My family and I always joke around about Simon & Garfunkel songs being about drugs, solely because of the era the songs were written in. But I don't believe any of their songs are about drugs, this one included.
To me, seems like this is about a musician just starting out. No agent or anything, the only way to get started would be to play on the streets. Street musician being "one step ahead of the shoe shine". "Slandered, libled, hear words I never heard in the Bible" meaning he's constantly being criticized and cursed at (doesn't seem like too many people like street musicians for some reason). "Two steps away from the county line" means he doesn't stay too long in one city, because the people will eventual get sick of him and run him out of town (thus the deputy sheriff verse). "I'm so tired" part at the end means exactly that: he's tired of doing the same thing over and over again ("it's the same old story everywhere I go"), but feels obligated to make his music heard ("Just trying to keep the customer satisfied").
That's my interpretation of the song. Comments on the song: love it! Great lyrics, tune, and music. Love S&G's music.
My family and I always joke around about Simon & Garfunkel songs being about drugs, solely because of the era the songs were written in. But I don't believe any of their songs are about drugs, this one included.
To me, seems like this is about a musician just starting out. No agent or anything, the only way to get started would be to play on the streets. Street musician being "one step ahead of the shoe shine". "Slandered, libled, hear words I never heard in the Bible" meaning he's constantly being criticized and cursed at (doesn't seem like too many people like street musicians for some reason). "Two steps away from the county line" means he doesn't stay too long in one city, because the people will eventual get sick of him and run him out of town (thus the deputy sheriff verse). "I'm so tired" part at the end means exactly that: he's tired of doing the same thing over and over again ("it's the same old story everywhere I go"), but feels obligated to make his music heard ("Just trying to keep the customer satisfied").
That's my interpretation of the song. Comments on the song: love it! Great lyrics, tune, and music. Love S&G's music.