PAUL SIMON POLL RESULTS THREAD AND DISCUSSION

I didn't vote for Scarborough Fair but it's a gear-switching exercise within his discography and I am kind of kicking myself for not voting for it, tbh. Being an S&G stan and all.

It's not a "Paul Simon" song as we know it. It's just his voice. And that's IT. But you guys, his voice is so beautiful in these early S&G songs! It mightn't seem enough compared to his later songs, but I dunno, that he had that instrument at his disposal from the very beginning, to me that's a lot.

It's not uniquely Paul, but that's what I find beautiful about it. Like hiding in plain sight.

It's like spending all day reading, idk, Ulysses and then reading Enid Blyton or nursery rhymes. There's so much simplicity and not a whole ton of subtext that your'e just kind of left with, well, the song, and the sounds.

12 simon & garfunkel songs
8 solo paul, including 2 from graceland

despite my promises to study up, i wound up putting my ballot together in a rush at the last minute, with little advance prep. if i had it to do over again, i'd switch out three of the songs i voted for, and the results would split evenly between S&G and solo paul.

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/8079/homewardbound.png

This is Ditton railway station, where Paul wrote Homeward Bound. It closed in 1994.

S: Bill Murray SNL lounge singer

"remember me to the guy or chick who lives there
he or she once was a true love of mine"

Who else besides me placed NO S&G songs on a ballot? Since my parents weren't fans I never heard them growing up beyond the obvious, child. What I have boils down to what detractors have always accused Simon of being.

I'm glad you didn't. I placed 7, because I like them and wanted them represented, but they could've taken care of themselves.

It's interesting, they weren't really a "parent" thing to me - my mom knew all the songs by heart (and told me once that she'd used some S&G lyrics for an English class she was teaching at some vague point in time!) but we didn't actually have any of the records. I discovered the hits through oldies radio and got the Gallagher & Garfunkel greatest hits from one of those ten-CDs-for-one-dollar kind of deals, if I remember right. The albums I didn't get until I was out of college probably. There's a lot to like there, especially on the last two.

i only have three S&G songs on my ballot (frank lloyd wright, homeward bound and only living boy). but i coulda voted for more probably. even though I can understand the criticisms, a lot of it is great 60s folk pop.
oh and i think i prefer the live homeward bound on the greatest hits, but that might just be cuz i heard that version first.

what do detractors accuse Simon of being? i'll kill them!

i'm glad for this poll, PS is a big blind spot for me as i appear to be the only person who posts here whose parents didn't listen to paul simon (i only really know the big S&G/PS solo songs, never heard an album he's been involved in all the way through) (yes, even graceland)

i will grant that "homeward bound" seems like a pretty good song; never knowingly heard it before this poll.

i appear to be the only person who posts here whose parents didn't listen to paul simon

mine don't either! i always thought this was because they were indian but apparently mindy kaling's parents played graceland on her childhood car trips like everyone else's so she got the cool indian parents

i got billy joel instead :/

My (slightly) younger sister became a Simon maniac around the age of 8 (!) so I heard all the S&G catalog when she bought it, the the solo stuff as it was released, up through Rhythm of the Saints at least. She also went to the Central Park and Graceland shows with me.

aw.

My parents actually chortled when I bought a tape of Graceland on my own in summer '90, shortly before TROTS – they thought he was too precious beyond words and doubted his sexuality.

well, I've heard rumors about that

billy joel is the other great music I got out of my childhood! The pleasures are VERY different than with Simon but the man has tons and tons of great songs.

on the way out of the S&G CP show I remember we saw one of the Plasmatics.

Mum was a big S&G fan, the Live In Central Park album got a lot of spins when I was little -- I used to sit on the floor in front of the stereo and stare at all the people in the gatefold photo while I listened to them all cheering and applauding.
My next door neighbor's Mum and older brother were huge S&G fans too, so whatever I didn't hear at home I would hear when I visited at their house, which was nearly every day for a lot of years - that's where I first heard 59th St Bridge Song.

