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Simon & Garfunkel — America
Album: Bookends
Avg rating:
8.5

Your rating:
Total ratings: 2881








Released: 1968
Length: 3:21
Plays (last 30 days): 0
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Mm
Mm

"Let us be lovers, we'll marry our fortunes together"
"I've got some real estate here in my bag"
So we bought a pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner pies
And walked off to look for America

"Kathy," 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 come 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

"Kathy, I'm lost," I said, though I knew she was sleeping
"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
Comments (251)add comment
Sometimes 10 doesn't do justice, simply wonderful.
Posted 1 month ago by ne1    [ Reply ]
 jmsmy wrote:

One of my favorite covers is Yes' version of America - Both awesome.



I'm a massive Yes fan, but I think their version totally misses the tone and point of this lonely, existential piece of genius. 

This is the song that accompanies the adventures of our heroes at the end of The Graduate, in my mind. ("Kathy, I'm lost," I said, for aI knew she was sleeping...)
Posted 3 months ago by Steely_D    [ Reply ]
Those were the days...
Posted 3 months ago by johnfiva    [ Reply ]
The cover by First Aid Kit always makes me weep.  Two Swedish girls born long after the song was written, singing it like it's the National Anthem of their hearts.
Posted 4 months ago by gubbin    [ Reply ]
I always try to sing this when at the cottage around the campfire, after a few.....
Thankfully there's always a good crowd to help me along  
Posted 11 months ago by brollo    [ Reply ]
 rev_cletus wrote:

This one always - always - stops me in my tracks; the purity of their voices, especially the high, sweet harmony Art Garfunkel provides at the end, make this the most tender ballad I've ever had the immense pleasure to hear...beautiful!




I Agree completely!  Thanx RP!     
Posted 1 year ago by joejennings    [ Reply ]
Glorious...
Posted 1 year ago by GingerandMe    [ Reply ]
outrageous haircut 
Posted 1 year ago by redart    [ Reply ]
This one always - always - stops me in my tracks; the purity of their voices, especially the high, sweet harmony Art Garfunkel provides at the end, make this the most tender ballad I've ever had the immense pleasure to hear...beautiful!
Posted 1 year ago by rev_cletus    [ Reply ]
The calm …. This makes me smile ….
Posted 1 year ago by ai63    [ Reply ]
 ExploitingChaos wrote:

Impeach Trump



What ever. From your name, "ExploitingChaos", I know where you are coming from. And posted on a song called, America.? Antifa? Much?
Posted 1 year ago by tripp1    [ Reply ]
 sunybuny wrote:

Every time I hear this I think it should be followed by Transit from Richard Shindell.



for me, it makes me want to hear Two of Us by the Beatles next!
Posted 1 year ago by lily34    [ Reply ]
hmmm...these guys may have something.
Posted 2 years ago by idiot_wind    [ Reply ]
 jmsmy wrote:

One of my favorite covers is Yes' version of America - Both awesome.




I Agree!!
Posted 2 years ago by joejennings    [ Reply ]
GREAT!!  ICONIC!!    Thanx RP!
Posted 2 years ago by joejennings    [ Reply ]
Every time I hear this I think it should be followed by Transit from Richard Shindell.
Posted 2 years ago by sunybuny    [ Reply ]
 ExploitingChaos wrote:

Impeach Trump



Impeach Biden
Posted 2 years ago by SoCal_Lambo    [ Reply ]
 BCarn wrote:

Sounds fun...except for the drugs. Drugs suck.

You should widen your horizons

.... you may find there's a few things you don't know

.... or a lot of things

Posted 2 years ago by radioparadise9    [ Reply ]
 MassivRuss wrote:


Distills the essential innocence of the 60's youth idealism. Those kids - all of their movements - just wanted to find the country they'd been promised.
then we became cynical and easily marginalized (speaking for myself and too many 'idealistic youth'. Promises? made by whom?

