submissions
| Paul Simon – You Can Call Me Al Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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"Short little span of attention" is a humorous reference to his penis, which he describes in another song as a "sad little wrinkled balloon." My guess is that "soft in the middle" can also mean a bout of impotence, especially when it's followed by "the rest of my life is so hard." "Al" and "Betty" are the names he and Peggy were miscalled by a host at a party, as a few have mentioned, not anything to do with AA. In fact, Paul never was a huge drinker, but did give up booze and marijuana relatively recently when he had young kids at home with wife Edie Brickell. He can still be seen in NYC enjoying a glass of wine at dinner or sipping a beer at a Yankees game. |
submissions
| Paul Simon – Bridge Over Troubled Water Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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Paul never intended a third verse for his "small hymn." But both Artie and Roy Halee insisted the song was aching to be "bigger," an anthem. So, against his better judgment, Paul wrote the "Sail on silver girl" verse right in the studio, referring to the graying hair of his first wife, Peggy Harper. The last verse pushes the song over five minutes, and the ultimate crescendo of that soaring Garfunkel final note. Sorry, Paul, the last verse belongs, even if it's not your favorite. The song became an instant standard it never would have without a third verse and the layers and layers of 16-track production, the first for CBS records (Halee talked Clive Davis into ponying up for the "toy," which they used to record over 100 hours of harmonies for "The Boxer" alone). |
submissions
| Paul Simon – Hearts And Bones Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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Has there ever been a better lyric about the reality of a failed (doomed) relationship? Or the difference between how women and men look at love? She's looking for a fairy-tale love that he can't provide: "Why won't you love me"/"For who I am"/"Where I am." But he thinks way too much to be that sentimental: "Cause that's not the way the world is baby/"This is how I love you baby." Paul and Carrie's good friend, director Mike Nichols, summed up their relationship (and all relationships): Everyone is either a flower or a gardener. Relationships can blossom between two gardeners or a flower and a gardener, but not between two flowers. And Paul and Carrie are/were both flowers. |
submissions
| Paul Simon – American Tune Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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Perhaps the best ever at encapsulating what it means to be an American living in the real America, not the one politicians tell us is the best country in the world. It all boils down to the last 4 lines, "You can't be forever blessed" (no matter how many bills you inscribe "In God We Trust" on)/"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." Brilliantly simple, yet it nails spot-on the existence of 99% of Americans every weekday/workday of our lives. Rolling Stone named this the best song of the year (and then inexplicably didn't name it to one of the top 500 songs of all time). But don't get me started on that silly list. |
submissions
| Paul Simon – All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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As for the talk-show host, whether it's Carson or Cavett, it refers to someone who's met (and talked to) more people than anyone else in the world (presumably the best and brightest) and hence is an authority enough to say, We're not really all that unlike. |
submissions
| Paul Simon – All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints Lyrics
| 13 years ago
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With all Paul Simon lyrics, it's key to know how he begins writing: by singing phrases over music tracks. "Mrs. Robinson," for example, began as "Mrs. Roosevelt," until Mike Nichols approached Paul about writing the music for "The Graduate." This song has always been one of my favorites, and does echo the theme of "Cars Are Cars" from the previous album. As for "ever since the watermelon," one of my theories is that he meant to sing or began to sing "ever since the world began" and "world began" morphed into "watermelon." |
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