 The album mostly features songs popularized by early Calypso musicians, as well as songs by Allen Toussaint ("Occapella" and "Riverboat"), Little Feat ("Sailin' Shoes"), John Philip Sousa ("Stars and Stripes Forever") and one song of unknown origin ("Be Careful").The title of the album is derived from the poem "I Am Waiting" by Lawrence Ferlinghetti.Most of the album's songs were originally written by early Calypso musicians between the 1920s and 1940s, but had fallen into the public domain by the time "Discover America" was recorded in 1972.