I’m not agnostic when it comes to Paul Simon, I have always loved him.. I think Simon and Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits was the first album I bought with my own money. Ironically, he appeals across so many boundaries that he is slightly dismissed, All his albums have at least one good track. Here is my favorite, what’s yours?
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Bartleby says
This. Astonishing I think. Timeless and so open and honest. One of the best songs about loneliness and attempted cheerfulness there is (in my interpretation)
BigJimBob says
Jeez I might be wrong, this may be the right answer. It creates an atmosphere that seems right for every occasion. Like in Trump’s USA it feels so… now.
dai says
Right answer
Arthur Cowslip says
I love that song, but, but, but… I think it’s half-written. After a couple of verses it gets repetitive, and not in a good way. Needs to build to something.
Bartleby says
I wish he’d half write a few more like it!
Fifer says
That sense of not quite getting there is not uncommon in PS songs. I’ve always felt that ‘You Can Call Me Al’ builds and builds and then plateaus. This is not to say that I have anything other than love and admiration for the man and his work. I saw him at the old Hammersmith Palais with a tight-as-you-like band and it was a wonderful evening; one of my top 5 gigs.
Bartleby says
I think the ‘not quite getting there’ and ‘unfinished’ sense comes deliberately from the its construction. It’s a melancholy song, yet it’s written in a major key, with Paul going out of his way to emphasise the major 3rd of the key both in “plane right on time” line and on the “Fly” note. Yet whenever he hits the root note of the key, he switches away from the root on the guitar, up to the 4th chord, creating a nice tension.
Then, just before the bridge, he signals a shift with a huge G#major chord – one that doesn’t belong in the underlying key. This heralds a shift in the key to C# (G# being the dominant chord in C#), but instead of a regular A, we finally get the minor chord the song seems to be crying out for and his ‘Half of the time we don’t know’ anguish. Then it’s back to the original major chord.
Throughout, you have organ swells emphasising the root and other note, drawing you back to or anticipating the key note. The percussion is deliberately sparse, adding to the unresolved feel. Entirely in keeping with the lyric – is he happy about Art disappearing? Does he really get all the news he needs from the weather report? Is he actually smiling much? Or is he trying to convince himself. The music gives as much of an answer as the lyrics. A work of genius.
nickduvet says
That G#maj is audacious and shifts the mood brilliantly. Love that song.
Junior Wells says
Yeah, that was what I was going to say too Bartles 😉
Bartleby says
Ha! Excuse my bollocks! 😂
Rec Room says
A stunning track, it sounds dated yet current. When I hear this song I feel like an “english as a 2nd Language” speaker. I don’t understand the lyrics at all (other than the title/chorus) yet I understand the song through my heart. Wow.
Moose the Mooche says
S & G, and therefore presumably S, are recommended to EFL teachers for classroom use. It’s the diction, you see. Outstanding diction.
(hurrrrr)
ivan says
yup, that’s the correct answer.
bricameron says
Paul Simon’s songs have affected me ever since I can remember, starting with this one…
Moose the Mooche says
All of them to choose from and you choose one he didn’t bleedin’ write?
Don’t do drugs, kids!
Rec Room says
I like this song, an oldie but goodie i think.
hubert rawlinson says
Not forgetting that the arrangement was borrowed from Martin Carthy.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4722968/Friends-again-with-Paul-Simon.html
Moose the Mooche says
My favourite Alan Price song is definitely House of the Rising Sun. What a genius!
bricameron says
I was expecting that.
ganglesprocket says
My favorite is The Boy In The Bubble. I was 11 when Graceland came out and I had heard a lot of Simon and Garfunkel (my parents loved them). I’ll be honest folks, I held him in actual contempt (my parents loved them. I had to watch that fucking Hyde Park Concert on video a lot).
But that album was so beyond what I had heard in music at the time. You Can Call Me Al was so witty and funny, genuinely that song made me laugh in a good way when I first heard it. It was just delightful!
And then the Boy In The Bubble. I had no idea what it was about, but every line set off a bomb in my head. I suspect that 11 year old me, were I alive in 1965, would have felt similarly about Bob Dylan. Few songs have set off bombs in my head. The Boy In The Bubble did with me. Thank you Paul Simon…
snodgrass says
America…
Cathy, I’m lost, I said though I knew she was sleeping
And I’m empty and aching and I don’t know why
bricameron says
Exactly.
