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paul simon Quotes

Paul Simon Quotes

Birth Date: 1955-12-15 (Thursday, December 15th, 1955)
Date of Death: 2003-12-09 (Tuesday, December 9th, 2003)

 

Quotes

    • And the war rages on in a land called somewhere And Generals order their men to kill And to fight for a cause theyve long ago forgotten While a little cloud weeps on the side of a hill.
    • I wanted to sing other types of songs that Simon and Garfunkel wouldn't do. 'Mother and Child Reunion' for example, is not a song that you would have normally thought that Simon and Garfunkel would have done. It's possible that they might have. But it wouldn't have been the same, and I don't know if I would have been so inclined in that direction. So for me it was a chance to break out and gamble a little bit ... The breakup had to do with a natural drifting apart as we got older and the separate lives that were more individual. We weren't so consumed with recording and performing. We had other activities ... there was no great pressure to stay together other than money, which exerted very little influence upon us. ... We didn't need the money.
    • There was always some kind of strain, but it was workable. The bigger you get, the more of a strain it is, because in your everyday life, you're less used to compromising. As you get bigger, you have your own way. But in a partnership you always have to compromise. ... When you get into a partnership, you're not the boss. There's no boss. That makes it hard.
    • Instead of thinking in terms of chords, I think of voice-leading; that is, melody line and bass line, and where the bass line goes. If you do that, you'll have the right chord. [These voices] will give you some alternatives, and you can play those different alternatives to hear which one suits your ear... Keep the bass line moving so you don't stay in one spot: if you have an interesting bass line and you roll it against the melody, the chords are going to come out right.
    • I didn't want to repeat the same notes in the second verse that I used in the first, so I wrote out all the notes of the song and all the notes that were missing in the scale, given that there are twelve notes from octave to octave. All those notes that weren't in the scale were the ones I wanted in for the next verse. The listener isn't aware that they are new notes, but the sound is pleasing to the ear. I change the key, and somehow it's fresh because you haven't heard those notes before.
    • Well its great to do a neighborhood concert. I hope everyone can hear us. I hope that the sound is good. I hope we are blasting Central Park West and Fifth avenue pretty much away. I just want to thank the police department and the fire department and the parks commissioner, and Ed Koch [Audience boos] - and particularly, you know, people that never get recognized for doing good things for the city, a group of people that have donated half of the proceeds that they're making tonight - the guys who are selling loose joints are giving the city half of their income tonight.
    • I have gone through different phases in my music writing. There was a time when I used a little exercise - incorporating all of the twelve notes in the chromatic scale - to get me going. I used this technique for a while, but I don't any longer because I am going back to simpler melodies. Originally I moved away from the simple songs because I thought they were too simple.
    • I write from instinct, from inexplicable sparkle. I don't know why I'm writing what I'm writing. Usually, I sit and I let my hands wander on my guitar. And I sing anything. I play anything. And I wait till I come across a pleasing accident. Then I start to develop it. Once you take a piece of musical information, there are certain implications that it automatically contains - the implication of that phrase elongated, contracted, or inverted or in another time signature. So you start with an impulse and go to what your ear likes.
    • [Rock 'n' roll] really is not given to thinking - and resents thinking. Which I believe is the big error of rock 'n' roll. It's always aspired to be the music of the working class. And it's never been looked upon as a vocabulary for art and artistic thinking... We have to be able to expand the vocabulary to express more complex thoughts.
    • This is near enough true bliss.
    • 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.
    • And in the naked light I saw Ten thousand people maybe more People talking without speaking People hearing without listening People writing songs that voices never shared No one dared Disturb the sound of silence
    • 'Fools,' said I, 'you do not know Silence like a cancer grows Hear my words that I might teach you Take my arms that I might reach you' But my words like silent raindrops fell And echoed in the wells of silence.
    • And the people bowed and prayed To the neon god they made And the sign flashed out its warning In the words that it was forming And the sign said 'The words of the prophets Are written on the subway walls And tenement halls And whispered in the sound of silence'
    • A winter's day In a deep and dark December I am alone.
    • I am a rock. I am an island.
    • I've built walls, A fortress deep and mighty, That none may penetrate. I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain. It's laughter and it's loving I disdain.
    • If I never loved I never would have cried.
    • I am shielded in my armor Hiding in my room safe within my womb I touch no one and no one touches me. I am a rock. I am an island. And a rock feels no pain. And an island never cries.
    • Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you.
    • Someone told me It's all happening at the zoo. I do believe it, I do believe it's true.
    • The monkeys stand for honesty, Giraffes are insincere, And the elephants are kindly but They're dumb. Orangutans are skeptical Of changes in their cages, And the zookeeper is very fond of rum.
    • Zebras are reactionaries, Antelopes are missionaries, Pigeons plot in secrecy, And hamsters turn on frequently.
    • I get all the news I need from the weather report.
    • When you're weary Feeling small When tears are in your eyes I will dry them all I'm on your side When times get rough And friends just can't be found Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down.
    • I'll take your part When darkness comes And pain is all around.
    • Sail on Silver Girl, Sail on by Your time has come to shine All your dreams are on their way See how they shine If you need a friend I'm sailing right behind...