Posted 2 years ago by xcranky_yankee    [ Reply ]
 marty88210 wrote:

Exit 8 on the New Jersey Turnpike




Captain Picard's on the New Jersey Turnpike.
Posted 2 years ago by sergeant_x    [ Reply ]
I had a girlfriend in 8th grade ('68) named Kathy. That's all I needed to fall in love with this song.
Posted 3 years ago by phlacey01    [ Reply ]
One of my favorite covers is Yes' version of America - Both awesome.
Posted 3 years ago by jmsmy    [ Reply ]
 MaryAnnMoreno wrote:

So full of youth & hope



Distills the essential innocence of the 60's youth idealism. Those kids - all of their movements - just wanted to find the country they'd been promised.
Posted 3 years ago by MassivRuss    [ Reply ]
Songs don't come much better.
Posted 3 years ago by Madness1954    [ Reply ]
So full of youth & hope
Posted 3 years ago by MaryAnnMoreno    [ Reply ]
 ExploitingChaos wrote:

Impeach Trump



clueless Joe 
Posted 3 years ago by Shaggy27    [ Reply ]
do they get any better than this for invoking images of   road trips?
Posted 3 years ago by idiot_wind    [ Reply ]
 HonduranRed wrote:


Exploiting...can you believe what has happened? 2 years is a lifetime ago!
 

Yeah! I guess America won.
I hope for a better future, one where we are united and equal, nobody to profit off of our hatred and fear, one where pride does not come on the expanse of the other.

I must say, I wasn't at my best mental state posting some of my comments from back then. My political\social views are the same, just the way of communicating... was troubled.
I deleted some, but some I had left here to stay in the pages of history...

So thats another message I'd like to share, you never know if that guy who's yelling on the bus is a piece of ****, or he had just lost a loved one and can't find a way to let some of that energy out in a better way for all...

Spread the love and peace.
Posted 3 years ago by ExploitingChaos    [ Reply ]
 marty88210 wrote:
Exit 8 on the New Jersey Turnpike


 

I was thinking of Elizabeth on exit 13, but only because of my time there.
Posted 3 years ago by bruceandjenna    [ Reply ]
 ExploitingChaos wrote:
Impeach Trump
 

Exploiting...can you believe what has happened? 2 years is a lifetime ago!
Posted 3 years ago by HonduranRed    [ Reply ]
 dublanica wrote:


The Yes version is great; but, covers are covers; no?
I believe the edge always go to the original.
 
No.  Hendrix wins with All Along The Watchtower.
Posted 4 years ago by Edweirdo    [ Reply ]
 rickhoran wrote:
spudboy wrote:
YES does an amazing version of this song. One of the few covers I prefer to the original.
agreed.
 

Posted 4 years ago by zair99    [ Reply ]
I just played this for myself last night - needed to hear it. Thanks for the replay! :)
Posted 4 years ago by k1j2cat    [ Reply ]
One of the greatest stories told through song. 
Posted 4 years ago by SpencerAR    [ Reply ]
 Skydog wrote:
where was he at after the four day hitch hike from Saginaw?
 

It took me three years to answer from Anch-or-age...
Pitts-burgh, he was in Piiiiiiiiiiittsbuuuuurrrrrrrgh....



Posted 4 years ago by Zarking_Fardwark    [ Reply ]
Perfect for all eternity. Thank you Bill!
Posted 4 years ago by chinaski    [ Reply ]
Too much cymbal ... 
Posted 4 years ago by noe.architecte169    [ Reply ]
I've had this song looping in my head for hours. As much as I love it, it was dredging up deep, not entirely happy memories from 1982 and I decided to switch on RP to clear the earwurm. ...and it's 2nd song up in the playlist.
I guess I'm supposed to be back in 1982 tonight.
Posted 4 years ago by memoryboxer    [ Reply ]
 Highspirits wrote:
Fantastic song....but give me the YES version anytime!
 

