Empty and Aching

The late Maya Angelou once wrote, "I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw something back."

It's a good lesson for folks in their 20s to learn -- that, in order to get, you have to give, too. Simon and Garfunkel were in their 20s when they recorded this song, but by the time the story ends, they had yet to learn the valuable lesson about giving and getting. They started out to "look for America" with their hands out. They ended up the same way.

Kathy, I'm lost, I said
Thought I knew she was sleeping
I'm empty and aching
And I don't know why

The question of why is a fine thing to answer in your 20s and 30s. Sometimes, finding the answer can be the stuff of a midlife crisis; but some get through their 40s and 50s and beyond without ever having answered it.

Counting the cars
On the New Jersey Turnpike
They've all come to look for
America

That might be one clue: Shutting yourself up in your car, doing your own thing and taking your own journey year after year is a good way to avoid the truth. Opinions, they say, are like navels: everyone has one. And everyone is willing to offer you theirs. If you're staring 50 or 60 in the face without having discovered how to fill the emptiness that everyone feels at one time or another, maybe it's because you stopped listening to good advice a long time ago. Probably because that oh-so-helpful advice always has to do with sacrificing yourself to something, someone, or Someone greater than yourself.

Of course, it's always possible that you've never received good advice.

You know what they say about that: "If you want something done right, do it yourself."

Here are Simon and Garfunkel, badly in need of some good advice -- or maybe just a well-stocked public library -- singing all about "America". Gee, maybe this whole album is about the American disease.