PAUL SIMON POLL RESULTS THREAD AND DISCUSSION

"Be careful/His bow-tie is really a camera!"

http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee366/lamp11/04Duncan.jpg
#04 DUNCAN
1972
470 points/18 votes/2 #1 votes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngH4zZ-oiuY

his hand gestures/pantomiming in that video totally cracks me up

xp

Duncan was my no.1

wow! didnt expect duncan this high, but happy abt it

if i had voted, America and American Tune might've been my 1-2.

http://www.angelfire.com/al2/diggers/images/americanflag.gif

Hearing the demo, how it's virtually a different song, is so strange.

Duncan also real good, didn't expect to see it at this point

... communists and fags, mm-hm desecrate the flag, just across the Canadian border ...

america's great, glad to see it place so high. love it without question from "let us be lovers...", the way an almost angry passion blooms out at "it took me four days to hitchhike from saginaw, i've...", then recedes almost immediately. love so many things, the precision of observation and invention, wide-eyed naivete struggling for world-weary wisdom, "the man in the gabardine suit was a spy", "though i knew she was sleeping", the sense of being lost in youth, an almost impossible vastness of possibility

http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee366/lamp11/03MeJulio.jpg
#03 ME AND JULIO DOWN BY THE SCHOOLYARD
1972
491 points/19 votes/1 #1 vote
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46Cfrl7hMoQ

Woah, I thought Julio was the certain winner.

Duncan was my no.1

― Ismael Klata

Mine too. Love it to pieces.

all the top ten solo simon thus far was also in my top ten, obvious child was num1, graceland and mrs robinson yet to come no

This makes a really surprising top two imo

Mrs. Robinson already placed I thought

It did

my bad

http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee366/lamp11/02Only2.jpg
#02 THE ONLY LIVING BOY IN NEW YORK
1970
507 points/19 votes/4 #1 votes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IwYQ1Vqf_4

Beautiful song. What's it about?

New York

i think its supposed to be about simon feeling abandoned and frustrated after garfunkel went to mexico to shoot a movie but to me its sorta about insignificance and hope

It's about the "aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh"s iirc

It's great because it's abandoned and frustrated while also recognizing that the other person SHOULD go, this is what they need to do for them, etc. Sort of a "if you love someone, let them go" kind of song, but conveying how aching and scary and alone it is for the person doing the letting-go.

lol i get the image on this one!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKMeflQn7uQ

And then sort of whistling in the dark (the wordless syllables, do-dilly-da!), coming home at night on the streets of NYC and the lonesomeness somehow deflates itself - hey, I'm doing okay for myself here. I get the news I need on the weather report.

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTgwNjgwNTU4N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwNDIzMDQ2._V1._SX420_SY276_.jpg

Wow, didn't realize Marcel Dalio was the old man in Catch-22.

Song also reminds me a lot of moments when I've been traveling on my own or something like that, walking around an unfamiliar city by yourself - - it's sort of stressful on the one hand but when you really roll into it, it can be really therapeutic like - Hey. I'm surviving. I'm this atomized, independent person and I can go where I feel like going today. Some major, huge life decisions have crystallized for me on days like that, you sort of sweep away the junk of other stuff that weighs you down (jobs you think you have to take, places you think you have to live) and just feel alive. The only living boy in New York.

http://i1224.photobucket.com/albums/ee366/lamp11/01Graceland.jpg
#01 GRACELAND
1986
677 points/24 votes/4 #1 votes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvliMzAFWHM

haha

yeesssssss

Only Living Boy was my #1 but this was close

Some legitimate surprises in the top 5. Great poll!

Best Line in "Graceland"

Paul will approve of this placing. Inexplicably I didn't vote for it, god knows why as it's sublime. If you can check out the 'Classic albums' doc on this just so you can hear the Everly Brothers backing vox unadorned.

challops: You Can POLL Me, Al: Paul Simon's "Graceland"

Bravo and hooray for Lamp and for this poll! This is gonna be a thread worth reading back over, and the Spotify playlist makes about as good of a Simon "best-of" as you could ask for.

the TOP 40 as voted on by you, ilx:

#40 - FAKIN' IT
#39 - THE LATE GREAT JOHNNY ACE
#38 - THE 59th STREET BRIDGE SONG (FEELIN' GROOVY)
#37 - AT THE ZOO
#36 - KEEP THE CUSTOMER SATISFIED
#35 - MY LITTLE TOWN
#34 - TRAIN IN THE DISTANCE
#33 - STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS
#32 - SO LONG, FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT
#31 - GUMBOOTS

#30 - SCARBOROUGH FAIR/CANTICLE
#29 - HOMEWARD BOUND
#29 - BORN AT THE RIGHT TIME
#27 - AMERICAN TUNE
#25 - A HAZY SHADE OF WINTER
#25 - THE COOL, COOL RIVER
#24 - PEACE LIKE A RIVER
#23 - I KNOW WHAT I KNOW
#22 - SLIP SLIDIN' AWAY
#21 - RENE & GEORGETTE MAGRITTE WITH THEIR DOG AFTER THE WAR

#20 - THE SOUND OF SILENCE
#19 - I AM A ROCK
#18 - YOU CAN CALL ME AL
#17 - BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER
#16 - MRS. ROBINSON
#15 - LATE IN THE EVENING
#14 - HEARTS AND BONES
#13 - KODACHROME
#12 - 50 WAYS TO LEAVE YOUR LOVER
#11 - MOTHER AND CHILD REUNION

#10 - THE BOXER
#09 - THE BOY IN THE BUBBLE
#08 - DIAMONDS ON THE SOLES OF HER SHOES
#07 - CECILIA
#06 - THE OBVIOUS CHILD

#05 - AMERICA
#04 - DUNCAN
#03 - ME AND JULIO DOWN BY THE SCHOOLYARD
#02 - THE ONLY LIVING BOY IN NEW YORK
#01 - GRACELAND

YAY!!!!

