America

I love rediscovering great songs. Listening once again to the song “America” written by Paul Simon, and performed by Simon and Garfunkel, I was struck by the genius of this song. The chord structures, time signatures, and poetry are beautiful. It paints stunning pictures in my mind.

The song tells a story of two young people finding their way in the world. It captures the angst of a whole generation of people in the 1960s and 70s. There is the optimism of youth and the emptiness that seems to stem from a generation not knowing who they are or for what purpose they exist. Paul Simon was asking good questions about life. I wonder if he ever found his answers.

"America"
(Listen to the song) 

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's 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 hitch-hike 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 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.

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.

Songwriter: Paul Simon, Published by Universal Music Publishing Group

Darling Lorraine

“Darling Lorraine” is a story-song by Paul Simon that tells of the emotional journey of Lorraine and Frank. By saying “emotional journey,” I mean that Simon is relating the ups and downs, the ecstasies and the miseries in the emotions of their relationship. He could have tracked the logic of the marriage or the history as seen from outside of the relationship; but instead, he follows the ebb and flow of their feelings for each other. It is a captivating window into one couple’s turbulent relationship. Interspersed throughout are insights into how feelings often overrule common sense. It is a cautionary tale of the power of emotions. Dallas Willard said, “Feelings are, with a few exceptions, good servants. But they are disastrous masters.”[1]

"Darling Lorraine"

(Listen while you read)

The first time I saw her

I couldn't be sure

But the sin of impatience

Said "She's just what you're looking for"

So I walked right up to her

And with the part of me that talks

I introduced myself as Frank

From New York,

New York

She's so hot

She's so cool

I'm not

I'm just a fool in love with Darling Lorraine

All my life I've been a wanderer

Not really, I mostly lived near my parent’s home

Anyway Lorraine and I got married

And the usual marriage stuff

Then one day she says to me

From out of the blue

She says, "Frank, I've had enough

Romance is a heart-breaker

I'm not meant to be a homemaker

And I'm tired of being Darling Lorraine"

What!? you don't love me anymore?

What!? you're walking out the door?

What!? you don't like the way I chew?

Hey, let me tell you

You're not the woman that I wed

You say you're depressed but you're not

You just like to stay in bed

I don't need you darling Lorraine

Darling Lorraine

Lorraine

I long for your love

Financially speaking

I guess I'm a washout

Everybody's buy and sell

And sell and buy

That's what the whole thing's all about

If it had not been Lorraine

I'd have left here long ago

I should have been a musician

I love the piano

She's so light

She's so free

I'm tight, well, that's me

But I feel so good

With Darling Lorraine

On Christmas morning Frank awakes

To find Lorraine has made a stack of pancakes

They watch the television, husband and wife

All afternoon "It's a wonderful life"

What!? you don't love me anymore?

What!? you're walking out the door?

What!? you don't like the way I chew?

Hey let me tell you

You're not the woman that I wed

Gimme my robe I'm going back to bed

I'm sick to death of you Lorraine

Darling Lorraine

Lorraine

Her hands like wood

The doctor was smiling

But the news wasn't good

Darling Lorraine

Please don't leave me yet

I know you're in pain

Pain you can't forget

Your breathing is like an echo of our love

Maybe I'll go down to the corner store

And buy us something sweet

Here's an extra blanket honey

To wrap around your feet

All the trees were washed with April rain

And the moon in the meadow

Took Darling Lorraine

Words and music by Paul Simon

Copyright held by Universal Music Publishing Group

Works Cited:

Willard, Dallas. Renovation of the Heart. Carol Stream: NavPress, 2002.

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[1] (Willard 2002)

Blue Moon

Remember all of those things that you do "once in a blue moon?" Well get ready for a flurry of activity. Friday, July 31, marks the appearance of a blue moon. No, you will not see a change in hue; the moon will still look the same colour. A blue moon is "an additional full moon that appears in a subdivision of a year, either the third of four full moons in a season or, a second full moon in a month of the common calendar."[1] The first full moon of July, 2015 occurred on July 2 at 02:19 UTC; thus, the full moon that occurs on July 31 at 10:43 UTC will be the blue moon.

The concept of a blue moon is only a calendar construct based on where we place the days on our contemporary calendar. It is a bit like "the tail wagging the dog," (another folk saying that warrants its own explanation at some other time). Before the standardization of the calendar, the moon was the physical constant that signaled the change of a month. Ancient people groups would not experience the concept of a blue moon for they would simply allow the next full moon to announce a new month.

So, if someone asks you what you are going to do with your blue moon, you can give them a list; or, you can tell them it is only a human invention that has no bearing on how you see the world. Then, you can explain the whole concept to them.

Of course song writers have been singing about blue moons for years. Here is but one example.

Once in a Blue Moon

(Words and Music by Edie Brickell; from the album Volcano)

(Listen while you read)

She said I tried to mind my own business
But that sad look on your face was a challenge to my faith
Made me wanna chase the dark out of your room
So she smiled and said hello; little did she know
He would take hold of her soul and never never never let go

He was fine before he met her
Eyes like faded jeans, soft and blue and he had seen
Everything, and he had been everywhere
Til he turned his gaze her way, longed to see it every day
Heard a voice inside him say you'll never never never be the same

Once in a while
Once in a blue moon
There comes somebody like you

They got fire and they got fever
He was more than fine; she was more than young
And the orange setting sun was beautiful
Ever so at ease, in the summer evening breeze
They would talk and they would tease
And never never never want to leave

Once in a while
Once in a blue moon
There comes somebody
There comes somebody like you

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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_moon