PAUL SIMON POLL RESULTS THREAD AND DISCUSSION

thanks Lamp! a victory of sorts

thanks for the backstory guys. Interesting!

at least in the case of "parsely, sage, rosemary and thyme" the main credit goes to "traditional". and he didn't fight the claims that daniel robles wrote "el condor pasa".

xp

could the winner in any other artist poll be a track made 30 years into their career?

This wasn't rhetorical btw, I've been thinking hard and genuinely can't think of one. Okay Tom & Jerry is a slightly artificial extension, but even so who comes close? Possibly Madonna, but that seems a fluke compared to what Simon was putting out in that era.

Tom Waits?

George Clinton

Even guys who went on forever like James Brown ran out of gas before they reached the equivalent era.

important worst song from the paul simon poll results

Alfred, wasn't it you on the voting thread who kept reminding us to check out "Obvious Child"? And it wound up missing your ballot! Maybe I'm misremembering who kept mentioning it.

Which is a comment on the richness of this guy's catalog.

nice save

I missed that 41-60 when it went up - I'm surprised The Coast isn't on there. Not that I'm a fan particularly, but I thought everyone else was.

#56 - BLEEKER STREET
#45 - EL CONDOR PASA (IF I COULD)

vindication!

41-60 is my favorite part of the results on this one! These are all faves (votes in bold):

#58 - STRANDED IN A LIMOUSINE
#57 - ALL AROUND THE WORLD (THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS)
#56 - BLEEKER STREET
#55 - PAPA HOBO
#54 - PARANOIA BLUES
#53 - FATHER AND DAUGHTER
#52 - ST. JUDY'S COMET
#50 - ARMISTICE DAY
#49 - THINK TOO MUCH (B)
#46 - THINK TOO MUCH (A)
#43 - RUN THAT BODY DOWN

my ballot:

1) Peace Like a River
2) The Cool, Cool River
3) Duncan
4) Hearts and Bones
5) The Obvious Child
6) Think Too Much (b)
7) Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes
8) The Only Living Boy in New York-S&G
9) Born at the Right Time
10) Papa Hobo
11) Take Me to the Mardi Gras
12) My Little Town
13) That was your Mother
14) Train in the Distance
15) I am a Rock (solo version, if it matters)
16) Stranded in a Limousine
17) Something So Right
18) The Afterlife
19) Rewrite
20) Have a Good Time

thank u, Lamp!!!

Alfred, you voted for "That was your mother," too! come sit by me!!

hmmm based on the rest of yr ballot i would take you for a think too much (a) voter

also i quoted it a lot itt! it was excruciating to cut it but i don't know, somehow "the smartest people in the world have gathered in los angeles to analyze our love affair and finally unscramble us" kills me.

also my ballot is a bunch of nonsense, particularly the ranking which was almost arbitrary; i just knew i didn't have to vote for some songs. i think i might have cut out "only living boy" out of spite if i had known about the s&g avalanche because i am petty.

sad i couldn't vote for "crazy love vol. whatever" and "tenderness" off of rhymin' simon and and and

this poll if nothing else has revealed 'different ways of thinking abt paul simons career'

50 ways to think abt paul simons career

<3 fat charlie the archangel

or at least like 3

yeah it hurt me to leave fat charlie out, hes been through so much already

also it has taught us a lot about museums

he doesn't claim to be happy about this

xp

its true that we have learned abt museums in this thread

"america" seems like a pretty good song, huh? is there a simon solo version lol but i'm serious though.

ha

My poll. Kinda wish I hadn't voted for Hazy Shade of Winter in retrospect. I listened to it again after I voted for it and I felt like it wasn't so great, Bangles totally do a better job with that rhythym section than those two hippies

Late in the Evening - 40
The Only Living Boy in New York - 36
Slip Slidin' Away - 33
The Obvious Child - 30
St Judy's Comet - 28
Bridge Over Troubled Water - 26
50 Ways To Leave Your Lover - 25
Graceland - 24
Duncan - 23
Homeward Bound - 22
Me & Julio Down By The Schoolyard - 21
Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes - 20
America - 19
Cecilia - 18
The Boxer - 17
I Am A Rock - 16
Kodachrome - 15
Sounds of Silence - 14
Rene & Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War - 13
Hazy Shade of Winter - 12

poll? My ballot.

i also like that weird song "night game" on still crazy that's like 2 minutes long where the pitcher dies and simon basically whispers the whole thing but i thought it might be trolly to vote for it.

i like your ballot, VG! sad i couldn't vote "st. judy's comet"

I hadn't heard it before the nomination thread, and listened to it 10 times in one day...couldn't get it out of my head. Felt very much like the Paul Simon I was already in love with.

