America
Simon And Garfunkel (The Definitive Simon And Garfunkel) Lyrics
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I've got some real estate here in my bag
So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner's pies
And we walked off to look for America
Cathy, I said as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh
Michigan seems like a dream to me now
It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw
I've gone to look for America
Laughing on the bus, playing games with the faces
She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy
I said, be careful, his bowtie is really a camera
Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one in my raincoat
We smoked the last one an hour ago
So I looked at the scenery
She read her magazine
And the moon rose over an open field
Cathy, I'm lost, I said though I knew she was sleeping
And I'm empty and aching and I don't know why
Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike
They've all come to look for America
All come to look for America
All come to look for America
The song "America" by Simon and Garfunkel was released in 1968 as a part of their album "Bookends". The song is an introspective journey of two young people, as they travel across America searching for their own identity and meaning in life. The first verse sets the tone for the rest of the song. It talks about their desire to marry and start a new life together. The line "I've got some real estate here in my bag" signifies the hope and optimism that they carry with them. This line can also be interpreted as a metaphor for the dreams that they hold in their hearts.
As the journey begins, the duo buys a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner's pies and sets out to explore America. The song is peppered with stories of their travels - hitchhiking from Saginaw to Michigan, playing games on the bus, and smoking cigarettes to pass the time. In the second verse, the woman notices a man in a gabardine suit, who she believes to be a spy. The line "I said, be careful, his bowtie is really a camera" shows their level of disillusionment with the world around them. They cannot trust anyone, not even a man in a bowtie.
The last verse is particularly poignant. The man wakes up in the middle of the night, feeling lost and empty. He can't shake off this feeling, and he doesn't know why he feels this way. The couple then counts the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike, realizing that everyone is looking for something in life. The line "all come to look for America" speaks to the larger sense of disillusionment and restlessness among the youth during the 1960s in America. The song is one of Simon and Garfunkel's most critically acclaimed songs and is considered a classic.
Line by Line Meaning
Let us be lovers, we'll marry our fortunes together
Let's commit to each other and join our future prospects
I've got some real estate here in my bag
I have some possessions and opportunities to contribute to our joint future
So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner's pies
And we walked off to look for America
With some small comforts, we set out for a journey to explore America
Cathy, I said as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh
Michigan seems like a dream to me now
It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw
I've gone to look for America
I reminisce about a past adventure and declare my intent to explore America further
Laughing on the bus, playing games with the faces
She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy
I said, be careful, his bowtie is really a camera
Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one in my raincoat
We smoked the last one an hour ago
So I looked at the scenery
She read her magazine
And the moon rose over an open field
We pass the time on our journey, amused and observant of our surroundings
Cathy, I'm lost, I said though I knew she was sleeping
And I'm empty and aching and I don't know why
Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike
They've all come to look for America
All come to look for America
All come to look for America
I express my feelings of confusion and yearning, while observing others who share my search for meaning and purpose in America
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: PAUL SIMON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@maxit-mw
As a European this song reminds me the emotions of my youth back in the late '70s when we used to cross the continent with train, hitch-hiking and sometimes by car.
It reminds me the frontiers, sometimes not easy to cross, and the different people. Different but very curious to meet and know each others.
I remember the ride that the truckers gave us to reach Amsterdam. Since the documents were checked at the borders, we were always dropped off a few kilometers earlier and always had to cross them on foot.
It was late afternoon when we entered a bar near Emmerich Germany, some boys of our age offered us a beer and when it got late a girl took us to sleep in her home's garage.
The next morning her mother made us breakfast and we set off on foot towards the Dutch border which was only a couple of kilometers away.
We wrote a postcard to the girl on our return, which she returned, and from there we lost contact.
I remember the trip with the Citroen Diane to Berlin. From West Germany at a certain point we had to take a highway that crossed East Germany and it was a corridor bordered by high nets, barbed wire and watch towers.
And when we went to Prague and Budapest, we joked saying "let's go find love beyond the Iron Curtain", using a saying dating back perhaps almost two decades earlier. Oh we did :) i must still have somewhere the photo of me and the girl in front of a Trabant that made me laugh for its size.
In all these trips we met different people, with different habits and ways of living and this gave us curiosity and emotion.
In those years young generations were dreaming of a world without frontiers where all peoples are equal, perhaps a little I believed in it too, but only later I did understand that differences, more than equality, are the most precious asset of the human being.
@AnthonyB2351
"Now the years are rolling by me
They are rocking easily
I am older than I once was
And younger than I’ll be
But that’s not unusual
No, it isn’t strange
After changes upon changes
We are more or less the same
After changes we are
More or less the same"
Paul Simon: The Boxer from Live Rhymin' concert.
@wafldread2770
Paul Simon is one of the greatest song writers ever. Truly brilliant...
@hippiecheezburger5457
Paul Simon has such a gentle and beautiful song writing soul
@TheoreticalString
And Art Garfunkel sings this like an angel.
@cebriggs7135
@@hippiecheezburger5457 @TheoreticalString it was written by Bert Sommers.
@cebriggs7135
Bert Sommer wrote it.
@alexandersmithers4218
No Bert Sommer covered it in 71. What an insult
@timwilkinsongs
I am an Englishman, but once upon a time, long ago, I spent years in the USA on the road looking for America, with my young wife and our baby son. This song says everything.
@dang2443
Chances are, you never found it, only yourself.
@v-town1980
@@dang2443 I'm sure they found it. At the very least an interesting time.
@dang2443
@@v-town1980 um...no