The Yes version is great; but, covers are covers; no?
I believe the edge always go to the original.
Posted 4 years ago by dublanica    [ Reply ]
Doesn't get any better than this!
Poetry, musical arrangement and vocal harmony.
Nothing but the best!
Posted 4 years ago by dublanica    [ Reply ]
Gave this a 8 great song
Posted 5 years ago by jp33442    [ Reply ]
I discovered I could rent this record from the library in junior high and I wore it out.
Posted 5 years ago by meatmike    [ Reply ]
 ExploitingChaos wrote:
Impeach Trump
 
You Are Behaving Like An Asshole.
Posted 5 years ago by Jelani    [ Reply ]
 ExploitingChaos wrote:
Impeach Trump
 
OMG - how sad that you can't get over your hate. RP is about the music. 
Posted 5 years ago by Slickamoe    [ Reply ]
Fantastic song....but give me the YES version anytime!
Posted 5 years ago by Highspirits    [ Reply ]
 Lazarus wrote:
Everybody in my elevator loves this classic song...  we be dancing like happy hippies...  love sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll...
 
Sounds fun...except for the drugs. Drugs suck.
Posted 5 years ago by BCarn    [ Reply ]
Always reminds me of catey who is no longer on RP because of me. Sorry Emilia.
Posted 5 years ago by mrtuba9    [ Reply ]
 ExploitingChaos wrote:
Impeach Trump
 
Vote Putin in
Posted 5 years ago by megaboogieman    [ Reply ]
 Skydog wrote:
where was he at after the four day hitch hike from Saginaw?
 

Pittsburgh!
Posted 5 years ago by kazoo    [ Reply ]
Brings back fond memories and is imho one of the best S&G songs overall... clear 10/10
Posted 5 years ago by kopfhoerer    [ Reply ]
Impeach Trump
Posted 6 years ago by ExploitingChaos    [ Reply ]
Apparently Paul Simon is doing an acoustic version of this as the opener to his farewell tour now underway. It's a good choice.
Posted 6 years ago by nagsheadlocal    [ Reply ]
 thewiseking wrote:
Quick, name a rock and roll anthem which also references the New Jersey Turnpike
 
Luckily, in Hawaiian, "quick" is "wiki" and there's a wiki for that question. 
"Jungleland", definitely not a lesser Springsteen track"Where I Come From" not likely to be heard here"New Jersey Turnpike" by Laurie Anderson
It's not Broadway, or Mulholland Drive, but a lot of non-Jerseyans know about it.  
Posted 6 years ago by bluejay08003    [ Reply ]
 Proclivities wrote:

There's probably at least one Springsteen tune which does; maybe one of his lesser-known numbers.

 
Chuck Berry: You Can't Catch Me
Posted 6 years ago by thewiseking    [ Reply ]
 thewiseking wrote:
Quick, name a rock and roll anthem which also references the New Jersey Turnpike
 
There's probably at least one Springsteen tune which does; maybe one of his lesser-known numbers.
Posted 7 years ago by Proclivities    [ Reply ]
Quick, name a rock and roll anthem which also references the New Jersey Turnpike
Posted 7 years ago by thewiseking    [ Reply ]
Agree with Medoras, possibly their greatest album and this song a favourite.
Posted 7 years ago by Mandurang    [ Reply ]
Nice lyrics especially for that time period.  Few of us had the opportunity to Look for America so Simon/Garfunkel did it for us.
Posted 7 years ago by boxofrain    [ Reply ]
One of many brilliant songs from Bookends, which is quite possibly Simon & Garfunkel's best and most underrated album.
Posted 8 years ago by medoras    [ Reply ]
Also looking for America, at about the same time:
https://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02084/easyrider_2084785c.jpg
(It didn't end so well.)
Posted 8 years ago by On_The_Beach    [ Reply ]
where was he at after the four day hitch hike from Saginaw?
Posted 8 years ago by Skydog    [ Reply ]
On the road...get on the road. With clear eyes and open mind and heart. 

