Paul Simon has written The Great American Song on more than one ocassion. "Bridge Over Troubled Water." "Sound of Silence." "The Boxer." "Mrs. Robinson." (Just to name a few). He repeated the feat again in the 1980's with "Graceland," among others. But there is another oft-ignored song from that same fruitful period that we should probably add to the list.
Several years ago while delving into Simon's solo work, The D Man discovered this beautifully-penned song: "Hearts and Bones," from the 1983 album of the same name. Apparently, Simon himself thought it was one of the best songs he ever wrote. And rumors have it that it was about his soon-to-be wife Carrie Fisher, er, Princess Leia. The personal nature of this and other songs may be one of the primary reasons Simon and Garfunkel fought so arduously during their post-reunion recording sessions--eventually, Garfunkel left and Simon wiped his partner's vocals from several tracks, refashioning them into a solo production.
"One and one-half wandering Jews" may be the best opening line Simon wrote this side of "Hello darkness my old friend." The lyrical song followers our travelers as they wind through love and distance, accompanied by a graceful guitar line and a traditional verse-chorus verse-chorus climax. But Simon's bridgework is the real payoff: the suspension exquisitely flows to some sort of epiphany in response to the poignant question, "Tell me why you won't love me for who I am, where I am?" We are never certain if the answer to that question is enough, but it doesn't stop our lovers, if for a brief moment, from achieving something more.
3 comments:
Picked up this classic LP at Randy's tonight for 50 cents.
Nice work! Some underappreciated tracks in their time, they have aged quite well.
I love this song. Another great song on the album, which intreestingly uses the line "woven indelibly into our hearts and our bones," is Train in the Distance. Like Hearts and Bones, it's a song about failed love and the chase being better than the catch. I used it in a high council talk once (don't ask, I can't remember the context).
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