PAUL SIMON POLL RESULTS THREAD AND DISCUSSION

I, a non-fan who did not vote, find the best music here to be the stuff polled at 25 - 15 (with a couple of exceptions, of course). And the Graceland stuff I don't like and Obvious Child which I don't like for the same reasons ("Paul Simon will now improve intellectually inferior yet compelling rhythmic musics with complex lyrics") did really well, so probably best that I didn't vote.

But I'm a Los Lobos fan, so I don't have a lot of goodwill left over for Mr. Simon.

Spotify playlist is up-to-date, if anyone wants an-hour-and-a-bit of pure pleasure.

Paul Simon will now improve intellectually inferior yet compelling rhythmic musics with complex lyrics

uhh

1 Obvious Child
2 Graceland
3 Duncan
4 The Boy in the Bubble
5 Mother and Child Reunion
6 Hearts & Bones
7 Me and Julio Down by the School Yard
8 Born at the Right Time
9 I Know What I Know
10 Allergies
11 Peace Like a River
12 Under African Skies
13 Mrs. Robinson
14 All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints
15 Kodachrome
16 Gumboots
17 Spirt Voices
18 Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes
19 Proof
20 You Can Call Me Al

btw i was just putting together a playlist of the results and i found an hilarious sinatra cover of mrs robinson complete w/surprise additional verse lmao

But I'm a Los Lobos fan, so I don't have a lot of goodwill left over for Mr. Simon.

so am I but David Hidalgo comes off at best naive and at worst a moron in That Incident.

"...with his complex lyrics" I meant to say. I suppose I should add that that is me mocking Simon's position.

wow really thx 4 tip

Dunno what you think was moronic about Hidalgo there. Naive I can see, but only naive in expecting a dick not to be a dick.

of course, Paul calls him "David Hilldegger" in his version... (xposts)

ohhhhhh u were mocking simons position ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Oh shut it.

Take away a zingerbator's favorite zing and three lame ones grow in its place.

go now plz, youve done enough

what are u even

pardon my lazy non-googling but what is Los Lobos/Paul Simon 'incident'?

or is this a bad time

for interest i have #41 - #60 after that its p much just stuff that got 1 or 2 votes each

#60 - A POEM ON AN UNDERGROUND WALL
#59 - BORN IN PUERTO RICO
#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
#51 - DARLING LORRAINE

#50 - ARMISTICE DAY
#49 - THINK TOO MUCH (B)
#48 - APRIL COME SHE WILL
#47 - OLD FRIENDS
#46 - THINK TOO MUCH (A)
#45 - EL CONDOR PASA (IF I COULD)
#44 - DAZZLING BLUE
#43 - RUN THAT BODY DOWN
#42 - CAN'T RUN BUT
#41 - SOMETHING SO RIGHT

whoa, so if you'd combined both "Think Too Much"s, where would they have ended up?

hilarious sinatra cover of mrs robinson

"Jilly loves u more than u will know"
(Jilly was a restaurateur pal of Frank's)

I saw Los Lobos at Carnegie Hall circa '85, and spotted Paul heading backstage after the show.

paul simon said mean things about los lobos' mom back in the 80s

Scroll down a bit for the Lobos version: http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/teenage-kicks/los-lobos-on-paul-simon-do-you-1/

paul simon made los lobos drummer play drums, it was... terrible

"Paul Simon will now improve intellectually inferior yet compelling rhythmic musics with complex lyrics"

jesus christ, where the fuck would you have to start to have this be your takeaway?

pardon my lazy non-googling but what is Los Lobos/Paul Simon 'incident'?

Hidalgo/Los Lobos are pissed that Simon took full credit for the "Myth of Fingerprints", claims they had the track finished and all he did was come in and sing on it, then months later release it on his record and took credit for it.

xp

the los lobos song ('myth of fingerprints') is really fantastic but idk the whole story seems p w/e. i mean thanks to all the wiki research i did for this poll i know simon has been getting into songwriting accreditation fights with people since his early 60s pop days but i guess i dont really care

also @Euler it wouldve been #30 knocking 'fakin' it' off

I'm sorry but Paul Simon is so overrated <<lobos discusion

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.

El Condor Pasa is Simon singing over a pre-existing track. Mother and Child Reunion was done with Jimmy Cliff's backing band (including Cissy Houston). Simon's been doing this kind of thing his whole career. Probably as soon as he realized how much of an improvement the Tom Wilson's studio version of Sound of Silence was/how much $$$ was in it

i voted for the myth of fingerprints, dig the examination of conspiracy theory culture

I remember my mom asking what that song was about when I was like 14 and me having to explain it to her lol

the "myth" being that all fingerprints are different etc

ive seen them all and maaaaan

He paid out without question over El Condor Pasa once it was pointed out it wasn't a trad arr job

I'm not knocking this approach at all fwiw

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