Happy Birthday, Paul Simon

[filkertom]

On this date in 1941.

What are some of your favorite songs by Paul Simon? I can't imagine a world without "Bridge Over Troubled Water", "Love Me Like A Rock", "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes", "59th Street Bridge (Feelin' Groovy)", "The Sound of Silence", "Mother and Child Reunion", "Kodachrome"....

... not to mention this one:

Comments

[amgem.livejournal.com]

Late in the Evening (oh man, that bassline...), 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover, The Boy In The Bubble, Graceland, Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes...

I have The Paul Simon Collection - On My Way, Don't Know Where I'm Goin' CD...it's got alllllll the good songs on it...

Thank you for putting up his birthday, Tom - I think I'm gonna listen to the CD while I'm doing my stuff around the house...although I might wind up doing more dancin' than housework!!

[timemachineyeah.livejournal.com]

When I was eleven years old my father took me down to the gorge (http://www.livenation.com/venue/getVenue/venueId/460/) to see Paul Simon and Brian Wilson do a joint concert.

To say it was life-altering would be and understatement. I will always remember that night as the night I understood music. And I understood what all those people were on about in the footage I had so often of hippies on their quest for peace on the learning channel. And I thought this is the best moment of my life thus far.

"The Sound of Silence" and "Mrs. Robinson" (on Wilson's end) were my personal highlights of the evening, though it's hard to pick any one song.

[timemachineyeah.livejournal.com]

I fail at html and closing off brackets. ;;_;;

[stargull.livejournal.com]

Love that video! Thanks for posting it.

My favorite Simon and Garfunkel tune is "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her," which is not nearly as well known as it deserves to be. (Of course, the same is true for you, Tom! Haha!) :)

-CSJ

[ericcoleman]

Oh my yes, that is WAY up on my list of favorites ... I'm getting my S&G music out now

[shsilver.livejournal.com]

All the ones you said, and "The Boxer."

The first tape I gave Elaine after we started dating was Graceland, so is still holds a special place for me.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

"The Boxer" is on my list, too. And Bill Marischiello's parody, "The Folker", which I'll maybe do tonight. :)

[valkyrwench.livejournal.com]

Scarborough Faire, Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes, Cecilia, and of course Bridge Over Troubled Water. The sheet music for that last was one of the things that kept me going through adolescence.

What a lovely thing to wake up to - thank you :)

[ldwheeler.livejournal.com]

* "Graceland"
* "Kathy's Song"
* "The Boxer" (which I've filked from the perspective of Charlie Brown -- called "The Beagle" -- so I can get a room full of people doing the Peanuts-adult woaaaahh-waaahhh-wahhhh to the tune of "li-li-li")
* "El Condor Pasa"
* "Late in the Evening"
* "America"
* "Loves Me Like a Rock"
* "One Man's Ceiling is Another Man's Floor"

[brithistorian.livejournal.com]

"America" - pretty much all of Bookends for that matter, but especially "America."

[allisona.livejournal.com]

So many I love. Not mentioned yet would include "American Tune", "Something So Right", "The Late Great Johnny Ace", but so, so, so many others. Simon and Garfunkel just made up the soundtrack of my teen years (along with The Beatles).

[gridlore.livejournal.com]

Still Crazy After All These Years has to be my favorite of his, followed closely by Kodachrome.

When played Oakland during the Graceland tour, they played You Can Call Me Al, finished it, and then Paul said "that was fun.. let's do it again!" Played the entire song a second time.

[ericcoleman]

From the S&G catalog, I have 31 one favorites on my Ipod ... I couldn't reasonably choose from those other than to say I do not disagree with anyone else's choices.

[jcw-da-dmg.livejournal.com]

America, An American Tune, El Condor Pasa and Keep the Customer Satisfied. I also think he is the greatest living American songwriter.

[youngcurmudgeon.livejournal.com]

Lots of already-mentioned ones, plus Long, Long Day (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVReOgeL-kg).

[katster.livejournal.com]

You want me to pick just one? Haw haw haw haw.

There's a lot of 'em listed already that I love. Just to point out one others have said, American Tune never fails to catch my attention and bring me near to the point of tears. Something So Right fits that description too.

Some obscure ones I love that nobody seems to have mentioned:
* Night Game -- particularly if you're a baseball fan.
* Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War -- one of those beautiful surreal songs he's so good at.
* Jonah -- From One Trick Pony. Simply for the line "They say Jonah, he was swallowed by a whale/ But I know, there's no truth to that tale/ I know Jonah, he was swallowed by a song..."
* Only Living Boy in New York -- you can tell he was seeing the breakup of him and Art, and he wasn't happy, but he didn't want to spoil the good time Art was having.
* Song for the Asking -- A very short, simple song, but if you're a musician... "This is my song for the asking/ Ask me and I will play/ So sweetly I'll/ Make you smile..."
* The Coast -- This is one of my personal anthems, just for the line "If I have weaknessess, don't let them blind me now." Plus, the whole Rhythm of the Saints album has some pretty good songs on it.
* Peace Like a River -- I often pair this with American Tune, just for the reminder that the bitter times will end...
* Trailways Bus -- From the musical The Capeman, it revists the theme of America, but from the perspective of somebody who was once in jail. It's my favorite song from that album, although "Time is an Ocean" and "Adios Hermanos" and "Sunday Afternoon" all come in just behind it.
* Father and Daughter -- Off his newest album, and also in the Wild Thornberrys, it's one of my favorite songs about the relationships between dads and their kids.

...I could go on and on. There's Boy in the Bubble and The Myth of Fingerprints and Pigs, Sheeps, and Wolves and Hurricane Eye and Side of a Hill and I Am A Rock and... yeah, I could go on and on.

Needless to say, there's a reason I jokingly refer to myself as the Paul Simon fangirl. :)

-kat

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[mythdude.livejournal.com]

Tehe, I remember seeing that music video when I was a youngin'.

...all those moons ago. :(

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

Pretty damn near the entirety of _Rhythm of the Saints_.

[kirylyn.livejournal.com]

most of the songs already mentioned

I also love 'Our little town' and 'Sparrow'

man, now I need to dig out my S&G collection!

[pickledcritter.livejournal.com]

OK, being from Memphis, I am slightly partial to Graceland:). In all seriousness, I love that album and I don't think I (and maybe no one outside of South Africa) would have ever heard the wonder that is Ladysmith Black Mambazo without it.

One of the things I like about Paul Simon (and Sting, to tie it into the previous post about pretentious lyrics) is that he is completely unafraid to explore new musical styles from any culture and incorporate them into his music.

[ldhenson.livejournal.com]

Far too many to count.

"Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes," "Bridge over Troubled Water," "American Tune," "The Boxer," "50 Ways," "You Can Call Me Al," "Under African Skies," "Slip Slidin' Away," "April Come She Will," "Leaves That Are Green," "59th Street Bridge Song," "Scarborough Fair."

That's just off the top of my head, and I'm sure there are other "must haves" that I left out.

"Father and Daughter" always gets me misty-eyed; I actually have to limit the number of times I listen to it.

[markbernstein.livejournal.com]

I never go to rock concerts. But one of the best concerts I've ever been to was the tour for "Graceland".

[purpleranger.livejournal.com]

My favorite song that he wrote -- "Red Rubber Ball."

He seems to be a nice enough guy, but I always thought the bowties looked really stupid.

[kilbia.livejournal.com]

"Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes" is probably my favorite ever because of the bassline. I worship that bass player.