It won by a mile. It's brilliant, true, but then so is everything else.

Great poll! "Only Living Boy" at #2 is a huge surprise for me. Thanks, Lamp, well run!

Yeah great work lamp, thanks.

i didnt vote for 'graceland' but its p undeniable i have a bunch of sentimental faves from that album that i voted for instead but its a wonderful song. it was also on like 3/4 of the ballots i got

as much as i was hoping for a slightly broader spectrum of simon's career i really like this list and the pre-folkie stuff and the most recent album are probably p marginal compared to the stuff itl.

my #1 was #1. thanks for the poll, lamp! nicely done.

here's my ballot. can't believe i didn't put julio there. but i guess it had plenty of votes.

1. Graceland
2. Hearts and Bones
3. Homeward Bound
4. Mother and child reunion
5. Duncan
6. Peace like a river
7. Dazzling Blue
8. Slip Slidin Away
9. So Long Frank Lloyd Wright
10. Only Living Boy in New York
11. Rene & Georgette Magritte
12. You Can Call Me Al
13. Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes
14. Boy in the Bubble
15. Obvious Child
16. Duncan
17. Train in the Distance
18. Late In The Evening
19. Kodachrome
20. Born at the Right Time

1. The Only Living Boy in New York
2. Graceland
3. Still Crazy After All These Years
4. Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard
5. Mrs. Robinson
6. Late in the Evening
7. The Boxer
8. At the Zoo
9. Save the Life of My Child
10. Mother and Child Reunion
11. 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
12. So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright
13. I Am A Rock
14. The Myth of Fingerprints
15. America
16. Gumboots
17. Cloudy
18. Crazylove Vol2
19. Punky's Dilemma
20. Slip Slidin' Away

My ballot:

1. Duncan
2. The Obvious Child
3. Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard
4. 50 Way To Leave Your Lover
5. A Hazy Shade Of Winter
6. The Boy In The Bubble
7. Graceland
8. A Poem On The Underground Wall
9. Can't Run But
10. Gumboots

11. Bleecker Street
12. A Simple Desultory Phillippic
13. I Am A Rock
14. The Only Living Boy In New York
15. Somewhere They Can't Find Me
16. American Tune
17. Born In Puerto Rico
18. I Know What I Know
19. El Condor Pasa
20. Darling Lorraine

The things I had to leave off... I shoulda had Think Too Much, Crazy Love and a few more later cuts on there, but I ain't complaining.

1 The Only Living Boy in New York
2 Bridge over Troubled Water
3 The Boy in the Bubble
4 The Sound of Silence
5 Father and Daughter
6 I am a Rock
7 America
8 Homeward Bound
9 Late in the Evening
10 The 59th Street Bridge Song
11 A Hazy Shade of Winter
12 You Can Call Me Al
13 Getting Ready For Christmas day
14 Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard
15 Rene and George Magritte with Their Dog After The War
16 The Late Great Johnny Ace
17 Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes
18 The Obvious Child
19 Old Friends
20 The Boxer

As said above, I should've voted for 'Graceland' otherwise a very enjoyable poll. Cheers, Lamps.

1. Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War
2. Still Crazy After All These Years
3. Mother And Child Reunion
4. Train In The Distance
5. Kodachrome
6. 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover
7. The Late Great Johnny Ace
8. Loves Me Like A Rock
9. American Tune
10. So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright
11. Homeward Bound
12. Can I Forgive Him
13. The Boxer
14. Bridge Over Troubled Water
15. Duncan
16. America
17. Slip Slidin' Away
18. Hearts And Bones
19. Graceland
20. Under African Skies

1. America
2. Hearts and Bones
3. Adios Hermanos
4. Bridge Over Troubled Water
5. Born at the Right Time
6 .Graceland
7. The Obvious Child
8. The Cool, Cool River
9. Train in the Distance
10. Long Long Day 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd8ePfu7_pg

11. Darling Lorraine
12. Feelin' Groovy
13. 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
14. Old
15. Gumboots
16. Slip Slidin' Away
17. Late in the Evening
18. One Trick Pony
19. Boy in the Bubble
20. Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes

i made my ballot into a p sweet itunes playlist that ive jamming for a couple of weeks.

01 diamonds on the soles of her shoes
02 lone teen ranger
03 only living boy in new york
04 50 ways to leave your lover
05 the cool, cool river
06 dazzling blue
07 peace like a river
08 i am a rock
09 the myth of fingerprints
10 duncan
11 darling lorraine
12 anji
13 the obvious child
14 one man's ceiling is another man's floor
15 lisa
16 think too much (a)
17 play me a sad song
18 kodachrome
19 red rubber ball
20 cecilia