Gary says
I’d say America too. The lack of any rhyming lyrics goes completely unnoticed, cos the lyrics work so well, and the images are so real.
Askwith says
America is a wonderful song.
Paul Simon is a master of engaging narrative in his lyrics
Clive says
Every line of that song takes me away.
Black Celebration says
In the petrol station the other day, the radio was playing Graceland (the song). I lingered a bit just to enjoy it all again. You all probably know this but the woman he sings about in that song is Carrie Fisher.
It’s the dignity with Paul Simon, isn’t it? You feel he’s just talking rather than singing. But he’s certainly singing and his voice has a kind vulnerability that makes you like him.
bricameron says
He’s like Spock.
goodfella says
April Come She Will. A friend had one of the early S&G albums with this on it and we’d sit in his room and bask in it’s beauty.
I put off learning the guitar part knowing that it would rob some of the magic and it did.
bricameron says
Try again.
garyt says
American Tune.
Steven C says
I’d cast my vote for this gem from a criminally underrated LP
Gary says
Definitely his most overall consistent album. Every track on it is excellent.
Rec Room says
I think this could be an Afterword anthem
John Walters says
Well stuff it…….I’m picking two !
“America” – I have always loved this song and it made me weep when they played it in Manchester about 15 years ago.
“The Boxer”
In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the remainders
Of every glove that laid him down
And cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame
“I am leaving, I am leaving”
But the fighter still remains
Still remains
There are no better lyrics written in popular music than this amazing song.
Gary says
“remainders”! I’ve always heard/sung “reminders”. I live and I learn.
NigelT says
I’m sure it is reminders…?
Gary says
Yes, I think it is. Some sites say “remainders” but the jolly excellent genius.com say “reminders”, giving the helpful annotation that “he has many scars, both physical and emotional”. I live and I unlearn.
John Walters says
Sorry. It is definitely reminders.
I copied and pasted the lyrics from the internet ( should have checked them first……sigh ! )
Still a fabulous song though.
Moose the Mooche says
April Come She Will.
(hurrrrr)
minibreakfast says
*checks calendar*
*sighs*
Moose the Mooche says
Sighing is it?
It begins!
minibreakfast says
I’m all for a slow build-up, but APRIL?
Moose the Mooche says
She’s fine. Very fine.
Tiggerlion says
Peace Like A River.
It has a remarkable lyric, an outstanding guitar part and is beautifully sung. It is probably the warmest, loveliest protest song ever recorded. Elvis Costello likes it. I just wish one of the Soul greats had covered it.
https://youtu.be/jAmPfEMI16g
DrJ says
Spoon do a great version…
“Misinformation followed us like a plague…”
Tiggerlion says
Indeed. Spoon add a bit of tension and drama and some soul. But, imagine Donny Hathaway singing it. Or, even, Wilson Pickett.
Carl says
I thought that was my Paul Simon “deep cut”, but I see I’m not alone.
I have another. See below.
Bartleby says
Nice. Not even sure I’ve noticed it much before.
Tiggerlion says
That album is full of gems. Here is another, Everything Put Together Falls Apart. Again, the lyric is perfect, the guitar wonderful and the vocal blissful. It is a song attempting to lift the spirit of someone in a dark place. I owe it a great deal.
Bartleby says
Another goodie. I had to check – I do in fact own the thing, on both vinyl and CD. Note to self to play it more often!
NigelT says
My daughter bought me the Old Friends DVD for Christmas and it is so good I bought the 2CD version this week (£0.96p from a 3rd party seller!) and the S&G version of my favourite Simon song, American Tune, is stunning. As an aside, there is a ‘new’ track on it called Citizen Of The World which I hadn’t heard – an 80s song which they finished off – and it hits the spot with world events these days.
DrJ says
Citizen of the Planet is such a gift – a secret S&G reunion song. Makes you realise again what they’ve got together and that they probably could do an album, if they could stand each other…
BigJimBob says
last night it was Duncan. This morning it is this:
Joseph’s face was black as night
The pale yellow moon shone in his eyes
His path was marked
By the stars in the Southern Hemisphere
And he walked his days
Under African skies
[sigh] I lived in rural Africa when this was released. I saw Joseph every time I walked down the red earth road from my thatched mud-brick house to the local shops and bar, which were all oil lamp lit at night.
