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Hearts And Bones Lyrics
A long time ago, yeah
Before you was born dude
When I was still single
And life was great
I held this job as a traveling salesman
That kept me moving from state to state
Well, I'm standing on the corner of Lafayette
State of Louisiana
Wondering where a city boy could go
To get a little conversation
Drink a little red wine
Catch a little bit of those Cajun girls
Dancing to Zydeco
Along come a young girl
She's pretty as a prayerbook
Sweet as an apple on Christmas day
I said good gracious can this be my luck
If that's my prayerbook
Lord let us pray
Well, I'm standing on the corner of Lafayette
State of Louisiana
Wondering where a city boy could go
To get her in a conversation
Drink a little red wine
Dance to the music of Clifton Chenier
The King of the Bayou
Well, that was your mother
And that was your father
Before you was born dude
When life was great
You are the burden of my generation
I sure do love you
But let's get that straight
Well, I'm standing on the corner of Lafayette
Arcoss the street from The Public
Heading down to the Lone Star Cafe
Maybe get a little conversation
Drink a little red wine
Standing in the shadow of Clifton Chenier
Dancing the night away
Before you was born dude
When I was still single
And life was great
That kept me moving from state to state
Well, I'm standing on the corner of Lafayette
State of Louisiana
To get a little conversation
Drink a little red wine
Catch a little bit of those Cajun girls
Dancing to Zydeco
She's pretty as a prayerbook
Sweet as an apple on Christmas day
I said good gracious can this be my luck
Lord let us pray
State of Louisiana
Wondering where a city boy could go
To get her in a conversation
Dance to the music of Clifton Chenier
The King of the Bayou
And that was your father
Before you was born dude
When life was great
I sure do love you
But let's get that straight
Arcoss the street from The Public
Heading down to the Lone Star Cafe
Maybe get a little conversation
Standing in the shadow of Clifton Chenier
Dancing the night away
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There's something deeply affecting about this song. A sense of mutual sadness, the sun setting on a relationship, yet there are permanent reminders from their time together "they won't come undone". I always feel a kind of, well, desolate, after this song (which I often end up playing at sunset on a Sunday!) It's as if he's acknowledged that he has tried everything to maintain his relationship, and so has she. And he has made many mistakes, and so has she.
And it's time to let it go, let it lie, "waiting to be restored"
On a final note, I always though that it was SHE who said "because that's not the way world is, baby. This is how I love you, baby" But it was HIM! I stand corrected, it really changes the way I look at the song now! For the better, I think.
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.
So I gather (no pun intended:) that since women and men view love/relationships differently than only lesbian or gay relationships work ;) Very silly. Relationships work when both people are friends; in love; and understand the others limitations; weaknesses; and strengths. The song is about two people who are NOT in love 'cause love requires compromise. In fact, I have NO clue what the song is about 'cause it threw "wandering Jews" into the mix. Very strange song by a master...
So I gather (no pun intended:) that since women and men view love/relationships differently than only lesbian or gay relationships work ;) Very silly. Relationships work when both people are friends; in love; and understand the others limitations; weaknesses; and strengths. The song is about two people who are NOT in love 'cause love requires compromise. In fact, I have NO clue what the song is about 'cause it threw "wandering Jews" into the mix. Very strange song by a master...
@nelson1965 Please explain, how the crap do you define the terms ‘Gardner’ and ‘Flower’ in this context. What in the friggin’ world would constitute someone in relationship being a ‘Gardner’, as opposed to an f-ing ‘Flower’?
@nelson1965 Please explain, how the crap do you define the terms ‘Gardner’ and ‘Flower’ in this context. What in the friggin’ world would constitute someone in relationship being a ‘Gardner’, as opposed to an f-ing ‘Flower’?
Could you please prove a real life example of this please? How about people that we can relate with.
Could you please prove a real life example of this please? How about people that we can relate with.
It is actually incredibly insulting, demoralizing and disrespectful to the human race to limit us all to be either one or the other. There are so many OTHER roles that we all play in relationships than just these two options.
It is actually incredibly insulting, demoralizing and disrespectful to the human race to limit us all to be either one or the other. There are so many OTHER roles that we all play in relationships than just these two options.
'the arc of a love affair' this pretty much summs up the whole song.
I always heard it as 'the oracle of a love affair'
I always heard it as 'the oracle of a love affair'
Ah! What a beautifull love song. Some of the songs on hearts and bones are typical skip-songs, this one however is more of a replay-song. And replay. And replay.
I've heard this song is about his marriage to Carri Fisher-- "one and one-half wandering jews" being them. Makes sense to me, but I could be wrong. Calling it an "affair" gives it the feel of a passing fancy, something neither of them should have done, like he regrets it.
