‘The Only Living Boy In New York’
Epic and uplifting but at the same time fragile and personal, this orchestral folk is cruelly missed off the Best Ofs even though it’s much better than Bridge Over Troubled Water. It’s about Art Garfunkel going to Mexico to act in a film btw.
‘The Boxer’
It took six months to make and included dangling a drummer down a mineshaft to get that massive snare sound*. But this would have still sounded great with just an acoustic guitar thanks to lines like “In the clearing stands a boxer, And a fighter by his trade… ‘I am leaving, I am leaving,’ But the fighter still remains”.
‘America’
A brilliant, cinematic tale of the journey into adulthood. Loads of scenic detail but the “‘Kathy, I’m lost,’ I said, though I knew she was sleeping” line is the one that really hits home.
‘A Hazy Shade Of Winter’
Acoustic rock that sees Paul Simon put his foot on the monitor. A great riff, but the melancholic lyrics remain. Later covered by The Bangles for the Less Than Zero soundtrack.
‘For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her’
A love song for an imagined girl Paul Simon longed to meet. What seems to be the sadness of loss is actually grief for love yet to be had. It seems like the song could fall in on itself at any time, especially on the famous live version.
‘Wednesday Morning, 3am’
What starts out as a gentle love song (watching his love sleep) turns into the saddest song ever as it transpires that the narrator is calmly waiting to be arrested after robbing an off license. Absolutely heartbreaking.
*I watched a documentary about The Wrecking Crew and discovered that this story wasn’t actually true, despite me telling a million people that it was.