# 'America' by Simon and Garfunkel: Misheard lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2015, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-by-simon-and-garfunkel-misheard-lyrics/716924 "2015-04-05T22:55:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-by-simon-and-garfunkel-misheard-lyrics/716924/1 "2015-04-05T22:55:04Z")
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.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs._Wagner's_Pies) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-by-simon-and-garfunkel-misheard-lyrics/716924/2 "2015-04-05T23:30:48Z")
I always heard it perfectly, although I had no idea what they were. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2015, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-by-simon-and-garfunkel-misheard-lyrics/716924/3 "2015-04-05T23:54:59Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I always heard it perfectly, although I had no idea what they were. Me too, also. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-by-simon-and-garfunkel-misheard-lyrics/716924/4 "2015-04-06T00:51:52Z")
I was always more concerned with what kind of real estate was in that bag. It sounded like a veiled allusion to something else. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-by-simon-and-garfunkel-misheard-lyrics/716924/5 "2015-04-06T01:56:28Z")
now I wish I had some pie ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-by-simon-and-garfunkel-misheard-lyrics/716924/6 "2015-04-06T04:35:49Z")
Did anybody notice in the recent commercial that uses that song (American Express I think) they edit out the reference to cigarettes? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-by-simon-and-garfunkel-misheard-lyrics/716924/7 "2015-04-06T05:13:09Z")
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._ ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-by-simon-and-garfunkel-misheard-lyrics/716924/8 "2015-04-06T05:39:00Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-by-simon-and-garfunkel-misheard-lyrics/716924/9 "2015-04-06T06:02:15Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Saginaw, not Saigon. Yes, that’s why I mentioned it in a thread about misheard lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-by-simon-and-garfunkel-misheard-lyrics/716924/10 "2015-04-06T06:55:36Z")
I understood the lyrics and remember the pies. They were great. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-by-simon-and-garfunkel-misheard-lyrics/716924/11 "2015-04-06T07:21:49Z")
I have never heard this song before. ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-by-simon-and-garfunkel-misheard-lyrics/716924/12 "2015-04-06T08:54:18Z")
I like the song. As I have mentioned before it is unusual in that none of the lyrics rhyme. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-by-simon-and-garfunkel-misheard-lyrics/716924/13 "2015-04-06T10:49:44Z")
Never had any difficulty hearing or understanding the lyrics. It all seemed self evident. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-by-simon-and-garfunkel-misheard-lyrics/716924/14 "2015-04-06T11:21:17Z")
That’s one of those songs guaranteed to have me in tears for no apparent reason. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-by-simon-and-garfunkel-misheard-lyrics/716924/15 "2015-04-06T11:49:21Z")
> [@TCMF-2L](#): > > I like the song. As I have mentioned before it is unusual in that none of the lyrics rhyme. 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 \* ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-by-simon-and-garfunkel-misheard-lyrics/716924/16 "2015-04-06T11:50:03Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I never had any trouble hearing or understanding the lyrics… > [@Myglaren](#): > > Never had any difficulty hearing or understanding the lyrics. It all seemed self evident. So, can you explain what the real estate in his bag means? Edit - Bravo, **bienville** ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-by-simon-and-garfunkel-misheard-lyrics/716924/17 "2015-04-06T12:40:58Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-by-simon-and-garfunkel-misheard-lyrics/716924/18 "2015-04-06T12:49:12Z")
The word \*Saginaw \*might be obvious to people who know Michigan, but I never heard of the place. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-by-simon-and-garfunkel-misheard-lyrics/716924/19 "2015-04-06T13:27:48Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > 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. I hadn’t either. Until I looked them up just now, I always pictured them more like Hostess Fruit Pie-like things. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2015, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-by-simon-and-garfunkel-misheard-lyrics/716924/20 "2015-04-06T13:31:03Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I have never heard this song before. Please tell me you’ve at least heard of Paul Simon. (And get off my lawn.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/america-by-simon-and-garfunkel-misheard-lyrics/716924.md?page=2)