We should all be so lucky.
Posted 8 years ago by idiot_wind    [ Reply ]
Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one my raincoat.
We smoked the last one an hour ago!
So we bought some more cigarettes.
Then we smoked all those cigarettes,
And walked off to look for some cigarettes... 
Posted 8 years ago by themusicroob    [ Reply ]
Everybody in my elevator loves this classic song...  we be dancing like happy hippies...  love sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll...
Posted 8 years ago by Lazarus    [ Reply ]
 below72 wrote:
a song which could be in top ten to define a generation 

 
Agreed, and no doubt one of Paul's best compositions. 

Kind of makes me think....some generations were the 'greatest' and sacrificed to give their descendants a better life...and another generation felt lost & alone and went out to find themselves...and another expects everything to be handed to them for free.

....maybe not quite right but it seems that way sometimes... 
Posted 8 years ago by buddy    [ Reply ]
a song which could be in top ten to define a generation 
Posted 8 years ago by below72    [ Reply ]
 mrtuba9 wrote:
'"Kathy, I'm lost," I said, though I knew she was sleeping...'  {#Yes}

 
This line and image was my inspiration to later write a song about a woman I sat next to on a bus.  Such inspirational music!
Posted 8 years ago by willthompson2012    [ Reply ]
An effing masterpiece.  "And the moon rose over an open field..."  I saw it in my mind the first time I heard it.  That is the sign of a truly great song.
Posted 8 years ago by big_gare    [ Reply ]
Feel the berning classic. Sweet. Don't write 'em like that anymore. 
Posted 8 years ago by kingart    [ Reply ]
My brother left this album at home after he went off to Vietnam and it sort of became my first album.  I can't even objectively rate this song so great was its and every other song on the album's influence on everything I heard after.  I'd like to think much of my musical taste can be traced back to this album, though I'm not sure how that accounts for all the shitty music I bought in the 70s.  
Posted 9 years ago by Typesbad    [ Reply ]
10 out of 10 :)
 
Posted 9 years ago by garrettb    [ Reply ]
I love the Yes version, too, but I think the opposite case works better: the Yes version makes sense only as an arrangement of S&G's original. Like a jazz master bending a song to the edge of becoming unrecognizable, I think Yes was making a compliment to the original song by doing something other than a slavish cover. Both versions are beautiful, at least to me, but they're very different kinds of beauty. 

 wpost wrote:
I'm sure I'd be able to appreciate this if I had never heard the superior version by Yes.

 


Posted 9 years ago by Vicey    [ Reply ]
Good as it gets.
Posted 9 years ago by nutrod42    [ Reply ]
 wpost wrote:
I'm sure I'd be able to appreciate this if I had never heard the superior version by Yes.

 
Few people here can exceed my love for Yes (or my indifference to solo Paul Simon) but the original blows the noisy Yes version completely out of the water. They're riding a bus, not a semi truck.

"Every Little Thing", however, is a pretty good Yes cover of the Beatles tune. 
Posted 9 years ago by wgsu_1978    [ Reply ]
Songs simply don't get much better than this.
Posted 9 years ago by Rick_V    [ Reply ]
 The_Walrus wrote:
Staggeringly beautiful.
 
{#Yes}
Posted 9 years ago by On_The_Beach    [ Reply ]
'"Kathy, I'm lost," I said, though I knew she was sleeping...'  {#Yes}
Posted 9 years ago by mrtuba9    [ Reply ]
 wpost wrote:
I'm sure I'd be able to appreciate this if I had never heard the superior version by Yes.

 
Yes?  No, thank you.
Posted 9 years ago by Proclivities    [ Reply ]
Anyone see First Aid Kit do this song?....phenomenal!!
Posted 9 years ago by jules44    [ Reply ]
I loved that Bowie opened the Concert for Heroes after 911 with this with just a click track.
Posted 10 years ago by lemmoth    [ Reply ]
 I'm so glad to see people think this about the Yes version. Not just a cover but a tribute to S&G.
jmsmy wrote:
A GREAT Song.