Moose the Mooche says
Gorgeous. The bass and Linda’s lovely harmony really lifts it into the stratosphere.
DrJ says
So many to chose from, but Wristband is remarkable. Funny, frightening, a parable, great tune. I don’t mean to knock Ed Sheeran, but really, is that the best we’ve got? We shouldn’t have to keep relying on Paul Simon to write about what’s going on.
Arthur Cowslip says
Love that tune. I think it sounds better live than in the studio.
Askwith says
Great isn’t it?
He’s still got it…
Carl says
This is one my wife introduced me to many, many years ago – Hearts and Bones from the album of the same name. I believe it’s about the break-up of his marriage to Carrie Fisher.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIMyCB9y_Y8
Argot says
A truly wonderful song. I return to this again and again, and am both moved and awed by it.
Moose the Mooche says
“All his albums have at least one good track” – this makes me think of One Trick Pony, which I find quite dull but it does contain the quite trouser-tentingly ace Late in the Evening. Oh yes.
DogFacedBoy says
Flipping loads including all already mentioned
Slip Sliding Away
A good day ain’t got no rain
A bad day is when I lie here and think of things that might have been
St Judy’s Comet is a lovely father / child song
Darling Lorraine a great late period story as conversation song
But let’s go for the marvellously titled ‘Rene And Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War’
They danced by the light of the moon
To The Penguins, The Moonglows,
The Orioles , The Five Satins
The deep forbidden music they’d been longing for
retropath2 says
What the Boy said, above. Rene and Georgette. Just beautiful simplicity, you know, the sort that is impossible to reproduce.
DrJ says
When Carrie Fisher died I found out there was an official video for R&GMWTDATW which she appears in with Paul. It also features some top 1983 video graphics.
Argot says
This is it. The ache simply overwhelms. This song leaves me dazed.
bungliemutt says
One and a half minutes of genius.
chiz says
Well it’s America, usually, but lately I’ve found myself singing this a lot:
I don’t know a soul who’s not been battered
I don’t have a friend who feels at ease
I don’t know a dream that’s not been shattered
or driven to its knees
But it’s all right, it’s all right
We’ve lived so well so long…
Freddy Steady says
No one mentioned “I am a Rock” yet?
Cover version by The Church
Arthur Cowslip says
It’s a testament to the breadth of his talent that we’ve got this far without anyone mentioning one of my favourites (and one I can’t help but sing along to every time): Kodachrome.
When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school, it’s a wonder I can think at all….
It’s one of his sassiest, street-smart lyrics. To this day I STILL can’t help pronouncing the brand of my camera “Nigh-kon”…
KDH says
Side 1, Track 1 of his first (proper) album, and also his first single:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pa5H_4lBXs
Moose the Mooche says
This came on in the Co-op on Thursday and I found myself singing by the yoghurts.
Moose the Mooche says
Oh, and nobody else loves Surprise and I always mention it on any P.S. thread. “We don’t want Paul Simon doing drum’n’bass, thank you very much” said some septugenarean snoot-arse at Rolling Stone….”This is fookin boss!” said Moose the Mooche.
DogFacedBoy says
Great album with the worst cover of any 21st Century LP until Primal Scream’s Chaosmosis came along (also winning worst title)
Outrageous, How Can You Live In The North East? Wartime Prayers – all belters helped by the ‘sonic landscaping’ of Brian Eno
Moose the Mooche says
Everything About It Is A Love Song really haunts me. And not at all surprising (ha!) that someone who has always had interesting rhythms on his records (Fakin It, Cecilia) should be singinging over some churning beats. Like Miles, he always sounds at home in every context he chooses.
Fifer says
It’s not easy this, is it? Many of those mentioned already are amongst my favourites – I love “Renee and Georgette” and “Gone At Last”, along with much of Graceland and of course Bookends which was as much part of my teenage years as anything else – but if pressed I’d go with “Still Crazy After All These Years”.
I met my old lover on the street last night
She seemed so glad to see me, I just smiled
and we talked about some old times
and we drank ourselves some beers.
I’m not the kind of man who tends to socialise
I seem to lean on old familiar ways
and I ain’t no fool for love songs
that whisper in my ears.
