I think your pretty right on this Pat, but the speaker is on his death bed "I don't expect to sleep the night" is a pretty stong statement to support this.
But paul Simon did say the "cross in the ballpark" is the burden we bear, and I'd tend to think that the burden in the song is death(""I don't expect to sleep the night"")/ getting older ("I watch the night receive the room of my day
"), the obvious.
But yeah, no question this song doesn't have anything to do with religion, just getting old, death, realization of it.
I think the "I don't expect to sleep the night" isn't meant to be metaphorical in any way, it's quite literal. As you get older, you do stop expecting to sleep the night - waking up to go to the bathroom more frequently (esp. men), or with leg cramps/restless legs, or whatever. It goes along with all the other processes/signs of aging that are mentioned in the song, whether physical or mental (thinning hair, nostalgia for past times).
I think the "I don't expect to sleep the night" isn't meant to be metaphorical in any way, it's quite literal. As you get older, you do stop expecting to sleep the night - waking up to go to the bathroom more frequently (esp. men), or with leg cramps/restless legs, or whatever. It goes along with all the other processes/signs of aging that are mentioned in the song, whether physical or mental (thinning hair, nostalgia for past times).
I think your pretty right on this Pat, but the speaker is on his death bed "I don't expect to sleep the night" is a pretty stong statement to support this.
But paul Simon did say the "cross in the ballpark" is the burden we bear, and I'd tend to think that the burden in the song is death(""I don't expect to sleep the night"")/ getting older ("I watch the night receive the room of my day "), the obvious.
But yeah, no question this song doesn't have anything to do with religion, just getting old, death, realization of it.
I think the "I don't expect to sleep the night" isn't meant to be metaphorical in any way, it's quite literal. As you get older, you do stop expecting to sleep the night - waking up to go to the bathroom more frequently (esp. men), or with leg cramps/restless legs, or whatever. It goes along with all the other processes/signs of aging that are mentioned in the song, whether physical or mental (thinning hair, nostalgia for past times).
I think the "I don't expect to sleep the night" isn't meant to be metaphorical in any way, it's quite literal. As you get older, you do stop expecting to sleep the night - waking up to go to the bathroom more frequently (esp. men), or with leg cramps/restless legs, or whatever. It goes along with all the other processes/signs of aging that are mentioned in the song, whether physical or mental (thinning hair, nostalgia for past times).