Keep in mind that I was about 5 years old at the time.
The line about the man in the gabardine suit – I somehow got “gabardine” associated with Galilee and thought it had something to do with Jesus. So the part about the bowtie camera was especially confusing.
It means he’s got some extra room in his bag–it’s not stuffed completely full.
Ergo: "I’ve got some extra space available in my bag, let’s purchase some pies and cigarettes since I have room for them in here. "
There’s a Bible story sometimes called Jesus and the Gadarene swine.
I always assumed it was marijuana.
Bookends was always my favorite album by S&G. The song “Old Friends” is poignant to the point of painful. “How terribly strange to be 70”, indeed. I’ll be finding out in a couple of years.
Okay, that makes sense, I suppose. An unusual phrase, though. I’ve frequently had room in my bags, and I’ve never called it real estate.
Hold on, “real estate” and “extra room” have the same number of syllables. Why use such a strange phrase, when an ordinary one would have done?
My purely personal take was the lines:
Were meant as a self deprecating, humorous comment. ‘***Let’s get married… We’re so rich and own so much property… ***’ (Although we’re so poor we travel by bus or hitch hiking and have run out of cigarettes.)
TCMF-2L
Check out the prog rock version by Yes. An interesting choice of theirs to cover.
Also, I like how “America” uses wistful and gently poignant major seventh chords to underscore the lyrics. Plus, it’s in ternary rhythm (I feel 6/8, but others might feel 3/4).
It’s poetry- it plays off the previous line of “marrying our fortunes”. Their fortunes are some “real estate” in his bag to hold cigarettes and pies.
Remember, the lyrics were on the back of the album. I always got the right words, just never knew what they actually meant! What are reactionaries? What are hamsters turning on? Lights? These things aren’t clear when you are 8 years old.
It’s a typical mid-sized Michigan city. Not nearly as bad as Flint but doesn’t have a lot to recommend it. Nearby Frankenmuth is worth a drive to go to Bronner’s Christmas store and then go eat the chicken at Zehnder’s .
You don’t have to “know Michigan” to recognize Saginaw as a semi-classic American end-of-nowhere place. And it sounds nothing like Saigon in the song.
Next you’ll be claiming you never heard of Dubuque or Moline.
You’ve never heard of Saginaw? I was born in Saginaw, Michigan. I grew up in a house on Saginaw Bay. My dad was a poor hard working Saginaw fisherman; too many times he came home with too little pay.
Immortalized in this Lefty Frizzell classic.
Unusual if you think of it as being simply ‘a song’; somewhat less unusual when you consider that it’s ‘a Paul Simon song’. The man certainly knows how to paint a picture with his lyrics though.
What, no love for the Bavarian Inn? (Not that I’d say ‘no’ to Zehnder’s chicken, mind you).
Yeah, my dad loves S&G so I grew up listening to them. Never had any trouble with the lyrics since Dad would sing along, but there plenty of words and concepts that went right over my head.
(America and For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her always smack me right in the heart.)
I read it as part of the ironic comment about their fortunes (which are non-existent.) People who are rich own real estate - he is so poor his can fit in his bag.
I had never been to Saginaw, but I knew it.
S&G at that time didn’t do subtle drug references. This song is way too sweet for that, not to mention that dope on a bus was really not a good idea back then. It’s a road trip, basically.
Do good I? No! Evil anon I deliver! Sanitary sword atuck Carol, I, lo, rack, cut a drowsy rat in aswan. I gas nine more hero men in Saginaw. Reviled, I Nona live on! I do, o God!
I like Paul Simon, but he is not a songwriter who makes you spend a lot of time digging out the hidden meanings of the lyrics. In other words, he is no Dylan. His early stuff was very much of the sensitive poet unlucky in love variety. Very good for kids feeling misunderstood.
America is about two people finding themselves on a road trip.
Yes, I know many Simon and Garfunkel songs, including their solo hits, and have even seen (parts of) their special in Central Park, but that particular song has never knowingly crossed my path before. And I must say… it’s not very good, so maybe that’s why.