It took a trip to Kuwait in Dec ’87 for me to truly appreciate Paul Simon’s genius. I remember landing in a very cold Kuwait as a vacation replacement for my friend Jolly Zacharia. Flying from Bombay, and secure in my knowledge that Kuwait was in the desert and hence would be very hot, I arrived with a suitcase full of T-shirts.😁 Instead, it was 4C!🤦🏽‍♂️😱 I immediately ran to the nearest shop to buy some sweaters, and, found a music shop next to it. Brought three cassettes – The Best of Everly Brothers, The Royal Danish Orchestra playing “Handel’s Water Music” (now my favourite piece of classical music), and, a compilation Best Of Paul Simon. I listened to it every day, and in three weeks I had absolutely fallen in love with Paul Simon’s incredible poetry, beautiful melodies and amazing voice. For me, top three musical poets have to be Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan and Paul Simon. 

Simon & Garfunkel were such a huge act in our consciousness in India (in Delhi anyway….ok ok, maybe it was just me) that Paul Simon’s solo stuff just didn’t get enough attention. “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” was the only Paul Simon solo I remember hearing on the radio! After S&G split in 1970, Simon went on a tear, writing some amazing songs through the 70s.  “Me and Julio….” is the song I remember most from the radio. I’ve always wanted to find out what it was that the “Mama Pajama saw” that was against the law? 😱 Something so upsetting that the Mama “spits on the ground every time my name gets mentioned” 😳Simon has never actually explained the lyrics, though he has said he thinks it might have been something sexual. Especially since a “radical priest” had to get involved! Answers on a postcard please! Interestingly, the BBC never played this song on the radio – not because of the risqué possibilities, but because it mentioned “Newsweek” and that was against the BBC’s policy about brand names being out on the radio

“50 Ways to leave Your lover” is another amazing piece of Simon storytelling. A song about how moving on from a marriage can be done, and, that it can be liberating. And, like all Simon songs, it has the perfect opening line “the problem is all inside your head she said to me”, setting the scene for the story in only one sentence! A man’s mistress is telling him he needs to get out of his relationship and telling him it’s not difficult. What catches everyone’s attention is the chorus – just a piece of doggerel that Simon came up with while teaching his son how to rhyme. Talk about genius working in amazing ways!  

Of course Paul only mentioned the 5 possible ways – maybe there’s a sequel coming sometime😁

You just slip out the back, Jack / Make a new plan, Stan / You don’t need to be coy, Roy / Just get yourself free / Hop on the bus, Gus / You don’t need to discuss much /Just drop off the key, Lee /And get yourself free

Musical genius that he is, Simon has experimented with World Music right from the start. His first solo album had the first reggae hit by a white singer with “Mother and Child Reunion”, which was Simon’s response to Jimmy Cliff’s song “Vietnam”, which is about a mother receiving a letter about her son’s death in action in the war “No, I would not give you false hope, on this strange and mournful day”. The very appropriate title, interestingly, came from a chicken and egg dish called “Mother and Child Reunion” which was on a restaurant menu in NYC !😁

“Kodachrome” was gifted to me by Sethi sahib back at WH in ’85. I remember him singing the song while doing all his amazing photography and originally had thought the song was about photography! It was only once I properly listened to it in the biting cold of the Kuwaiti winter that I realised what an amazing song it was. Quite a philosophical song, it’s all about how our memories of times gone by are always sweeter and more beautiful than the reality ever was. Hence the title “Kodachrome” – as Sethi sahib explained to me one day, that particular Kodak film used to make everything looks brighter than it really was! The song has one of the best first verses of any song ever! 👍🏽👍🏽

When I think back /On all the crap I learned in high school/ It’s a wonder / I can think at all/ And though my lack of education/ Hasn’t hurt me none /I can read the writing on the wall

Take Me To The Mardi Gras is one of my favourite Paul Simon songs. One of his not-so-famous songs, there’s a very emotional yearning in the lyrics – a yearning to have a break, be somewhere where you won’t be judged, where you can really let yourself be free, and dance away your troubles in the street. The melody is so sweet and jazzy and…… calming. There definitely have been times when all I’ve wanted to do is go to the Mardi Gras and “Let the music wash your soul” and listening to this always makes me feel lighter!

ok that’s Part I of Rhymin’ Simon! More to come soon…