know what's a great song? "america" by simon and garfunkel. i'm a fan of the duo, i admit. the ponderous, self important, depressing lyrics. the sweet harmonies, everly-esque. sweet but bitter.
but "america" has always been my favorite song. not sure why. i've always had a fantasy about traveling the country ( a by-product of kerouac at 14 i guess, like millions of others) but i've never been nervy enough to hitchike. this country had always been fascinating to me. i always loved road trips, even as a kid. some day dream of europe, but i could give a fuck. a truck stop seems infinitely more interesting to me than paris, or madrid, or london, or fuck all what else. those machines that turn pennies into souveniers, key chains, cheap sunglasses, t-shirts, etc.. this is a great country for so many reasons. so much potential...
but, anyway, the song. the soaring harmonies, whispered vocals, gentle guitar, soft, sad, outro keyboars...so much about it is right. it's always moved me on a very basic level. garfunkels vocalizing at the end in particular.
but there's a point in the song that always brings me to tears. seriously, to tears. every time. it's the line: "kathy, i'm lost". it's so personal, but i know what he's talking about. so do you. who hasn't looked at their love and wondered "what am i doing", "where am i going"...that feeling..."i'm empty and aching and i don't know why"...it's so american... it's perfect. it speaks to every dashed dream...every failure...every hungover morning....every waking....
but what the fuck? what do i know? like i say, that line is so personal. it obviously meant something very specific to paul simon. and it means something very specific to me. good night. i'm not gonna proofread this. i'll regret that.
2 comments:
That's a particular favorite of mine as well. Perfectly titles -- like you said, this is america. I love how Simon seamlessly turns dialogue into lyrics:
"She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy.
I said, "Be careful, his bow tie is really a camera."
"Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one in my raincoat." We smoked the last one an hour ago.
It's at once one of the best songs and the best stories!
mo'sh, those lyrics always kinda reminded me of that scene in Annie Hall where Allen and Keaton sit in Central Park and do a commentary on people walking by:
"There's the winner of the Truman Capote lookalike contest."
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