"America", written by Paul Simon, is a song recorded by Simon & Garfunkel. It was included in their album Bookends, released on 3 April 1968, and is notable as one of the few rock records to have an almost completely unrhymed lyric. The only rhyme in the song is "Michigan seems like a dream to me now".

The song was first released in 1971 as the B-side to "Keep The Customer Satisfied" a US promo-only release, then again as a single in 1972, to coincide with the album Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits, and eventually hit #97 on the Billboard Hot 100. The flip side of the single, "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her," unexpectedly^{[by whom?]} did much better, reaching #53.

The song mentions the cities of Saginaw, Michigan, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the New Jersey Turnpike.

The song describes in first-hand terms, with non-rhyming lyrics, the physical and metaphorical journey of two companions in search of the true meaning of America. On a metaphorical level, the lovers' initial hopefulness turns to a sense of angst and maybe sadness. "'Kathy, I'm lost,' I said, though I knew she was sleeping" is a reference to Kathy Chitty, with whom Simon had had a relationship while living in England in 1965.

On a more literal level, the song describes a trip east through America which leads to New York City, as Simon's lovers travel from Michigan to Pittsburgh and then onto the New Jersey Turnpike leading to New York City.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America_%28Simon_%26_Garfunkel_song%29

America

"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, thought 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

--song written by Paul Simon

Identity is purpose.

Or at least that's what the Greeks believed.

You have to know your role.

Then you can follow the script.

Improvise your lines.

Take your place in the community.

But we're in America now.

A place where people create

their own purpose.

If possible make their own jobs.

Free to find your own way.

Free to starve. Free to fail.

Free to pursue happiness.

At least that's what  we're told.

What we want to believe.

What we know & experience

is something else.