The original Chicago XIV closed with a dandy, James Pankow’s “The American Dream.” It’s a song that makes you think for a minute that the youthful Chicago is returning home after taking a beating while living on their own. Maybe they’re not all the way back yet, but when they came to a fork in the road named Guercio-Kath Highway, they made sure they steered themselves in that direction.
The arrangement has a lot of that old Chicago exuberance that was so apparent in their early years, best exemplified by one of Peter Cetera’s finer, rocking lead vocals. The horn break is upbeat, supports Cetera in the best possible way, and the spirited melody is quite singable. At one time, this track could have been a hit single.
But what makes “The American Dream” really special is that it’s about “something.” It’s not a drippy love song, or a breakup song, or about love in any of its forms – subjects Chicago seems to have gotten eternally trapped in after their golden era ceased to be. The lyrics indicate Pankow is worried about the current state of our union and its place in the future. Are we sure Robert Lamm didn’t write this because, lyrically, it’s more his personality than James Pankow’s?
“The American Dream” gave the listener no hint whatsoever that Chicago’s next studio album – which, by the way, I like – would lead them down the other fork in the road, one with no street lights, where they would eventually crash their vehicle beyond repair.
