In the fall of 1962, a new song with the title “The Lone Teen Ranger”, which was attributed to Jerry Landis, reached 97th of the Billboard Hot 100. And then disappeared without a trace. It would probably be one of the most forgetful melodies that ever appeared in the pop charts if her Creator would not have been on his birth name a few years later Paul Simon Returned and written some of the biggest songs of the 20th century.
He recorded the first songs together with his childhood friend Art Garfunkel. But in 1972 Paul Simon started a solo career that continues to this day.
10. “Duncan”
The third single from Paul Simon’s self -titled LP from 1972 was not played nearly as often as “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” or “Mother and Child Reunion” and did not make it into the top 50. But it has aged remarkably well. “Duncan” is a spiritual continuation of Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Boxer”. Both songs are about a poor boy who goes on a journey far away from home, meets exotic women and finds a kind of at home after a lonely fight.
We know a little more about Duncan than about the nameless “poor boy” from “The Boxer”. He is the son of a Canadian fisherman who travels to New England and loses his virginity to a street preacher there. It is one of the few non-hits from his back catalog, which he regularly plays at concerts these days.
9. “Hearts and Bones”
Many men dreamed of Carrie Fisher when they were in Star Wars: the return of the Jedi knights The slave Leia played. But the only man who was allowed to spend the night with her was Paul Simon. They started a turbulent relationship as the original of star Wars came out, married in 1983 and divorced the following year.
During her short marriage he wrote the title song Hearts and bones from 1983, in which he tells of a journey of the “one and a half wandering Jews”. It is one of the most personal songs he has ever written. And it is easy to understand why he has changed his opinion to make this album a Simon-and-Garfunkel-Reunion album.
8. “The Obvious Child”
After Graceland It was probably a intimidating task for Paul Simon. But he was smart enough not to make another album with South African music. Instead, he traveled to South America and teamed up with Afro-Brazilian musicians. That meant much less political headache and many of the hypnotic drum strokes that drive songs like “The Obvious Child”.
It’s the first title on The Rhythm of the Saints. And also the start of his concert in the park in 1991. The single did not achieve more than 92, but became a cult favorite. In 2014, comedian Jenny Slate named her breakthrough film afterwards. As a result, the song reached a whole new audience.
7. “50 Ways to Leave your lover”
Paul Simon had his first number a single single in 1975 when he wrote this silly song with Peggy Harper after his marriage failed. He is written from the perspective of a lover who tells her lover how he should break up with his wife. “Stop on the bus, Gus,” he sings. “You don’t need to discuss much/just hand in the key, Lee/and free yourself.” The rhyme scheme comes from a silly game that he played with his little son Harper. Without realizing that he laid the foundation for the largest pop hit of his entire career.
6. “Late in the Evening”
From the moment when “The Sound of Silence” became a hit in 1965, Paul Simon had only incredible success for 15 years. Then he decided to write a film and play in it. In the film One trick pony From the 1980s, Simon plays a removed folk rocker who tries to stage a comeback.
The film was such a fiasco that he came together the following year with Garfunkel for a two-year Reunion tour, just to regain the love of the audience. The soundtrack too One trick pony Also found no audience. But the single “Late in the Evening” has become a classic that Simon rarely gets off the stage without play. It is a funky review of his early years when he discovered the music and hit his first love. Few people remember the film or soundtrack. But you know this song.
5. “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes”
After One trick pony Flopped, the reunification of Simon and Garfunkel was in the sand and Hearts and bones From 1983 it was a flop, Paul Simon was dangerously close to becoming a relic. There were reports that he had traveled to South Africa to work with local musicians. But nobody saw the results until he was on May 10, 1986 on the show Saturday night live performed with Ladysmith Black Mambazo “Diamonds on the Sole of Her Shoes”.
It was different from everything that most Americans had ever heard. The album became one of the surprise hits of the year. And one of the most controversial because some believed that he was against the cultural boycott of South Africa of the Apartheid era.
4. “Still crazy after all thesis Years”
Paul Simons LP’s title song from 1975 was a mediocre hit that just made it into the top 40. But he gave him a perfect song he was in Saturday night live could sing. He is a close friend of the show inventor Lorne Michaels and was more likely to be seen on the show than some of the actual actors.
He even met his wife Edie Brickell on the set of the show. He sang “Still Crazy After All Thesis Years” in a turkey costume for the show-giving episode of the show in 1976 and then repeated this for the 40th anniversary of the show in 2015. This time he left the turkey suit at home.
3. “You Can Call Me Al”
In the 1970s, Paul Simon with his wife Peggy was at a party when the French composer Pierre Boulez came up with him. He said, “Sorry, I have to go, greetings from me.” After that, Peggy and Harper called themselves “Al” and “Betty” as a small insider joke for years. About a decade after the divorce of Al and Betty, the incident did not get out of his head when he was the text for the Graceland-Song “You Can Call Me Al” wrote.
He made a silly video with Chevy Chase, which VH1 broadcast about 10,000 times this year. And that shot up in the charts. It is still one of Simon’s best known songs. Even if the text sounds like complete nonsense for most people.
2. “Graceland”
The word “Graceland” was originally only a placeholder in Paul Simon’s head until he was able to find a better word for his song. He was still shaken by the collapse of his marriage to Carrie Fisher. And tried to make sense through music. But somehow the word “Graceland” didn’t want to disappear.
“I couldn’t replace it,” he said. “I thought: ‘Maybe I should go to Graceland. Maybe I should go on a trip and see what I am writing about’ and I did that.” There are different reports on whether he took his little son Harper on the trip (as it is said in the lyrics). Or whether the trip took place at all. But no matter what the truth is, he made Elvis Presley’s home a symbol of hope and clarity.
1. “Kodachrome”
Paul Simon wrote many great first lines for his songs. But nothing is comparable to “When I think of all the crap I have learned in the high school, it is a miracle that I can think at all” from “Kodachrome” from 1973.
It is a song about looking back at the past with more than just a touch of bitterness and the reality that images cannot completely capture the reality of past days. It was the first single of There goes rhymine ‘Simon. And shot in second place on the charts, which also strengthened him as a superstar at his side without the other man. It was an integral part of his setlist for many years. Although he hasn’t played it since 2012.