Let's set aside the fireworks. They reappear in the seventh section (see the annotation at www.CrackingTheSimonCode.org ) where we'll be able to discuss them because we'll know more.
That brings us to "How can you live ... How can you be a Christian?..." This is a rant by an angry Simon character. The songpoet answers in the third section (that reprises the music from the fireworks). "Names and religion come / Just after date of birth." The given and family names come literally just after we pop out of the womb. Religion's not so quick, but it works the same way.
We are raised in the religion of our parents. (This is the common case. Essayists can digress with a discussion of parents who do not share a religion. Poets cannot digress without destroying their most important points.) To make it personal, how can I live in the Northeast? Simple. I was born here. (Paul Simon was also born in the Northeast, though in his case it was New York City.)
Given at birth: Tongue to speak? Check. Inner voice? Check. Day at end of week? Check. Note that the sabbath is "to wonder and rejoice" which is critical.
"If the answer is infinite light, ..." I don't believe I get this fully. I don't, in fact, think that "the answer" is infinite light. I'm used to the system where we have light in the day and dark at night. Sleeping in the dark works for me. It's the basic diurnal thing. Does this line show the return of the ranting character? [P.S. In Islam, Muhammad is called "the infinite light."]
Next we get a rant repeat. We know it's a Simon-created character because "The holy man only breaks bread" is just plain wrong. Lao-Tse (original Taoist) ate from a rice bowl. Confucius ate from a rice bowl. If I knew anything about Japan's Shinto I'd probably find some more rice bowlers. (This was the first insight that let me into this song.)
Now the fireworks return. When you watch good fireworks you are probably reduced to banalities, like, "Oh, wow!" and "Awesome!". I know I am. They're thrilling. They are something that triggers a feeling of "wonder and rejoice." The broker's call in "I Don't Believe" reminds us that faith can be purely secular. The fireworks are a secular example of "wonder and rejoice." Another example is the "path of stars, / Over the endless skies."
There's that word, "awesome" (poor, over-used, abused word). It means (or meant) filling with awe. The Grand Canyon from the south rim fills you with awe. The cathedral at Chartres fills you with awe. Bach's Prelude and Fugue in D Minor, played with great vigor, fills you with awe. In Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, Rembrandt's "Night Watch" fills you with awe. Surprise fills me with awe. The not-at-all secret purpose of this blog and website is to help others to their share of this awe.
Finally, I dismissed the Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu "How can you..." as a rant. Let's think about it outside the rant. It seems that people all over the world have their religions, whether they break bread, eat from rice bowls or whatever. Simon names the four largest religions plus his own. In "How Can You Live in the Northeast?", Simon is probing something deep in the psyche of the human, the capacity to wonder and rejoice, that was created by, or that impels us to create, religions.
