..."We didn't come here on the Mayflower, We came on a ship in a blood-red moon..". Thus made miss Giddens this a song for all who were involuntarily transported. Thank you miss Giddens.
Old Vietnam veteran this song written near the end, atime of turmoil then A song apropos today's cultural divide, thanks to these two Americans expressing our anguish.
I matured in the Vietnam era. It's images are burned into my memory as my brother, husband and relatives served, and some who died. It was a time of great anguish as Americans were shown what war really means. But to be truthful, I cannot recall a time in my lifetime when America didn't struggle with anguish. That can be the cost of Democracy and individualism. But now I see now how our fifth estate and mainstream media have been motivated by greed to propagandize to a demographic instead of seeking truth. This causes me to fear for America as never before. The words to this song still speak truth to the turmoil and a person's desire to build a life worth living. I always feel a wrenching in my heart when I hear it's words, but I always return to hear it again.
@glenmacnicol7825 exquisitely expressed. I grew up during the Vietnam War and it turned me around.to see the death.snd destruction. It was burned into my.white-priveledged Midwestern mind. I've NEVER Forgotten. This song is extraordinary. BRAVO to Paul Simon. Accolades to Rhiannan Giddens for taking the baton and embracing it for further generations. I'm filled with both Love, and Grief❤
on the last day of his second tour, the day before Tet, my uncle became one of the many unappreciated heroes of that war. He lived with us for the first few of the years he struggled after. I've found these times similar too.
So beautiful! You both brought tears to my eyes. Thank you Ms. Giddens for such a moving rendition of this classic... especially reminding us we ALL did not come to America by way of the Mayflower. Thank you Mr. Simon for giving us this song, which is perhaps more relevant now than ever. Peace
OLd ?Vietnam vet heating this again history repeats the needs ot the time. Paul wrote this in a time of need and we need it once again! What an angelic voice to sing makes my heart beat with hope! Thanks for this ...
Yes! But y'know, altho I got here on the ship Rhiannon was singing about, the original also gave me goosebumps. LOVE them both and now I want to hear the song strung out with BOTH as two different choruses. ALL the many ships that got us all here, good and bad. That version would really soar.
Rhiannon is both, she is half white & black! Her parents were the first to marry as a mixed couple, when this was made possible by law in the late 60‘s
Interracial marriages were banned in Virginia until the case of Loving v. Virginia was decided in 1967 by the Supreme Court. I will point out that interracial marriages have happened since long before that. Love is love and no distant legislature has ever had the power to stop it. Something I need to share - check out the writings of Ida B. Wells, particularly The Red Record. That ground breaking book focuses on interracial marriages and the way they were purposely used as raw material for reactionaries in the American South to create a propaganda narrative that they used to terrorize African Americans and their friends and families in the years around WWI.
I just watched this…again … still makes me cry! Rhiannon Giddens sings so wonderfully on this!😊❤️ thank you, Paul Simon - for writing such an amazing song👍❤️🇺🇸
I've loved Paul Simon since the 60s and Rhiannon Giddens for a few years. I had misgivings on their collaboration on this particular song, but I am just floored and moved to tears with this rendition and the incredible impact of the voice, the words and Paul's guitaring [as always].
Wow.... Have loved Simon and Garfunkel since I was a child.....rarely has anyone else done the music justice....Bravo Rhiannon Giddens ! .....with all due credit to the back up band.
Such a wonderful and inspiring song. Such an amazing singer and Paul’s appreciation. He himself, the most perfect writer, poet and singer. A most remarkable and precious moment caught in time.💕💐🌻
The first time I ever heard Rhiannon was at this Grammy Salute to Paul Simon and immediately fell in love with her rendition of this wonderful song. Kudos to both Paul Simon and Rhiannon Giddens!
This beautiful voice brought me to tears-thinking about how an African, an unwilling passenger on a decrepit and overcrowded vessel, would feel about having landed on American shores. Visit the waterfront of Annapolis, and read the stories of those first enslaved arrivals. Chances are, you will never see the history of our great, and conflicted, nation the same, ever again.
Amazing and that lyrics change...❤why politics and corporations and those obscure people behind them cant take example and be like these two beautiful humans and artiss?😢
I'm appreciating Paul Simon and all his work once again. I bought the vinyl album that contained this masterpiece and others, when it was still new, on the shelf. I was a senior in high school. My, so much has changed--and, so much time has passed since then! For all the goodness here, seeing Paul age, along with the rest of us, reminds me that the clock is ticking for everyone. I wish it weren't. But, for now, it must remain, "like tears in rain".
Still a beautiful song, made more beautiful still by Ms. Giddens' voicing, not to mention the unexpected string duet that closes the piece. What a treat.
A perfect song for these times, it shows the power of genius to channel truths that transcend race, gender, & all the ways we narrow our identities. Paul Simon's original rendition of the song must be heard to fully appreciate the beauty, the feeling, and the insight of this song.
Sang many tunes of Paul Simon ( Simon & Garfunkel) days of course Many Years Ago Now .... I always respected the volume of work, the Lyrics alone were mastery and tunes that touched you like no other composer then. He is a true TROUBADOUR of our American Classic Popular Music .... I Salute and thank you Sir !! God bless, jj
Rhiannon is so amazing, such a wonderful version. And of course Paul Simon is a legend among legends, and kudos for being cool with changing the lyrics.
Hats off to Paul Simon, who is giving Rhiannon the chance to give this song a totally new meaning. Thank you, Jim Hartel (who built her minstrel banjo) for telling me about this.
When it comes to music, Mr Simon’s the perennial kid in a candy store. He digs it as much as he probably did in the early 60s, busking in Paris while trying to cut it as a singer-songwriter. 80-something and still prolific. His new album sprinkles unexpected stardust as a bookend to his storied journey. May it not be the last.
OMG...! After following Paul Simon now for so long, hard to pick one song, ok why, no need to, but still maybe this one. This version is just so great, (Still the PS live version from 1985 here on yt, always, of course!)
