Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel's success as a musical duo in the 1960s ended with the 1970 album "Bridge Over Troubled Water". In 1975, Simon wrote a song for Garfunkel to sing as a solo. It ultimately became a reunion, the last successful Simon & Garfunkel hit. "My Little Town" became a top 10 hit and was released on their respective hit solo albums: Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years" and Garfunkel's "Breakaway". 

"My Little Town" is a composition that is much deeper than at first listen, conveying the message that, no matter how far one goes, it is impossible to escape the past. This is made clear by the singer's descriptions of three aspects of small-town life: what they all believe in, what they all do and the expectations that are held because of those beliefs and actions.

The opening lines describe growing up believing in God and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, showing that religion and patriotism are a strong influence in his hometown.  However, he remembers God "lean[ing] upon" him while pledging "allegiance to the wall," which, when coupled with the line, "Lord, I recall," paints a picture of the singer holding his hand over a heavy heart, mourning the loss of his past.

The lines concerning factories and doing laundry show that a strong work ethic is deeply embedded in his memories. Despite that, the idea of work is accompanied by a longing for escape, as he would fly his bike past the factory gates, and contemptuousness, as his mother hung their "shirts in the dirty breeze," most likely caused by the churning of factory smokestacks.

The final verse of the song reveals outright his frustration and sadness toward the severity of small-town life.  He could not advance socially, as he was "nothin' . . . just [his] father's son." That finally forced him to leave in order to pursue his "dream[s] of glory." As if compelled to commit a crime, he implies his exit was like a finger pulling "the trigger of a gun, leaving nothing but the dead and dying" in his town.

Paul Simon's use of simple but effective imagery allows a lot of room for interpretation, as it is only implied that the protagonist regrets leaving his little town behind. It is clear, though, that the memories of small-town beliefs, small-town activity, and the resulting frustration from those combined bring a self-realization of sorts. Even though he is far from his little town, he is a fugitive, one who will never outrun his past.