POLL paul simon - the rhythm of the saints

ha, that lyric always works for me, but i may be biased as my Dad's Italian family, and maybe everybody who knew him growing up, all called him "Sunny."

wound you say that the funny horn fill after the corny lyric is a bit... obvious, child?

would*

boom

Bonus track Thelma is amongst my favorite PS songs and would have easily been a great single. No idea why it didn’t make it, it’s one of the best songs from this sessions.

Never heard "Thelma" before, this is wonderful. Thanks, Moka!

The title track has always been my favorite thing here. Such a gently euphoric groove that I wish went on for another five minutes.

Always a stranger when strange isn't fashionable / Fashion is rich people waving at the door

i don't think I've heard "Thelma" in 25 years ... sounds amazing this morning.

yeah Thelma is gorgeous

Xps but

My life’s so common it disappears
And sometimes even music
Cannot substitute for tears

Goddamn. It always makes me think of Eno, somehow. It's too sweet and linear for Eno, really, but there's something in the backing that's a bit of Before and After Science, even a bit of Bush of Ghosts.

Yeah, "Thelma" was a nice surprise on that 1964-1993 box set, which was also my introduction to Simon's work beyond Graceland. IIRC, it didn't seem like it was well-reviewed, but I liked it and thought it was a generally organized and mastered really well. There's probably a few more tracks I would've included and there are a few edits that seem pointless, but that's it.

so nice to read all the praise for "The Cool, Cool River." a remarkable song!

Goddamn. It always makes me think of Eno, somehow. It's too sweet and linear for Eno, really, but there's something in the backing that's a bit of Before and After Science, even a bit of Bush of Ghosts.

― Shard-borne Beatles with their drowsy hums (Chinaski),

NARRATOR: Fifteen years later, Eno would collaborate with Simon.

Ah so glad to see the Thelma love in here and to have introduced it to j. Sam. It’s gorgeous indeed. Very underrated song in his catalogue.

i definitely hear the Before and After Science connection! especially after the first quiet bridge section, when the backing track comes pulsing back in.

The Cool, Cool River has been the song that has stuck with me for thirty-odd years from this. The propulsion of the rhythm, ambiguous harmonic structure and typically syncopated Simon vocal.

In general I find this record to be overflowing with unpretentious melodic ideas, with memorable verses, choruses, bridges, countermelodies, calls and responses on almost every track: The Coast, Can’t Run But, The Obvious Child, Spirit Voices, and Born at the Right Time. And unlike Graceland you almost never see the strings. Knit together with a production that kind of kind of marries adult contemporary and prog and has mostly aged really well, the result for me is one of the most listenable records in a decade that doesn’t have too many.

"the cool, cool river" performance during the central park concert goes so fucking hard. i love the way it builds to the horn section. watching him do that same rendition of the song opening the 1992 grammys. A24 needs to make themselves useful and reissue the concert in the park film on 4K

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hOYtEKRHXw

And I believe in the future
We shall suffer no more
Maybe not in my lifetime
But in yours, I feel sure
Song dogs barking at the break of dawn
Lightning pushes the edges of a thunderstorm
And these streets
Quiet as a sleeping army
Send their battered dreams to heaven, to heaven
For the mother’s restless son
Who is a witness to, who is a warrior
Who denies his urge to break and run
Who says, “Hard times?
I’m used to them
The speeding planet burns
I’m used to that
My life’s so common it disappears”
And sometimes even music
Cannot substitute for tears

Thanks for posting; I love that song so very much

Never knew they filmed/released that concert -- the album is maybe my Simon desert-island pick.

honestly think it might be for me too? well, nothing can really replace 'rhythm of the saints' but i'd cheat and combine them into one desert island selection. given the timing of the concert in the park i kinda consider them sister albums. i think i like the versions of earlier songs such as "still crazy after all these years" and "loves me like a rock" better than the original versions, but maybe i just don't have the same personal connections to those earlier songs. to my ears tho i think the concert in the park arrangements sand off some of the saccharine elements of the earlier songs i.e. the strings on "still crazy after all these years" are more muted.

as for the filming... was anyone here receiving PBS membership awards in 2018?

This title was released in both audio and video formats.

As a double live-album, it was released on CD, cassette and vinyl LP.
Both VHS and Laserdisc formats were released with "Cecilia" omitted from the VHS and both "Cecilia" and "The Coast" omitted from the Laserdisc.

In July 2011 a Facebook campaign was started to request a release of the concert on DVD and Blu-ray. It was released on DVD in 2018 through PBS membership rewards. The long delay could be due to the contract with Pioneer that restricted the re-issue of concerts by artists signed to Warner on any future format.

hmm there's a guy in new zealand on ebay selling the DVD for $22 + shipping i'm buying this shit

^^^ could be a Simon lyric

And there is no doubt about it
He had a PBS Membership

There's a guy in New Zealand on eBay selling the DVD
I said, "Hey, man, don't I know you from the cinematographer's party?!"
But here I am I'm still buying his shit

(bass solo)

There is a guy in North New Zealand
He calls himself the human trampoline
And sometimes when I'm falling, flying, tumbling in turmoil
I say, "Whoah, so this is what he means."
He means we're selling it on eBay

Selling it on eBay
to Memphis Tennessee
Selling it on eBay
The shipping will be free

(horn break)

Memphis being the home of FedEx of course

Of course.

You know the nearer your destination, the more you're FedExing away

Dracula FedExed himself to Memphis iirc.