Gumboots Lyrics

Lyric discussion by YouKnowStuff 

Cover art for Gumboots lyrics by Paul Simon

you don't feel you could love me but i feel you could

kept running through my head as i broke up with my girlfriend.

Could this be about Carrie Fisher who was on and off with him for years (sometimes a friend, sometimes more - even his wife for a period)?

He references her having a "breakdown" - she was bipolar and certainly had manic and depressive episodes during their time together, not to mention a drug problem. The part about the 'early morning phone call' and him 'slamming into a brick wall' might reference his attempt to help her, thinking he has 'supernatural powers' to fix everything that was wrong - then realizing that he couldn't make these problems go away. ...