THE SMARTEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLDHAVE GATHERED IN LOS ANGELESTO ANALYZE OUR LOVE AFFAIRAND POSSIBLY UNSCRAMBLE US
― difficult listening hour, Thursday, 3 March 2011 07:05 (thirteen years ago) link
i need to get this
― just sayin, Thursday, 3 March 2011 09:03 (thirteen years ago) link
god damn
― ullr saves (gbx), Thursday, 10 March 2011 02:48 (thirteen years ago) link
still dont have this
― just sayin, Thursday, 10 March 2011 08:50 (thirteen years ago) link
By coincidence I picked this up dirt cheap in my local secondhand shop last week (before reading this thread). Will put it on tonight. Apart from Graceland, the pretty great 'Negotiations and Love Songs' comp is my only exposure to solo PS.
― sam500, Thursday, 10 March 2011 09:16 (thirteen years ago) link
One thing that annoys me is that the great video for "Rene and Georgette Magritte with their Dog After the War" seems to be more or less wiped out. And whenever it briefly pops up, like in MTV's video archives or somebody posting it on Youtube, it disappears almost as soon as it got there. Back when I used to watch MTV's Greatest Hits and similar programs in the 90s, they also never ever played it. In fact I've never ever seen it on TV at all except for once on Norwegian TV back when it was new. A pity because it is such a great video.
Anyone know what's the deal? Is it Paul Simon himself who, for some reason, is not pleased with it and doesn't want it to have any attention, or is it some Magritte-family-related copyright issue as the video does indeed contain a lot of Magritte paintings?
― Hongroe (Geir Hongro), Monday, 29 August 2011 01:20 (thirteen years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCNKz1VTSh0
― iatee, Monday, 29 August 2011 01:22 (thirteen years ago) link
Uploaded by krakenek on Sep 11, 2006
― iatee, Monday, 29 August 2011 01:23 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah. There it is. Sound quality suggests it is an old recording though.
― Hongroe (Geir Hongro), Monday, 29 August 2011 01:23 (thirteen years ago) link
never seen this. was it a single in the US?
― piscesx, Monday, 29 August 2011 01:24 (thirteen years ago) link
I thought I remembered the video showing on Saturday Night Live once either when Simon was host or musical guest, but I guess it was "The New Show" instead.
― Halal Spaceboy (WmC), Monday, 29 August 2011 03:53 (thirteen years ago) link
the new show is the only time I ever saw that, it's weird that I remember that pretty vividly.
― akm, Monday, 29 August 2011 04:12 (thirteen years ago) link
I saw it on HBO's Video Jukebox back in the day.
― reggae night staple center (Eazy), Monday, 29 August 2011 04:38 (thirteen years ago) link
Not sure how long this will stay online, but this is the "Train in the Distance" demo included as a bonus track in the catalog re-release:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsArOakcLHw
― Earth, Wind & Fire & Alabama (Eazy), Saturday, 8 September 2012 15:14 (twelve years ago) link
Really lovely, thanks for posting.
― Doctor Casino, Saturday, 8 September 2012 15:24 (twelve years ago) link
she cooks a meal or twooooooooo
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 26 November 2014 03:58 (nine years ago) link
good lord this album is terrible
― Οὖτις, Monday, 2 November 2015 20:26 (eight years ago) link
For an album to be terrible, more than half the songs have to be terrible.
This is not one of those albums. "Allergies" and "Cars are Cars" are the only throwaways.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 2 November 2015 20:29 (eight years ago) link
yeah this album is great, come on now. "train in the distance" "magritte" "think too much" "johnny ace" ... what's not to like?
― tylerw, Monday, 2 November 2015 20:32 (eight years ago) link
It's a question I often repeatWhere do allergies go when it's after a showAnd they want to get something to eat?
really? you ask yourself this question a lot? so many weak slapped together "observational" lyrics that don't add up to anything, his usually reliable storehouse of memorable melodies and hooks almost entirely absent, a bunch of arrangements that feel like tentative stabs towards some shakily defined goal - no wonder he ended up borrowing/collaborating so much on the next record, it's like he forgot how to write.
xp
― Οὖτις, Monday, 2 November 2015 20:35 (eight years ago) link
"Allergies" and "Cars are Cars" are the only throwaways.
agree these are the worst, they're embarrassing
listening to them makes me feel bad for Paul Simon, in a "oh come on man, don't do THAT, oh no you are doing it anyway please stop"
― Οὖτις, Monday, 2 November 2015 20:36 (eight years ago) link
way
I'd also add the Chic version of "Think Too Much" to tylerw's list. The album's second tier Simon, but it's the best kind of crisis album: an artist at a crossroads, anxious about the next step.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 2 November 2015 20:39 (eight years ago) link
I'd add both of them
― NATION: ? ? ? (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 2 November 2015 20:42 (eight years ago) link
oh wait, he already had one. how did you know which was excluded?
― NATION: ? ? ? (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 2 November 2015 20:45 (eight years ago) link
after the mega-flop of the One Trick Pony film/album you can just imagine the label's reaction when they hear H+B track 1 side 1 for the first time. no wonder PS says they didn't give a shit what he did next and let him go off and do whatever the heck he wanted.
weird how the massive Central Park gig happened in between One Trick.. and this! like at that point there was nothing to be done to halt the slide.
― piscesx, Monday, 2 November 2015 22:27 (eight years ago) link
also this is fascinating if you haven't seen it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nap6bNPU4qU
― piscesx, Monday, 2 November 2015 22:30 (eight years ago) link
weird how the massive Central Park gig happened in between One Trick hearts and bones was originally conceived as a simon and garfunkel reunion album right? i'm sure the record company would've been fine w/ anything that had S&G on the cover.
