Paul Simon
American singer-songwriter and guitarist, half of the folk-singing duo Simon and Garfunkel who continues a successful solo career.
Well its great to do a neighborhood concert. I hope everyone can hear us. I hope that the sound is good. I hope we are blasting Central Park West and Fifth avenue pretty much away. I just want to thank the police department and the fire department and the parks commissioner, and Ed Koch [Audience boos] — and particularly, you know, people that never get recognized for doing good things for the city, a group of people that have donated half of the proceeds that they're making tonight — the guys who are selling loose joints are giving the city half of their income tonight.
I am shielded in my armor
Hiding in my room safe within my womb
I touch no one and no one touches me.
I am a rock.
I am an island.
And a rock feels no pain.
And an island never cries.
"The universe loves a drama," you know. And ladies and gentlemen this is the show.
A man walks down the street
He says why am I soft in the middle now
Why am I soft in the middle
The rest of my life is so hard
I need a photo opportunity
I want a shot at redemption
Don’t want to end up a cartoon
In a cartoon graveyard.
I’ve built walls,
A fortress deep and mighty,
That none may penetrate.
I have no need of friendship;
friendship causes pain.
It’s laughter and it’s loving I disdain.
And what is the point of this story?
What information pertains?
The thought that life could be better
Is woven indelibly into our hearts and our brains.
I fear I’ll do some damage
One fine day
But I would not be convicted
By a jury of my peers
Still crazy
Still crazy
Still crazy after all these years.
A winter's day
In a deep and dark
December;
I am alone,
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock,
I am an island.
Trust your intuition.
It's just like goin' fishin'.
You cast your line and hope you get a bite.
But you don't need to waste your time worrying about the marketplace,
Ty to help the human race.
Struggling to survive its harshest hour.
I'm on my way, I don't know where I'm goin',
I'm on my way, I'm takin' my time, but I don't know where.
Goodbye to Rosie, the Queen of Corona
See you, me and Julio down by the schoolyard.
Once upon a time there was an ocean.
But now it's a mountain range.
Something unstoppable put into motion.
Nothing is different, but everything's changed.
The monkeys stand for honesty,
Giraffes are insincere,
And the elephants are kindly but
They're dumb.
Orangutans are skeptical
Of changes in their cages,
And the zookeeper is very fond of rum.
There was always some kind of strain, but it was workable. The bigger you get, the more of a strain it is, because in your everyday life, you're less used to compromising. As you get bigger, you have your own way. But in a partnership you always have to compromise. ... When you get into a partnership, you're not the boss. There's no boss. That makes it hard.
Two disappointed believers
Two people playing the game
Negotiations and love songs
Are often mistaken for one and the same.
I'm gonna watch you shine, gonna watch you grow.
Gonna paint a sign so you'll always know.
As long as one and one is two.
There could never be a father who loved
His daughter more than I love you.
When you're weary
Feeling small
When tears are in your eyes
I will dry them all
I'm on your side
When times get rough
And friends just can't be found
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Well I'm accustomed to a smooth ride,
Or maybe I'm a dog that's lost its bite,
I don't expect to be treated like a fool, no, no,
I don't expect to sleep long nights,
Some people say a lie is just a lie but I say,
Why deny the obvious child?
Seasons change with the scenery;
Weaving time in a tapestry.
Won't you stop and remember me
At any convenient time?
In my little town
I grew up believing
God keeps his eye on us all.
I wanted to sing other types of songs that Simon and Garfunkel wouldn't do. "Mother and Child Reunion" for example, is not a song that you would have normally thought that Simon and Garfunkel would have done. It's possible that they might have. But it wouldn't have been the same, and I don't know if I would have been so inclined in that direction. So for me it was a chance to break out and gamble a little bit ... The breakup had to do with a natural drifting apart as we got older and the separate lives that were more individual. We weren't so consumed with recording and performing. We had other activities ... there was no great pressure to stay together other than money, which exerted very little influence upon us. ... We didn't need the money.