Mum was also a big Billy Joel person too. I got all the stereotypical "parent" music, but I was on my own as far as anything cool/remotely rock, like Hendrix or The Who went.

(i wonder if ILM could sustain a billy joel ballot poll - - seems like there's a lot less in the way of goodwill and closet fans)

my parents have basically no interest in music, graceland and rumours were the only exposure i got from them.

i realise i could have done worse

i don't think my mom listens to any music. wait, she likes nat king cole because he enunciates so clearly that she can understand what he's saying.

speaking of the Live in Central Park thing, this has always bugged me: how could the city possibly have openly accepted money from drug dealers (per Simon's line from the stage re: "the guys passing around loose joints are donating half of their money to the city tonight")? isn't that, like, blatantly illegal? or is it just lol 70s NY

xp

(i wonder if ILM could sustain a billy joel ballot poll

You could probably poll the 2-disc comp from '85 that "everyone" owns.

Dr Casino I would happily and unabashedly vote in a Billy Joel poll if one were to be offered.

ugh can we keep the piano man away from this thread plz

xpost Yeah Greatest Hits 1 & 11 is the most pollworthy.

sorry Shakey

2-9 suck though.

2-10! Damnit.

speaking of the Live in Central Park thing, this has always bugged me: how could the city possibly have openly accepted money from drug dealers (per Simon's line from the stage re: "the guys passing around loose joints are donating half of their money to the city tonight")? isn't that, like, blatantly illegal? or is it just lol 70s NY

xp

― the sir edmund hillary of sitting through pauly shore films (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, March 20, 2012 12:47 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

shakey

Yeah, I kinda wanna do it as full-steam-ahead ballot poll, but I already have one spoken for in the queue and not sure the numbers are there to make it worthwhile. Hmm. Anyway, back to Simon!

a radio-button poll might be a good indicator

if not, it'll just be a party of two poll again, Doc <3

speaking of the Live in Central Park thing, this has always bugged me: how could the city possibly have openly accepted money from drug dealers (per Simon's line from the stage re: "the guys passing around loose joints are donating half of their money to the city tonight")? isn't that, like, blatantly illegal? or is it just lol 70s NY

um, lol joek?

is it? Simon appears to be serious, he prefaces it with that "people who don't get recognition for doing good deeds" iirc

shakey

shakey

it's just such a weird thing to say - it goes beyond "lol weed! we all love weed right?" (which would not be an unusual sentiment for a performer to express from the stage) to this awkward "drug dealers are people too!"/civic minded thing. it's always stuck out to me as odd.

paul simon has what some might call a dry wit, Shakey.

^

I couldn't even imagine Rhymin' Simon being all like "HELLLO Manhattan! lol weed! We all love weed, right?"

a radio-button poll might be a good indicator

if not, it'll just be a party of two poll again, Doc <3

― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, March 20, 2012 12:52 PM Bookmark

hahahah sad but true

There was this one I guess Billy Joel: The Complete Hits Collection, disc 1

very surprised by the extent of preference for the solo paul simon vs. S&G from some of the most ardent posters itt. have always loved both, though my preference does tilt towards the latter due to childhood indoctrination. is this an age-related thing? do you have to be over 40 to have strong feelings abt S&G?

well, some dude put lots of S&G on his ballot.

paul simon has what some might call a dry wit, Shakey.

― Peppermint Patty Hearst (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, March 20, 2012 12:56 PM (43 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yes for example how he's all seriousface in the "you can call me al" video

under 40 here

I couldn't even imagine Rhymin' Simon being all like "HELLLO Manhattan! lol weed! We all love weed, right?"

okay irl lol

I admit my confusion may have been compounded as a child by asking my (very straightedge) parents what it meant and them giving me a very literal, face-value interpretation.

xp

i think that video was my first encounter with paul simon and i was enchanted. i thought he was the funniest ever.

xxp

aww Shakey
that's pretty cute