Paul Simon impact on music

[The_Hutter]

Hey I am new here
I just love Paul Simon music, all his song has so much meaning to them, each one of them. I wonder, if he this popular, it he never work with Art Garfunkel.
All his song are so true, Like Bridge Over Troubled Water, is so grand, It about his friendship and it has such beauty lyrics. Also The Boxer, Lie lie lie, asking only workman wages i go looking for a job. that true to we all do, and half the time get no offer.
His song after the breakup, like ME and Julio down by the schoolyard, kodacrome, Mother and Child Reunion are greats song as well. He has a huge impact on music

My all time favorites song by him is "The Sound Of Silence" the verison he did in 1991 or 1990, in the contreal in the park solos.

[Jnyusa]

Welcome, Hutter!

I'm going to move your thread to the Cottage of Lost Play, OK? All manner of arts go there.

When we drove my daughter up to school (me and her BF) one of her friends had thoughtfully packed her iPod with about four hours of S&G music. That was the first time in decades I got to listen to them to my heart's content. They are definitely favorites.

Jn

[JewelSong]

I think Paul Simon is a true poet. Not only did he write great tunes, but almost all of his songs can be recited as poems, and stand alone without the music!

One of the things I admire about him, as a musician, is his adaptabilty. He didn't just stay with one style of music, he deliberately made the effort to branch out and utilize new styles...such as African and South American rhythms and instruments.

Some people don't know that he wrote a Broadway musical, as well, called "One Trick Pony." It was a failure, but just underscores his versatility.

It is an interesting question, whether or not he would have been as successful without his partnership with Garfunkel. Garfunkel never did anything but sing, but they made some beautiful music together.

[Jnyusa]

Garfunkel was so angelic looking, he gave the right visage to the kind of lyrics Simon was creating.

Jn

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Paul Simon is so talented, I have to believe that he would have "made it" even without his partnership with Art Garfunkel. But then, a lot of supremely talented people never "make it". And in any event I'm glad that the two of them did hook up because they "fit" together very well.

[Athrabeth]

Last night, Mr. Ath and I were listening to Simon's newest album, "Surprise", after taking a little walk down memory lane with "Graceland". I adore "Graceland".......there isn't one track that I consider as less than great, and that is very unusual, even for most of the albums that rank as my all-time favourites. Listening to the song, "Boy in the Bubble", I realized how much the lyrics still "fit" the realities of today's world just as much as they did twenty years ago (unfortunately )............

It was a slow day
And the sun was beating
On the soldiers by the side of the road
There was a bright light
A shattering of shop windows
The bomb in the baby carriage
Was wired to the radio
These are the days of miracle and wonder
This is the long distance call
The way the camera follows us in slo-mo
The way we look to us all
The way we look to a distant constellation
That's dying in a corner of the sky
These are the days of miracle and wonder
And don't cry baby, don't cry
Don't cry

It was a dry wind
And it swept across the desert
And it curled into the circle of birth
And the dead sand
Falling on the children
The mothers and the fathers
And the automatic earth
These are the days of miracle and wonder
This is the long distance call
The way the camera follows us in slo-mo
The way we look to us all o-yeah
The way we look to a distant constellation
That's dying in a corner of the sky
These are the days of miracle and wonder
And don't cry baby, don't cry
Don't cry

It's a turn-around jump shot
It's everybody jump start
It's every generation throws a hero up the pop charts
Medicine is magical and magical is art, think of
The Boy in the Bubble
And the baby with the baboon heart

And I believe
These are the days of lasers in the jungle
Lasers in the jungle somewhere
Staccato signals of constant information
A loose affiliation of millionaires
And billionaires and baby
These are the days of miracle and wonder
This is the long distance call
The way the camera follows us in slo-mo
The way we look to us all o-yeah
The way we look to a distant constellation
That's dying in a corner of the sky
These are the days of miracle and wonder
And don't cry baby, don't cry
Don't cry

"Surprise" is quite different "sounding", which isn't surprising considering that Brian Eno is credited with its "sonic landscape" (I love that phrase!), but as always, it's Simon's lyrics that work their way into my heart and mind:

Wartime Prayers

Prayers offered in times of peace are silent conversations,
Appeals for love or love's release
In private invocations
But all that is changed now,
Gone like a memory from the day before the fires.
People hungry for the voice of God
Hear lunatics and liars
Wartime prayers, wartime prayers
In every language spoken,
For every family scattered and broken.

Because you cannot walk with the holy,
If you're just a halfway decent man.
I don't pretend that I'm a mastermind
With a genius marketing plan.
I'm trying to tap into some wisdom,
Even a little drop will do.
I want to rid my heart of envy
And cleanse my soul of rage
Before I'm through.