― tylerw, Monday, 2 November 2015 22:31 (eight years ago) link
One Trick Pony is not a great album but I love that movie
― Οὖτις, Monday, 2 November 2015 22:34 (eight years ago) link
mmhm yeah until they had a row and he 'removed his vocals note by note'(WIKI). the demos with Art were on YouTube but.. not now it seems.
― piscesx, Monday, 2 November 2015 22:36 (eight years ago) link
wau @ that interview!
― Οὖτις, Monday, 2 November 2015 22:36 (eight years ago) link
ha yeah. innit.
xp still haven't seen One Trick but this looks.. weird/great. Lou Reed is a pretty good actor!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDRjsKcFC9g
― piscesx, Monday, 2 November 2015 22:37 (eight years ago) link
that's towards the end. It got put out on DVD as part of MGM's cheapier archive reissue series, def worth hunting down imo
― Οὖτις, Monday, 2 November 2015 22:42 (eight years ago) link
i kind of like "cars are cars." the melody on the "i once had a car that was more like a home" parts is pretty. i guess those are the verses.
this album is good. it has "hearts and bones" and "train in the distance" and "song about the moon" and BOTH "think too much"s and "rene and georges magritte"! an embarrassment of riches.
― horseshoe, Monday, 2 November 2015 22:48 (eight years ago) link
engine in the FRONTjack in the BACK
i don't know it always sounds like simon's singing to his kids on those parts. it's goofy, but i like it.
― horseshoe, Monday, 2 November 2015 22:50 (eight years ago) link
saddest part is the above is not true all over the world
― NATION: ? ? ? (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 2 November 2015 22:54 (eight years ago) link
i feel like "cars are cars" leads with its dumb tautology so that it lowers your expectations and then it manages to slip in some moving stuff? like, it's essentially making the same argument as "i am a rock" does, but more lightheartedly.
i also think paul simon has feelings about cars.
it is not the most carefully crafted of his songs, sure.
― horseshoe, Monday, 2 November 2015 22:56 (eight years ago) link
I had never connected the dots that he was playing Johnny Ace when that guy ran onstage at the Concert for Central Park (that track doesn't appear on the album iirc), that's pretty freaky.
― Οὖτις, Monday, 2 November 2015 23:09 (eight years ago) link
"Cars are Cars" is very stupid, but yeah the "I once had a car that was more like a home" section is brilliant and should have been saved for a better song. Other than that I think "Allergies" and "When Numbers Get Serious" are very weak, and "Song About the Moon" is acceptable as the same kind of laid-back unimportant album track that had populated much of the last two records. So that's a lot of the record, since there's only ten tracks on this thing, but "Rene and Georgette," "Hearts and Bones," "Johnny Ace" and the quiet "Think Too Much" are all excellent, with the first of those among Simon's very best songs. I also think the Rodgers "Think Too Much" is fun and catchy, enough that you can imagine what Simon or the label were hoping to get out of this collaboration. One of my favorite stanzas on the record:
I had a childhood that was mercifully briefI grew up in a state of disbeliefStarted to think too much when I was twelveGoin' on thirteenMe and the girls from St. AugustineUp in the mezzanine, thinkin' about god, yeah
― Frump 'n' Dump (Doctor Casino), Monday, 2 November 2015 23:14 (eight years ago) link
i slightly prefer the quiet "think too much" but the other "think too much" is great, and the part you quoted always makes me think of plax (hi plax, if you're around!)
― horseshoe, Monday, 2 November 2015 23:17 (eight years ago) link
Paul Simon being very Paul Simon-y in this Cinemax Album Flash special on Hearts & Bones from '84:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59ELMdiXGkI&t=547s
― a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 13 February 2019 22:28 (five years ago) link
or: https://youtu.be/59ELMdiXGkI
― a large tuna called “Justice” (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 13 February 2019 22:29 (five years ago) link
The title track and the quiet "Think Too Much" always destroy me, I can't sing along to them because I get a lump in my throat. I guess I have been listening to this album as long as Tusk, but nowhere near as often.
― an incoherent crustacean (MatthewK), Thursday, 14 February 2019 05:10 (five years ago) link
I just discovered this album. Wtf why is it so underrated? Is it the ugly album cover? This is actually really good.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 9 March 2022 02:58 (two years ago) link
I mean it could be that “cars are cars” is a low point from everything I’ve heard of him so far. But there’s some of the best I’ve heard of him in here too.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 9 March 2022 03:00 (two years ago) link
The title track and "Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War" are two of my favorite Paul Simon songs, but Simon's done a pretty good job of including them on his endless compilations, so I imagine most fans know those songs.
― birdistheword, Wednesday, 9 March 2022 03:05 (two years ago) link
you take two bodies and you twirl them into onetheir hearts and their bonesand they won't come undone
One of the best divorce lyrics of all time. So good. I have to admit I have never listened to this as an album, but should, because I love the three songs from it that end up on compilations.
― Lily Dale, Wednesday, 9 March 2022 03:11 (two years ago) link
I have never heard Paul Simon comps. I’m familiar with the popular singles and three albums: s/t, graceland, and rhythm of the saints… just rediscovering the rest. Oddly enough it’s the non-singles and some of the deep cuts the ones that make me the most interested in his music. Songs like Thelma and Peace Like a River are two of my favorite of his. Title track from this one is very impressive as are both versions of “think too much”.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 9 March 2022 03:12 (two years ago) link
He is one of those artists that his most popular singles do a disservice to the rest of his work imho.
Not that “you can call me al” or “me and julio” or “50 ways” are bad songs. They are great, but they feel like they don’t really represent this other side of him.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 9 March 2022 03:19 (two years ago) link