Last December I thought I realized something about Simon & Garfunkel's "America," but I wanted to listen to it again before I wrote about it. A couple weeks ago, I listened to Bookends for my Collection Audit project and took that opportunity to transcribe most of the song. What I was thinking in December is valid, although it's only a small point about the line "'Kathy, I'm lost,' I said, though I knew she was sleeping."
What I realized is the importance behind the singer/speaker's admission that he "knew she was sleeping." He knew Kathy was sleeping, but he told that he's lost anyway, which reveals something about him. He wants to tell someone that he feels lost, but he also doesn't really want that feeling to be known. That's why - when he does tell someone that he feels lost - he makes sure that it's at a time when it won't be heard, namely when Kathy's asleep.
