Fact #166080

Paul Simon : I don't really know what was in my mind when I wrote America. I think it's very 1968, kind of about a generation of kids who have just started to travel the country. But it doesn't much take me back when I listen to it , but then I'm not very nostalgic except for some pockets of arcane rock 'n' roll of the '50s. I'm a much more future-orientated person than I am reflective. I'm not sure I could even tell where the images came from - the riding on the bus. The girl is Kathy, my girlfriend in England. She was the model for the girl, but we never actually took a trip like that. None of those events actually occurred to me in my life. In many ways, this is a song with no physical roots.
(Source : not known)