S. 12:
The political pessimissm of American Tune had been hinted at in a couplet that Paul contributed to a Mass composed by Leonard Bernstein in 1971: „Half of the people are stoned and the other half are waiting for the next election / And half of the people are drowned and the other half are swimming in the wrong direction“. For Paul, Richard Nixon’s second victory in the next election „marked the end of liberalism; in 1972 you realised the whole country had moved this way and were very comfortable with it now.“ The melody, except for the bridge, was not Paul’s. It was an old Lutheran hymn, also borrowed by Bach for St. Matthew’s Passion.
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Ohne Musik ist alles Leben ein Irrtum.