What Didn't Kill Me: top ten songs: Paul Simon.

Years ago, I told you about my childhood love for/obsession with Simon and Garfunkel:

Shortly thereafter, I listed my ten favourite Simon and Garfunkel songs:

In the first story, there’s a section dedicated to my teenage love for Art Garfunkel. (But let’s be clear: mid- to late- 1960s Art Garfunkel, not present-day Art Garfunkel.) I loved his beautiful voice, his lovely face: all of it.

DAMN.

Here’s what I didn’t know when I was 14: Art Garfunkel kind of sucks.

Yes, Art Garfunkel has the voice of a goddamn angel. But adult Art Garfunkel is kind of a pompous asshole. His memoir came out a few years ago, and it is full of nonsense tidbits that he clearly thinks makes him deep, but it simply reminds us that he’s not Paul Simon. And never will be.

In retrospect: DAMN.

(Also, his solo career totally tanked.)

I will always love young Art Garfunkel, before he became what he is now. But I spent years – YEARS – neglecting Paul Simon. I spent more time listening to Art Garfunkel’s solo career than Paul Simon’s, which was a clear waste of time.

I was introduced to many of these songs when teenage me purchased Negotiations and Love Songs, a lovely Paul Simon compilation spanning 1971-1986. I’ve now spent years listening to solo Paul Simon, not to be disappointed for a moment. And now I am here to present my top ten Paul Simon songs.

You Can Call Me Al

“You Can Call Me Al” is an obvious choice. It’s also one of the best music videos of all time. Paul Simon and Chevy Chase together are truly genius. When Paul Simon pulls a pennywhistle out of his pocket and starts jamming?? And the dance they do with the trumpet and saxophone?? GOLD. “You Can Call Me Al” is off Paul Simon’s MASTERPIECE Graceland, which would be one of my top albums of all time. This entire list could be comprised of songs off Graceland, but I stopped at FOUR of the songs being from Graceland. “You Can Call Me Al” is certainly a song I heard on the radio before I knew anything about Paul Simon, so imagine my delight when I was neck-deep in my Simon and Garfunkel phase and found out this song was him. I love “You Can Call Me Al” so much that I’m campaigning HARD for it to be the song we walk out to after our masters’ graduation. How awesome would that be?! I will obviously be dancing like Paul Simon and Chevy Chase.

Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes

We’re just going to knock out all four Graceland songs in a row. “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” has been one of my favourites ever since the first time I listened to Graceland. This song is heavily backed by Ladysmith Black Mambazo, who are incredible. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but Converses have a diamond pattern on their soles. Every time I wear Converses, I have diamonds on the soles of my shoes. People say she’s crazy; she’s got diamonds on the soles of her shoes.

Gumboots

"Gumboots” is a recent addition to my favourites list. I was re-listening to Graceland in the not-so-distant past and was caught by surprise. I had spent too much time skipping around to my old favourites on Graceland that I’d completely neglected this lovely song. It’s fast-paced and upbeat, though it’s a bit sad. I LOVE it, though – songs with happy tunes and slightly melancholy lyrics always get me. And this song is over so abruptly that it stuns you out of your groove, which is kind of uncommon.

Crazy Love, v II

Ok, this is the last song from Graceland. It’s another impossibly catchy song with beautiful instrumentation and rather devastating lyrics. It’s about a couple and how they no longer love or care about each other, or anything for that matter: “I have no opinion about that/And I have no opinion about me.” The man in the song is described as “sad as a lonely little wrinkled balloon,” and is that not the saddest image ever?

Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

Much like “You Can Call Me Al,” it is an impossible feat to listen to this song without dancing. And what an amazing percussion section! “I’m on my way/I don’t know where I’m going” could be the one lyric in all of musicdom that describes my entire life exactly.

Kodachrome

Once upon a time, I used to write a “quote of the day” in my high-school issued planner (we called them “assignment books”). One of the quotes-of-the-day I took particular pride in was drawn from “Kodachrome”: “when I think back on all the crap I learned in high school/it’s a wonder I can think at all.” While this quote would not have been appreciated by my school officials, my angry know-it-all teenage self was very impressed with my wit. I first heard this song not as a Paul Simon solo song, but on the recording of Simon and Garfunkel’s 1981 concert in Central Park. The original line in the song is “everything looks worse in black and white,” but at the concert, they changed “worse” to “better.” I’d have to agree.

The Coast

This is an embarrassing confession, but my knowledge of solo Paul Simon pretty much stopped at Graceland for YEARS. I first listened to The Rhythm of the Saints, the album following Graceland, VERY recently. I loved “The Coast” immediately. It’s in the same vein as Graceland with all its lovely instrumentation and catchy rhythms. Rhythm of the Saints has more Latin American rhythms and music versus Graceland’s South African influences, but that’s what I love about Paul Simon. These two albums were a total departure from his wheelhouse, but he still kept those gut-punching lyrics.

The Obvious Child

“The Obvious Child” also hails from The Rhythm of the Saints, and the drums on this song are TO DIE FOR. Again, the song is so upbeat and makes you dance, but the lyrics are about losing your youth and aging and have you made the best of your life? Ugh, good question.

Late in the Evening

Once upon a time, Paul Simon wrote and starred in a movie called One-Trick Pony and released an album of the same name. The movie? TERRIBLE. The one good thing to come from that mess is the song “Late in the Evening,” which is fantastic. There are so many amazing horns and such a great rhythm section in this song. Paul Simon can always do lyrics, instrumentation, and rhythm right. ALWAYS.

American Tune

Every other song on this list is upbeat and has a happy sound, even if it’s not a happy song. “American Tune” is the one exception. Like “Kodachrome,” the first time I heard this song was on the 1981 concert in Central Park recording. It was so beautiful as a Simon and Garfunkel song, and it was at least a decade until I heard the original recording of Paul Simon alone. “American Tune” is absolutely beautiful and haunting. The song speaks of an exhaustion we all feel (“but I’m all right, I’m all right/I’m just weary to my bones”), struggles we’ve all experienced (“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”), and the uncertainty of the life we’re living (“still, when I think of the road we’re traveling on/I wonder what’s gone wrong”). This song hits home in a lot of ways, especially the last lines: “Still, tomorrow’s gonna be another working day/and I’m trying to get some rest/That’s all, I’m trying to get some rest.” Sorry to end on a downer.

As always with these lists, there are so many wonderful songs that didn’t quite make the list. Here’s a handful:

Mother and Child Reunion

All Around the World, or the Myth of Fingerprints

I Know What I Know

Rene and Georgette Magritte After the War

Loves Me Like a Rock

Still Crazy After All These Years

Graceland

In conclusion, Paul Simon is an American treasure. That’s all.

(Check out my other top ten lists if you'd like to read about my deep love for other musicians! They're in order from newest to oldest.)

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