My favorite Simon song. I love the line "you take two bodies and twirl them into one, their hearts and their bones, and they won't come undone". Clearly about the impossible to ignore love for a child. This song is filled with acceptance and regret for the lost relationship, while joyful and grateful for the child. I've always thought the one and one half wandering Jews were Paul and the child.
One and one half wandering Jews = Paul and then-wife Carrie Fisher, whose father was Jewish. It's about their short lived marriage. But it's obvious that he loved her very much. I want to play this song at my wedding. I think it's gorgeous.
@thenameismaia I can relate with this. My dad is Jewish but my mom is not. Though, granted they haven’t been together since right before this album was released. But knowing this about Carrie Fisher is really eye opening. I always thought I was a rare breed.
@thenameismaia I can relate with this. My dad is Jewish but my mom is not. Though, granted they haven’t been together since right before this album was released. But knowing this about Carrie Fisher is really eye opening. I always thought I was a rare breed.
Right now I’m currently listening to Simon’s ‘The Coast’ on repeat over and over and over again on Spotify. I am only wish there were more comments about this song here.
Right now I’m currently listening to Simon’s ‘The Coast’ on repeat over and over and over again on Spotify. I am only wish there were more comments about this song here.
i read that this song is about his relationship to Carrie Fisher (2nd marriage). however this marriage only lasted 11 months
According to Carrie Fisher's biography released in 2008, the "one and one-half wondering Jews" is a reference to her and Paul Simon. Fisher also mentions "The way she brushed her hair from her forehead" as a reference to her.
The first time I heard this song was when I was riding my bicycle cross-country with my (then) partner. We had no access to a computer or radio, so for two months he would sometimes sing these lyrics, and I didn't hear the full song or understand it's meaning until I returned home (to my natural coast) and listened to it in full. We followed Route 66 for the entire tour except the day we reached the Sangre di Cristo mountains. That day, we took a shortcut up to Las Vegas, New Mexico from Tucumcari. We began that morning out...
The first time I heard this song was when I was riding my bicycle cross-country with my (then) partner. We had no access to a computer or radio, so for two months he would sometimes sing these lyrics, and I didn't hear the full song or understand it's meaning until I returned home (to my natural coast) and listened to it in full. We followed Route 66 for the entire tour except the day we reached the Sangre di Cristo mountains. That day, we took a shortcut up to Las Vegas, New Mexico from Tucumcari. We began that morning out in the dry, cracked desert with temperatures over one-hundred degrees. We rode well into the afternoon, until we were dangerously delirious from the heat. We decided to hitch-hike the rest of the way, and some people returning from a Fourth-of-July outing at Lake Conchas picked us up. It was late afternoon, just as the sun was setting, but I will never, ever forget the way the road seemed swallowed by the vastness of that landscape; the long, winding ribbon of a road leading up an almost-sheer cliff face called the Canadian Escarpment...and then, the strangest of all; snow-covered peaks in the distance. The drive took over an hour, but somehow the sun seemed to stall in the sky and yes---there were rainbows in the high desert air. After we reached the Pacific Ocean and returned to the east coast on a Greyhound buys, I never spoke to my touring partner again. That summer was incredibly difficult, surreal and beautiful. Looking back now, I understand why he sung these lyrics. They fit that brief moment in my life so well.
I read in Wikipedia that this song was written before Paul Simon and Carrie Fisher were married in 1983. They had an on and off again relationship from 1977-1983 and Simon copyrighted the song in 1982. She did not have any children with Paul Simon.
Anyway the song is intriguing to me. Why would he marry her when he knew they were on the descending arc of a love affair? "On the last leg of the journey They started a long time ago The arc of a love affair".
It appears to me that there is something missing in the relationship. The phrase "one and a half Jews", the wandering, the Blood of Christ, rainbow in the desert. You know where is the other half?, what is the destination, the blood of Christ, and the rain that would come with a rainbow.
Also the difference are highlighted, she is west coast, he is east coast. The marriage is outrageous, she is a burning bride and he is burned, love is like being struck by lightning. But mostly, hearts and bones. Hearts are a symbol of life and love and action. Bones are a symbol of death. They don't really swirl together to make something that won't come undone. They need muscle and sinew, which don't sing very well. But, Simon seems to be mourning this lost relationship.
The hearts and bones reminds me of dry bones in the desert in the book of Ezekiel. It would take a miracle to keep these two together. It seems outrageous to marry someone when you have recognized that the end of the love affair is coming.
Simon says, she doesn't know about Mexico and the freedom it represents. He cannot love her where she is, but only while wandering. This line makes it even more amazing that they got married. Lightning struck and a swirling confusion of hearts and bones, but divorce seems inevitable.