1972 (Whitburn, 2013). The song was inspired by Simon's relationship with Kathy Chitty and takes the listener on a road trip across the USA (songmeaningsandfacts.com, 2021).

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