Times are hard, it's a hard time
But everybody knows all about hard times.
The thing is, what are you gonna do?
Well, you cry and try to muscle through
Try to rearrange your stuff
But when the wounds are deep enough,
It's all that we can bear,
We wrap ourselves in prayer.

Because you cannot walk with the holy,
If you're just a halfway decent man.
I don't pretend that I'm a mastermind
With a genius marketing plan.
I'm trying to tap into some wisdom,
Even a little drop willdo.
I want to rid my heart of envy
And cleanse my soul of rage
Before I'm through.
A mother murmurs in twilight sleep
And draws her babies closer.
With hush-a-byes for sleepy eyes,
And kisses on the shoulder.
To drive away despair
She says a wartime prayer.

[Holbytla]

Paul Simon is one of my favorites.
It is interesting to note his development and changes over the years.
Simon had the musical talent, but Garfunkel had the golden pipes. Not to say Simon isn't a great singer.
To piggyback onto 'Beth honey's lyrics, I think this song has unfortunately become relevant once again.

American Tune


Words & music by Paul Simon


Many's the time I've been mistaken
And many times confused
Yes, and I've often felt forsaken
And certainly misused
Oh, but I'm alright, I'm alright
I'm just weary to my bones
Still, you don't expect to be
Bright and bon vivant
So far a-way from home, so far away from home

And 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 alright, it's alright
for we lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the
road we're traveling on
I wonder what's gone wrong
I can't help it, I wonder what has gone wrong

And I dreamed I was dying
I dreamed that my soul rose unexpectedly
And looking back down at me
Smiled reassuringly
And I dreamed I was flying
And high up above my eyes could clearly see
The Statue of Liberty
Sailing away to sea
And I dreamed I was flying

We come on the ship they call the Mayflower
We come on the ship that sailed the moon
We come in the a-ge's most uncertain hours
and sing an American tune
Oh, and it's alright, it's alright, it's alright
You can't be forever blessed
Still, tomorrow's going to be another working day
And I'm trying to get some rest
That's all I'm trying to get some rest

[JewelSong]

Of course, you know that the tune and chords to "American Tune" is based on the chorale "Oh, Sacred Head, Now Wounded" by none other than JS Bach.



I love his acoustic version of this on the album "Live Rhymin' "

[Athrabeth]

Holby-dear, that's another of my Simon favourites.....one in a long, long list.

I loved his foray into Brazilian music in the album "The Rhythm of the Saints", and once again......those lyrics!


Spirit Voices

We sailed up a river wide as a sea
And slept on the banks
On the leaves of a banyan tree
And all of these spirit voices rule the night

Some stories are magical, meant to be sung
Song from the mouth of the river
When the world was young
And all of these spirit voices rule the night

By moon
We walk
To the brujo's door
Along a path of river stone
Women with their nursing children
Seated on the floor
We join the fevers
And the broken bones

The candlelight flickers
The falcon calls
A lime-green lizard scuttles down the cabin wall
And all of these spirit voices
Sing rainwater, sea water
River water, holy water
Wrap this child in mercy - heal her
Heaven's only daughter
All of these spirit voices rule the night
My hands were numb
My feet were lead
I drank a cup of herbal brew
Then the sweetness in the air
Combined with the lightness in my head
And I heard the jungle breathing in the bamboo

Saudac~oes greetings!
D'a lic'enca um momento excuse me, one moment
Te lembr'o I remind you
Que amanh~a that tomorrow
Ser'a tudo ou ser'a naoa it will be all or it will
Be nothing
Depende, cora,c~ao it depends, heart
Ser'a breve ou ser'a grande it will be brief or it will
Be great
Depende da paix~ao it depends on the passion
Ser'a sujo, ser'a sonho it will be dirty, it will
Be a dream
Cuidado, cora,c~ao be careful, heart
Ser'a 'util, ser'a tarde it will be useful, it will be
Late
Se esmera, cora,c~ao do your best, heart
E confia and have trust
Na for,ca do amanh~a in the power of tomorrow

Lord of the earthquake
My trembling bed
The spider resumes the rhythm
Of his golden thread
And all of these spirit voices rule the night

Thanks for starting this thread, Hutter! Obviously, my inner Simon sw00ner was just waiting for the opportunity to emerge.

[vison]

*sigh*

A long and eloquent post just got vaporized. Rats.

Oh well.

When I had my first baby in November of 1965, "The Sounds of Silence" was the hit of the day. It seemed like every time I turned the radio on, there it was. I loved it.

Have you ever noticed how many words Paul Simon can get into a line? And then you try to sing it yourself and you think, "There isn't room!!!"


"The Mississippi Delta was shining like a National guitar".....love that line.