One of the greatest cover songs in all of rock is Yes' version - check it out.

 


Posted 10 years ago by RichW    [ Reply ]
So hard to listen to. In a good way. 
Posted 10 years ago by hencini    [ Reply ]
I'm sure I'd be able to appreciate this if I had never heard the superior version by Yes.
Posted 10 years ago by wpost    [ Reply ]
 LowPhreak wrote:

+1. I also like Yes' version.

 
There is a Yes version of this?!!!  My imagination presently fails me
Posted 10 years ago by Typesbad    [ Reply ]
Brilliant. 10 all the way. Nice to see this song has received more 10 ratings than any other rating.
Posted 10 years ago by jnhashmi    [ Reply ]
A GREAT Song.

One of the greatest cover songs in all of rock is Yes' version - check it out.
Posted 10 years ago by jmsmy    [ Reply ]
Staggeringly beautiful.
Posted 10 years ago by The_Walrus    [ Reply ]
{#Cheers} ... come on, this is as Godlike as you can get

 {#Notworthy} 

 {#Notworthy} 
Posted 10 years ago by Peter_Bradshaw    [ Reply ]
Unique songwriting and harmonising - wonderful and still sounds so fresh and innocent.  {#Notworthy}
Posted 11 years ago by Pedro1874    [ Reply ]
Easily one of my favorite S&G songs
Posted 11 years ago by stephw    [ Reply ]
"I wept for my youth, sweet passionate young thought,
And cozy women dead that by my side   
Once lay: I wept with bitter longing, not   
Remembering how in my youth I cried."

Stanley Kunitz -- I Dreamed that I Was Old

Posted 11 years ago by eswiley2    [ Reply ]

Exit 8 on the New Jersey Turnpike


Posted 11 years ago by marty88210    [ Reply ]
Brilliant wordsmithing and storytelling.


Posted 11 years ago by steeler    [ Reply ]
 MassivRuss wrote:
Their best.

Discuss.

 
+1. I also like Yes' version.
Posted 11 years ago by LowPhreak    [ Reply ]
Their best.

Discuss.
Posted 11 years ago by MassivRuss    [ Reply ]
Such an awesome song. Nothing Paul Simon has done since can match it - inspired.
Posted 11 years ago by bb_matt    [ Reply ]
 WonderLizard wrote:
Does it say something about us as a culture that a song about lost youth has become a touchstone of sorts? I mean, you don't have Leonard Cohen crooning, "We're off in search of Canada..."

 
Leonard Cohen may not have done the "off in search of Canada" thing, but lots of other Canadian performers have, including Neil Young, Gordon Lightfoot, Sam Roberts, Stompin' Tom Connors and Ian Tyson. (Mostly without the wistfulness of S&G's song, of course. "Helpless" being a major exception.) I'm sure those songs have not been heard in the States because FM radio programers don't want to play songs about the prairie and how damn cold it is. 

For what it's worth, I do not know whether Stompin' Tom ever mentioned Lightfoot or Young by name, but he was disdainful of those Canadian performers who went south of the border to seek larger fame and dollars. He felt they should have been truer to their Canadian heritage. To my knowledge, Stompin' Tom performed on American television only once. 

Take care.  
Posted 11 years ago by Grammarcop    [ Reply ]

Everybody in my church loves this song...
 
Posted 11 years ago by Lazarus    [ Reply ]
"Gabardine suits and bow ties" notwithstanding, America is one of Paul Simon's finest songs and places him among the very best of American music poets.

Featured on Bookends, which is my favorite and possibly Simon & Garfunkel's most underrated effort, I find myself revisiting this album every few years to appreciate just how good it really is.  
Posted 11 years ago by medoras    [ Reply ]
 eswiley2 wrote:
Average rating 9.. . I think that's the highest average rating I've seen on RP.

A timeless classic.  Written by a kid.  A kid who also gave us Sounds of Silence and Bridge Over Troubled Water.

