What’s Your Favorite Anthem? America Answered: ‘America’ (With Thanks To Simon And Garfunkel)

This story is part of American Anthem, a yearlong series on songs that rouse, unite, celebrate and call to action. Find more at NPR.org/Anthem.

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BY ELIZABETH BLAIR & ROSIE FRIEDMAN, NPR

When NPR launched the American Anthem series this summer, we asked you to send us stories about your personal anthems — the songs that have been the most uplifting in your own experience. One popular and poignant choice was Simon & Garfunkel‘s “America“: Released in 1968, it’s a road trip song that’s about more than just traveling across the country.

“The song really speaks to me in the sense of a kind of a search, a quest for meaning,” said Eugene Lisansky from St. Petersburg, Fla. He’s one of a handful of listeners who spoke with Morning Edition about what it means to go looking for America — be it as a hitchhiker, a child of immigrants or simply someone struggling to make sense of the news, from Vietnam and Watergate to the present. Hear his story and others at the audio link above.