Well, sorta. Actually, I never had a clue what they were saying. They bought a pack of cigarettes and. . . . what? Without ever having seen the lyrics, would you have known? When I saw the lyrics, I first wondered, “Well, what is that?” So a cursory seach indicates that unless you were from the NYC area, chances are you never had, either. If, like me, you had no idea what else they were buying in addition to the smokes, here it is.
I always heard it perfectly, although I had no idea what they were.
Me too, also.
I was always more concerned with what kind of real estate was in that bag. It sounded like a veiled allusion to something else.
now I wish I had some pie
Did anybody notice in the recent commercial that uses that song (American Express I think) they edit out the reference to cigarettes?
I always thought it was about a soldier just returned from Vietnam.
It took me four days to hitchhike from Saigon
Oh, I’ve come to look for America.
Saginaw, not Saigon. I never had any trouble hearing or understanding the lyrics, but it is a song very much of its time.
Yes, that’s why I mentioned it in a thread about misheard lyrics.
I understood the lyrics and remember the pies. They were great.
I have never heard this song before.
I like the song. As I have mentioned before it is unusual in that none of the lyrics rhyme.
TCMF-2L
Never had any difficulty hearing or understanding the lyrics. It all seemed self evident.
That’s one of those songs guaranteed to have me in tears for no apparent reason.
That’s just because they recorded it before Simon was finished writing it. In the final version, the lyrics rhyme:
*“Let us be lovers, we’ll marry our fortunes together
I’ve got an aunt who’s been under the weather”
So we bought a pack of cigarettes
and Mrs. Wagner’s Chia pets
And walked off to look for America
“Kathy,” I said on a Carnival Cruise bound for Curaçao
“Michigan seems like a dream to me now”
I’ll pack a bag 'n I’ll
hitchhike to Saginaw
I’ve come to look for America
Laughing on the bus
Playing games with the faces
She said the man in the gabardine suit needed braces
I said “Does he think that a bowtie
is better than no tie?”
“Toss me a cigarette, I think there’s one in my corvette”
“Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?”
So I looked at the scenery, she read her birthday card
And the moon rose over an old junk yard
“Kathy, I’m lost,” I said, then I shouted to wake her
“I’m empty and aching and don’t call me a faker”
We’re supposed to meet Mike on the New Jersey Turnpike
They’ve all come to look for America
*
So, can you explain what the real estate in his bag means?
Edit - Bravo, bienville
I’m with the OP, I never knew what the phrase was until I looked it up just now. Interesting, and thanks for the explanation. I grew up Upstate and never heard of Mrs. Wagner’s pies.
If I heard the song now I could sing along, I know the lyrics by heart, by ear, except for that part. I would just mumble through that part, until now!
And Saigon instead of Saginaw, that’s interesting. But there’s a mention of Michigan elsewhere in the song. I always heard Saginaw, never heard Saigon.
I like that song, it’s one of my favorites of theirs.
The word *Saginaw *might be obvious to people who know Michigan, but I never heard of the place.
I hadn’t either. Until I looked them up just now, I always pictured them more like Hostess Fruit Pie-like things.
Please tell me you’ve at least heard of Paul Simon.
(And get off my lawn.)