Four in the morning
Crapped out, yawning
I never worried, why should I
It’s all gonna fade.
Now I sit by my window
and I watch the cars
I fear I’ll do some damage one fine day
But I would not be convicted by a jury of my peers
Still crazy after all these years.
Then there’s that sax solo, possibly the most perfect one there has ever been. As with so many PS songs, it is a perfectly formed and executed nugget of gold. He may be the most under appreciated artist of our times. If Bob can get the Nobel Prize, then what price Mr Simon?
DogFacedBoy says
And at least Paul is still writing and recording new songs
John Walters says
Still Hazy After All These Beers
duco01 says
There are so many Paul Simon albums that I love. I hardly know which one to choose for this thread.
I think I’ll choose an album that no one (I think) has yet nominated – The Rhythm of the Saints. It’s the PS album that I play most often. It sold modestly compared wioth its predecessor, Graceland, but I’ve always preferred it.
Sprit Voices is such a beautiful song. My favourite bit is where Milton Nascimento’s Portuguese vocals come in at about 2:27.
What a songwriter he is.
Bingo Little says
This is my favourite PS album too. I’d go with The Obvious Child.
The moment right before the fade where the drums come back in and he just “ooh”s over the top of them is so so lovely.
BigJimBob says
Brilliant gnomic lyric: “The Cross is in the ballpark”
Bingo Little says
The whole lyric is brilliant.
We listened to this song a lot when I was growing up. My mother used to say it reminded her of my middle brother, and I spent ages trying to understand what she meant. I still don’t really.
My favourite bit is the final verse. The narrator’s son (“Sonny”), has grown to become a man, and is thinking about the past.
“Sonny sits by the window and thinks to himself
How it’s strange that some roots are like cages
Sonny’s yearbook from high school
Is down from the shelf
And he idly thumbs through the pages
Some have died
Some have fled from themselves
Or struggled from here to get there
Sonny wanders beyond his interior walls
Runs his hands through his thinning brown hair”
So beautiful and sad and wise. The lyric is full of the hope that comes with new life, and the melancholy of passing time. He can write a bit, can Paul Simon.
NigelT says
I bought this album when it came out and I think I’d only heard Obvious Child, which is brilliant, but I’ve never connected with this album for some reason. I will return to it as I haven’t revisited it in years.
Moose the Mooche says
The live versions of Born At The Right Time and Cool Cool River that appeared on the Anthology in (?) 1993 (?) are sublime.
Junior Wells says
yes great album, perhaps people were still flogging Graceland when it came out.
Rigid Digit says
My default choices would be “Still Crazy After All These Years” or “Late In The Evening”.
However, I have a soft-spot for this one (maybe because I’m a father of 2 daughters, and it just sort of sums it up).
Father and Daughter
madfox says
I think it’s almost indisputable that Paul Simon is among the most accomplished [I won’t say “greatest”, because that’s a vague and subjective term] songwriters of the post-rock’n’roll generation.
He’s pretty much got it all – peerless lyrics, wonderful imagery, beautiful melodic line and structure, marvellous sense of rhythm. A true master. I can’t think of anyone else who comes close, except maybe Joni Mitchell.
The only thing he lacks, sometimes, is heart.
madfox says
Oh, it’s “America”, by the way.
fishface says
I have to agree with “America”.
with so much music I find I am an observer….with this track, if I close my eyes….I can imagine myself on the greyhound with him and cathy.
hell….i’d trade him a ciggy for one of his delicious pies!!
FISH
Jackthebiscuit says
Paul Simon – Late in the evening – I love this.
jezk says
Train In The Distance https://youtu.be/gCFTHhcvRT0
Pajp says
I was just scrolling through the thread and thinking that no one had nominated Train In The Distance.
I never fail to be struck by the last lines.
What is the point of this story
What information pertains
The thought that life could be better
Is woven indelibly
Into into our hearts and our brains.
Junior Wells says
As a youngster I had BOTW proudly alongside all the rock and blues. So Long Frank Lloyd wright, Only Livin Boy and The Boxer stuck with me. The story of the Boxer was captivating and I loved the way they would spit out the “cupped him” which preceded “and he cried out” . Even now I always listen for it.
Carl says
Or alternatively Cut him till he cried out.