10 Great Lyrics from Paul Simon

Paul Simon explains the process of how he goes about writing songs, 

"The music always precedes the words. The words often come from the sound of the music and eventually evolve into coherent thoughts. Or incoherent thoughts. Rhythm plays a crucial part in the lyric-making as well. It’s like a puzzle to find the right words to express what the music is saying."

I am a big fan of Paul Simon. Big. I mean really freaking big. Huge. His lyrics really speak to me
I find Paul Simon extremely profound. His lyrics are off the chart in terms of being thought provoking. Here is a sampling of what I mean. No commentary. Just the songs and the lyrics. They speak for themselves.
They are not in any particular order. Just as they came to me in my mind.

 My Little Town

And after it rains
There's a rainbow
And all of the colors are black
It's not that the colors aren't there
It's just imagination they lack
Everything's the same Back in my little town
Nothing but the dead and dying
Back in my little town
Nothing but the dead and dying
Back in my little town

  Slip Slidin Away

And I know a woman

became a wife

these are the very words she uses to describe her life

she said a good day

ain't got no rain

she said a bad day is when I lie in bed 

And think of things that might have been

....

And God Only knows

And God makes his plans

The information's unavailable to the mortal man

We're working our jobs

Collect our pay

believe we're gliding down the highway

when in fact we're slip sliding away   

slip slidin away

slip slidin away

you know the nearer your destination

the more you're slip sliding away   

I am a rock 

  I am a rock
I am an island

I have no need of friendship
Friendship causes pain
It is laughter and its loving that I disdain
Hiding in my room
Safe within my womb
I touch no one
And no one touches meI am a rock
I am an islandAnd a rock feels no pain
And an island never cries

   Love me like rock

 

 

And If I was the president
the minute the congress called my name
 I would say now who do,  who do you think you're foolin?
I got the presidential seal
I'm up on the presidential podium
my mama loves me
she loves me
she get down on her knees and love me
love me like rock
She rocks me like the rock of ages
she loves me
 she luvs me luvs me luvs me

Kodachrome

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

If you took all the girls I know when I was single
brought them all together for one night
I know they'd never match my sweet imagination
And Everything looks worse in black and white.

Fifty ways to leave your lover

"The problem is all inside your head", she said to me
The answer is easy if you take it logically
I'd like to help you in your struggle to be free

She said it's really not my habit to intrude
Furthermore, I hope my meaning won't be lost or misconstrued
But I'll repeat myself, at the risk of being crude


She said it grieves me so to see you in such pain
I wish there was something I could do to make you smile again
I said I appreciate that and would you please explain
About the fifty ways

She said why don't we both just sleep on it tonight
And I believe in the morning you'll begin to see the light
And then she kissed me and I realized she probably was right
There must be fifty ways to leave your lover
Fifty ways to leave your lover

Sounds of Silence

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

Homeward Bound

Tonight I'll sing my songs again
I'll play the game and pretend
But all my words come back to me
In shades of mediocrity
Like emptiness in harmony
I need someone to comfort me
Homeward bound
I wish I was
Homeward bound
Home, where my thought's escaping
Home, where my music's playing
Home, where my love lies waiting
Silently for me
Silently for me
Silently for me

Mrs. Robinson

We'd like to know a little bit about you for our files  

We'd like to help you learn to help yourself  

Look around you all you see are sympathetic eyes  

Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home
And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson Jesus loves you more than you will know 

 God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson Heaven holds a place for those who pray

Hide it in a hiding place where no one ever goes 

Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes  

It's a little secret just the Robinsons affair  

Most of all, you've got to hide it from the kids

 
Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon 

 Going to the candidates' debate 

 Laugh about it, shout about it when you've got to choose 

 Every way you look at it you lose
Where have you gone, Joe Di Maggio?

  Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you 

What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson?

  "Joltin Joe has left and gone away" 

Still Crazy After All These Years

I'm not the kind of man
Who tends to socialize
I seem to lean on
Old familiar ways
And I ain't no fool for love songs
That whisper in my ears
Still crazy after all these years
Oh, still crazy after all these years 

Four in the morning
Crapped out, yawning
Longing my life away
I'll never worry
Why should I?
It's all gonna fade

Now I sit by my window
And I watch the cars
I fear I'll do some damage
One fine day
But I would not be convicted
By a jury of my peers
Still crazy after all these years
Oh, still crazy
Still crazy
Still crazy after all these years