Is Justin Bieber going to hold up after 40 years like this?   I'm thinking no.
 
I think Jimi had a 9.2 yesterday, Little Wing.
Posted 11 years ago by BazH    [ Reply ]
Average rating 9.. . I think that's the highest average rating I've seen on RP.

A timeless classic.  Written by a kid.  A kid who also gave us Sounds of Silence and Bridge Over Troubled Water.

Is Justin Bieber going to hold up after 40 years like this?   I'm thinking no.
Posted 11 years ago by eswiley2    [ Reply ]
 Art_Carnage wrote:
It was groovy, back in the day. But it comes off as way too twee and precious now. Definitely lesser S&G.
 
I think tthis song holds up really well even taking into account that it was written in a very different era, I think the story works today...young people trying to find out who they are and trying to find America while they're at it.
Posted 11 years ago by jim1964    [ Reply ]
 Art_Carnage wrote:
It was groovy, back in the day. But it comes off as way too twee and precious now. Definitely lesser S&G.
 
I disagree.  But that doesn't mean that I think you are a bad person or anything.
Posted 11 years ago by philbertr    [ Reply ]
 WonderLizard wrote:
Does it say something about us as a culture that a song about lost youth has become a touchstone of sorts? I mean, you don't have Leonard Cohen crooning, "We're off in search of Canada..."
Good point. 


Posted 11 years ago by ScottN    [ Reply ]
Me loves it that Bill is playing more S&G lately.  They (together and solo) are incredibly good musicians and poets, and they spoke to an entire generation.  In fact, I hear them still...

And just look at that ratings distribution chart!
Posted 11 years ago by philbertr    [ Reply ]
SNL-Joe Piscapo
I'm from Jersey.....You from Jersey?
What exit?
(I'm from exit 9......don't count the cars...there's too many!)    
Posted 12 years ago by boober    [ Reply ]
 coding_to_music wrote:
Eleven
 
Eleven it is. This song is amazing in the visuals
Posted 12 years ago by oldsaxon    [ Reply ]
 spindrift wrote:
There's so much in this song of a bygone era.  How many gabardine suits and bowties are on inter city busses nowadays?  Let alone smoking...
 
Don't blink. Magazines and of scenery of open fields are next...
Posted 12 years ago by Cleavose    [ Reply ]
Does it say something about us as a culture that a song about lost youth has become a touchstone of sorts? I mean, you don't have Leonard Cohen crooning, "We're off in search of Canada..."
Posted 12 years ago by WonderLizard    [ Reply ]
 coding_to_music wrote:
Eleven
 
{#Yes}
Posted 12 years ago by MsJudi    [ Reply ]
Eleven
Posted 12 years ago by coding_to_music    [ Reply ]
Love
Posted 12 years ago by TJS    [ Reply ]
There's so much in this song of a bygone era.  How many gabardine suits and bowties are on inter city busses nowadays?  Let alone smoking...
Posted 12 years ago by spindrift    [ Reply ]
It was groovy, back in the day. But it comes off as way too twee and precious now. Definitely lesser S&G.
Posted 12 years ago by Art_Carnage    [ Reply ]
 Proclivities wrote:

If I recall correctly, one of the zoos in NYC (Central Park or Bronx Zoo, perhaps) used that tune as background music in some TV spots in the late 1960's or early 70's.

 
And the Houston Zoo!  
Posted 12 years ago by LizK    [ Reply ]
Love this so much!
Posted 12 years ago by Purple_Turtle    [ Reply ]
 jadewahoo wrote:
The haunting pathos that this song expresses is alive and questing within me still...
 
Yes I feel it too...

Posted 12 years ago by musickat    [ Reply ]
A GREAT BIG  1 0 
Posted 13 years ago by musickat    [ Reply ]
{#Sleep}
Posted 13 years ago by MiracleDrug    [ Reply ]
mythical
mystical
michigan
saginaw
Posted 13 years ago by coy    [ Reply ]