Duncan too!

Alfred, you voted for "That was your mother," too! come sit by me!!

I just opened a pretty good pinot too!

Here's my ballot.

1. The Obvious Child
The Boy in the Bubble
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Graceland
Mrs. Robinson
Mother and Child Reunion
America
I Am A Rock
Sounds of Silence
Slip Slidin’ Away
The Boxer
American Tune
Homeward Bound
Cecilia
Duncan
Love Is Eternal Sacred Light
You Can Call Me Al
The Only Living Boy in New York
Armistice Day
Diamonds On The Soles of Her Shoes

I'm really disapointed "Red Rubber Ball" didn't place. Otherwise, most of my faves are here, though in a vastly different order than I'd have put them. Impressed that "Duncan" was in the top 5.

No 'The Coast', no way.

omg jho u voted for "allergies"

"proof" is a good one...kind of a slow burner for me. def could have voted for all of rhythm, paul simon

i like that there is a song abt allergies, the world needs more songs abt this topic

my heart is allergic to the women i love and it's changing the shape of my face

does he do one abt lactose intolerance?

1. The Boy In The Bubble
2. Duncan
3. Cecilia
4. 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover
5. Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard
6. At The Zoo
7. Late In The Evening
8. The Boxer
9. America
10. Hearts And Bones
11. The 59th Street Bridge Song
12. I Know What I Know
13. Slip Slidin' Away
14. Keep The Customer Satisfied
15. Armistice Day
16. The Afterlife
17. That Was Your Mother
18. The Late, Great Johnny Ace
19. Getting Ready For Christmas Day
20. Paranoia Blues

thank you lamp you are my favourite here is my ballot

hearts and bones
the only living boy in new york - Simon & Garfunkel
born at the right time
peace like a river
gumboots
mother and child reunion
late in the evening
the obvious child
cecilia - Simon & Garfunkel
think too much a
diamonds on the soles of her shoes
run that body down
the boxer - Simon & Garfunkel
spirit voices
st judy's comet
america - Simon & Garfunkel
just a boy - Jerry Landis
me and julio down by the schoolyard
papa hobo
the cool, cool river

just heard "rewrite" on the radio of all places. you could say he's just reworking "slip slidin'" but damn these lines kill me.

I’ll eliminate the pages
Where the father has a breakdown
And he has to leave the family
But he really meant no harm
Gonna substitute a car chase
And a race across the rooftops
When the father saves the children
And he holds them in his arms

― all yoga attacks are fire based (rogermexico.), Friday, March 23, 2012 6:09 PM (Yesterday)

just this so much. i only heard rewrite after i submitted my ballot but damn. my housemate pointed these particular lines out to me. they kill its true. so overstuffed with longing. so saturated with regret. so filled with ways that everything could have been so much better.

srsly tho thanks for all the memories. thank god s&g didn't win this. crisis averted though i did vote only living boy #2 and didn't vote for graceland. gumboots is a much better song though really. like honestly.

hmmm based on the rest of yr ballot i would take you for a think too much (a) voter

― lag∞n, Friday, March 23, 2012 10:55 PM (Yesterday)

i really enjoy that i can read this and be totally on the same page.

Think too much is a jam

its hard for me to imagine picking the version without nile rogers ahead of the one with. like morally.

They're pretty much completely different songs though. I love em both, Nile Rodgers one definitely has more surprises and twists musically (I love the stuttering bass under "I had a childhood that was mercifully brief... (doong-WHAM!) I grew up in a state of disbelief..."), and it's lots of fun, great double-tracked Simon vocals on the chorus... but those openings lines of the understated xylophoney one just hit so much harder, if I had to put the two side by side and rank them. Also the "and in the night my father came to me" part, wow. I mean, it's all bound up in some kind of weird Christian overlay imagery but it's also a really compellingly real moment about this guy exhausted by this dragging divorce, and thank god his dad is around to talk to about it. I dig it.