A very stupid critic went on one day about how Paul Simon was doing wrong to "take up" what is now called "World Music". This dorky critic was saying as how Simon was "exploiting" Ladysmith Black Mbazo, for instance. I thought then, and I think now, that was ridiculous. If it hadn't been for Paul Simon, think of how many people would never had had the joy of hearing that group, and others?

One of the best memories I have of my oldest son is of the night we went to see Ladysmith, etc. I had wanted my younger son to go and he was sick and so when my older boy came by that day I asked him on impulse. It wasn't the kind of thing he would usually do, he was and is very much only a hard rock fan, but for some reason or another he went with me. He was blown away by the concert, just as I was, but he was totally surprised by it, having never heard of these guys at all. He loved every minute of it and at the end was whistling and clapping and on his feet shouting for more. He talked about it for years.

[The_Hutter]

I love the verison of american tune, in the Old Friend live on stage tours it just so pretty.

[WampusCat]

Paul Simon's lyrics and music are amazing. He's been a favorite of mine since the "Sounds of Silence" album.

I went to a concert of his about 30 years ago and waited outside the back door to see if I could get a glimpse of him. When he emerged, he stopped and talked with those of us who were waiting. I asked if I could give him a hug , and he said he'd be honored.

So I hugged Paul Simon.

[vison]

Kewl.

[PrinceAlarming]

More contemporary bands, like The Shins, have taken a cue from Simon and Garfunkel. Their harmony, melody and poetic lyrics are all reminiscant of S&G. Although the song "Saint Simon" is one of my favorites from The Shins, they had a hit from the Garden State soundtrack. That soundtrack also includes S&G and a Nick Drake song, if I'm not mistaken. (It's a pretty good buy)

It's just good to hear pleasant, well orchestrated music on the radio every once in awhile. Even if some of today's lyrics are cryptic.

[tinwë]

Hey, the line in my sig is from a S&G song!

And I’m with Ath on Graceland, one of my all time favorite albums, certainly one of the best (musically), not to mention culturally and politically significant works of art to come out of the latter part of the 20th century.

[Jnyusa]

I found this explanation of the Scarborough Fair lyrics on the web. Can't say how accurate all of it is, but it's very interesting.

http://www.geocities.com/paris/villa/3895/

I seem to recall from my very brief soujourn in England that Scarborough is also a place where tourists go to do brass rubbings. It was my intention to visit and make rubbings of the Viking graves but it was a bit too out-of-the-way given the time I had for travelling.

Jn

[Whistler]

I'm a hopeless, shameless snob when it comes to pop music. If it's on the radio, it's not for me.

Paul Simon is one of the only artists (I could count them all on one hand) for whom I always make an exception. Lyrics worth memorizing and quoting (which I do) married to endlessly varied and unusual musical styles...remarkable! Only the Beatles, in their later years, even attempted to do as much. And overall I think Simon outshines Lennon/McCartney in every respect, especially as a lyricist.

Simon's poetry, contrasted with the mindless blather regurgitated by most of our popular stars, shines like a diamond in a mud puddle.

[baby tuckoo]

Some people don't know that he wrote a Broadway musical, as well, called "One Trick Pony." It was a failure, but just underscores his versatility.

Jewel, I didn't look it up, but I think "One Trick Pony" was a movie (which I saw, I believe with Ethel, back in the early '80's. It was indeed forgettable.

His Broadway musical was "Darkman" and was fairly recent. It too was panned. I hope memory serves me here.

I, too, could write out most of the lyrics above from memory. In addition, I was whupped upside the haid when I was 17 by "Richard Corey", based on the poem. And another,off the same album, called "Patterns."

I might make "until the rat dies" into my new sig.

[baby tuckoo]

And overall I think Simon outshines Lennon/McCartney in every respect, especially as a lyricist.

Simon's poetry, contrasted with the mindless blather regurgitated by most of our popular stars, shines like a diamond in a mud puddle.

No doubt about your latter statement, Whist, but the former will (and should) get some rebuttal, and I am one of Mr. Simon's oldest fans.

Rythm of the Saints didn't quite reach Graceland heights, but I sure liked "The Obvious Child" (first cut) and "Born at the Right Time". If any of you are not familiar with this album, these two songs deal with the disparities wrought by the fortune of birthplace. Wrapped up in a pop bag.

[Whistler]

Um...I'm afraid Simon's Broadway show was called "The Capeman." It opened with a lot of bad publicity as its subject was the true story of (I believe) a Puerto Rican murderer, and Simon was accused of glorifying the man and trivializing the crime. I have no idea if those charges were valid, but I'm guessing no.

No slight meant to Lennon/McCartny, bt. But I have found that Beatles' lyrics need their accompanying music more than Simon's, which usually can stand on their own.