I hear the drizzle of the rain
Like a memory it falls
Soft and warm continuing
Tapping on my roof and walls

And from the shelter of my mind
Through the window of my eyes
I gaze beyond the rain-drenched streets
To England where my heart lies

My mind's distracted and diffused
My thoughts are many miles away
They lie with you when you're asleep
And kiss you when you start your day

And a song I was writing is left undone
I don't know why I spend my time
Writing songs I can't believe
With words that tear and strain to rhyme

And so you see I have come to doubt
All that I once held as true
I stand alone without beliefs
The only truth I know is you

And as I watch the drops of rain
Weave their weary paths and die
I know that I am like the rain
There but for the grace of you go I


Lyrics submitted by kevin

Kathy's Song Lyrics as written by Paul Simon

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Kathy's Song song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

26 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +8
    General Comment

    favorite line.. "there but for the grace of you go I" we're all like drops of rain, can you imagine findinig someone who makes your life more than just a weary path to death?

    p_k_roozon March 01, 2007   Link
  • +7
    General Comment

    Whatever partners Kathy had after Paul must have felt pretty inadequate listening to this.

    bearhugon July 27, 2010   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    Kathy also appears in the song "America," riding the bus and hitchiking around the country with Simon.

    Jerrybearon April 28, 2003   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    most beautiful paul simon song i have ever heard.

    findsomepeaceon August 12, 2005   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    This song thrusts a hand down my throat grabs my heart and pulls it out... I should have known his song for more of my life. i've known Simon & Garfunkel for some forty years but Kathy's Song for only nine months - how is that. It means more every time I listen... I have cried in more places listening to this than I care to mention and I don't care. Quite the most simply beautiful song ever written ad there are a lot of beautiful songs, and songwriting is not a competition.

    So here I am again sitting in a quite ordinary hotel lobby with a drink, catching up on some personal admin and convulsing with emotion as the song plays.........

    thebigblackandwhiteon November 11, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Somehow I'm just hearing this song for the first time today. What a bright spot in what has been a very crazy time in the world. I couldn't help but think of one of my favorite Shakespeare quotes as I read the lyrics:

    "I to the world am like a drop of water That in the ocean seeks another drop, Who, falling there to find his fellow forth - Unseen, inquisitive - confounds himself."

    I feel like that is such a great comparison to Simon's lines:

    "And as I watch the drops of rain Weave their weary paths and die I know that I am like the rain"

    That last line: "There but for the grace of you go I" brings that all together so well. This is now my very favorite lyric.

    icarusrisingon October 01, 2019   Link
  • +1
    Song Meaning

    A beautifully melancholy love song that sets the mood perfectly.

    Overall about longing deeply for a lover that is separated from you. Sentiments of being distracted by the memories of spending time together. Intense yearning to be with her again.

    He has come to the realization that everything else that once seemed so important in his life has lost all significance to him now. Feeling a loss of self or a loss of purpose while being apart. The only real or important thing is his love for Kathy.

    One of the greatest love songs ever written. So relatable to so many with is beautiful poetic lyrics.

    "And as I watch the drops of rain Weave their weary paths and die I know that I am like the rain" "There but for the grace of you go I”

    Imalovemanon January 04, 2024   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Paul Simon apparently wrote this about a woman he met while touring England. As love songs go, it is one of the best. More specifically, it is written for someone, just like George Harrison's "Something" and John Denver's "Annie's Song." Whoever Kathy is, she can be proud that Simon regards her as the "only truth" he knows. It is possibly the most profoud lines ever sung, in my opinion.

    Erneston June 21, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    He wrote this while in England actually he said that himself, and he just wrote in the perspective of a lost love but was actually dating Kathy at the time.

    sebastianquilton April 16, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    before paul & art really gained any recgnition in the US, they had been touring in europe for a while. while in london, they were both playing outside for kicks on the street during some evenings. a girl they were friendly with, named kathy would stand with them, and would frequently hold out a hat collecting money from passerbys.

    Searchin4AnimalChinon December 09, 2004   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Fortnight
Taylor Swift
The song 'Fortnight' by Taylor Swift and Post Malone tells a story about strong feelings, complicated relationships, and secret wishes. It talks about love, betrayal, and wanting someone who doesn't feel the same. The word 'fortnight' shows short-lived happiness and guilty pleasures, leading to sadness. It shows how messy relationships can be and the results of hiding emotions. “I was supposed to be sent away / But they forgot to come and get me,” she kickstarts the song in the first verse with lines suggesting an admission to a hospital for people with mental illnesses. She goes in the verse admitting her lover is the reason why she is like this. In the chorus, she sings about their time in love and reflects on how he has now settled with someone else. “I took the miracle move-on drug, the effects were temporary / And I love you, it’s ruining my life,” on the second verse she details her struggles to forget about him and the negative effects of her failure. “Thought of callin’ ya, but you won’t pick up / ‘Nother fortnight lost in America,” Post Malone sings in the outro.
Album art
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Album art
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve. The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future. Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere" The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Album art
Blue
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Album art
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.