Many of the songs on "The Nylon Curtain" are social comments. I think this song is about Joel's contempt for psychologists and therapy. Demand for these, I'm guessing, were probably rising through the late-70s and early-80s. Therapists are not immune from personal problems, and yet people seek them out as if they are all-knowing. But what do therapists really know? All they offer is a "cosmic rationale". Better to look for your own answers. I think the Sesame Street line is a reference to how, according to therapists, any problem we have in adulthood can be traced back to childhood.
Many of the songs on "The Nylon Curtain" are social comments. I think this song is about Joel's contempt for psychologists and therapy. Demand for these, I'm guessing, were probably rising through the late-70s and early-80s. Therapists are not immune from personal problems, and yet people seek them out as if they are all-knowing. But what do therapists really know? All they offer is a "cosmic rationale". Better to look for your own answers. I think the Sesame Street line is a reference to how, according to therapists, any problem we have in adulthood can be traced back to childhood.