    • I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail Yes I would, if I could, I surely would I'd rather be a hammer than a nail Yes I would, if I only could, I surely would
    • No I would not give you false hope On this strange and mournful day But the mother and child reunion Is only a motion away, Oh, little darling of mine I can't for the life of me Remember a sadder day I know they say let it be But it just don't work out that way...
    • When the papa found out, he began to shout, and he started the investigation It's against the law, it was against the law What the mama saw, it was against the law.
    • I'm on my way, I don't know where I'm goin', I'm on my way, I'm takin' my time, but I don't know where. Goodbye to Rosie, the Queen of Corona See you, me and Julio down by the schoolyard.
    • I fear I'll do some damage One fine day But I would not be convicted By a jury of my peers Still crazy Still crazy Still crazy after all these years.
    • 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 There must be fifty ways to leave your lover.
    • Just slip out the back, Jack, make a new plan, Stan Don't need to be coy, Roy, just listen to me Hop on the bus, Gus, don't need to discuss much Just drop off the key, Lee, and get yourself free.
    • 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
    • Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance Everybody thinks its true.
    • Two disappointed believers Two people playing the game Negotiations and love songs Are often mistaken for one and the same.
    • A man walks down the street He says why am I soft in the middle now Why am I soft in the middle The rest of my life is so hard I need a photo opportunity I want a shot at redemption Don't want to end up a cartoon In a cartoon graveyard.
    • If you'll be my bodyguard I can be your long lost pal I can call you Betty And Betty when you call me You can call me Al.
    • A man walks down the street He says why am I short of attention Got a short little span of attention And woe my nights are so long
    • There were incidents and accidents There were hints and allegations...
    • A man walks down the street It's a street in a strange world Maybe it's the third world Maybe it's his first time around ... He looks around around He sees angels in the architecture Spinning in infinity He says Amen and Hallelujah
    • And she said 'losing love is like a window in your heart.'
    • How can you live in the Northeast? How can you live in the South? How can you build on the banks of a river when the flood water pours from the mouth? How can you be a Christian? How can you be a Jew? How can you be a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Hindu? How can you?
    • If the answer is infinite light, why do we sleep in the dark?
    • Locked in a struggle for the right combination - of words in a melody line, I took a walk along the riverbank of my imagination. Golden clouds were shuffling the sunshine.
    • We don't mean to mess things up, but mess them up we do. And then it's 'Oh, I'm sorry.' Here's a smiling photograph of love when it was new. At a birthday party. Make a wish and close your eyes; surprise, surprise, surprise.
    • I shoot a thought into the future, and it flies like an arrow, through my lifetime. And beyond. If I ever come back as a tree, or a crow, or even the wind-blown dust; find me on the ancient road in the song when the wires are hushed. Hurry on and remember me, as I'll remember you. Far above the golden clouds, the darkness vibrates. The earth is blue. And everything about it is a love song. Everything about it.
    • It's outrageous to line your pockets off the misery of the poor. Outrageous, the crimes some human beings must endure. It's a blessing to wash your face in the summer solstice rain. It's outrageous a man like me stand here and complain. But I'm tired.
    • Who's gonna love you when your looks are gone? Tell me, who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?
    • God will. Like he waters the flowers on your window sill. Take me. I'm an ordinary player in the key of C. And my will was broken by my pride and my vanity. Who's gonna love you when your looks are gone? God will. Like he waters the flowers on your window sill.
    • I registered to vote today. Felt like a fool. Had to do it anyway. Down at the high school.
    • Maybe I'm wrong again. Wrong again. I could be wrong again. I remember once in August 1993, I was wrong, and I could be wrong again. I remember one of my best friends turned enemy. So, I was wrong, and I could be wrong again.
    • It sure. Don't feel. Like love.
    • Prayers offered in times of peace are silent conversations. Appeals for love, or love's release. In private invocations. But all that is changed now. Gone like a memory from the day before the fires. People hungry for the voice of God hear lunatics and liars. Wartime prayers. Wartime prayers in every language spoken. For every family scattered and broken. Because you cannot walk with the holy if you're just a halfway decent man. I don't pretend that I'm a mastermind with a genius marketing plan. I'm trying to tap into some wisdom. Even a little drop will do. I want to rid my heart of envy, and cleanse my soul of rage before I'm through.
    • Snowman sittin' in the sun doesn't have time to waste.
    • Little kid dancin' in the grass, legs like rubber band. It's summertime, summertime. There's a line at the candy stand. Keep an eye on them children, eye on them children in the pool. You'd better keep an eye on them children, eye on them children in the pool.
    • 'The universe loves a drama,' you know. And ladies and gentlemen this is the show.
    • I got a call from my broker. The broker informed me I'm broke. I was dealing my last hand of poker. My cards were useless as smoke.
    • Maybe the heart is part of the mist. And that's all that there is or could ever exist. Maybe and maybe and maybe some more. Maybe's the exit that I'm looking for.
    • There is a moment, a chip in time, when leaving home is the lesser crime. When your eyes are blind with tears, but your heart can see: another life, another galaxy.
    • Once upon a time there was an ocean. But now it's a mountain range. Something unstoppable put into motion. Nothing is different, but everything's changed.
    • I'm easy, I'm open - that's my gift. I can flow with the traffic, I can drift with the drift.
    • The light through the stained glass was cobalt and red. And the frayed cuffs and collars were mended by haloes of golden thread. The choir sang, 'Once Upon a Time There Was An Ocean.' And all the old hymns and family names came fluttering down as leaves of emotion. As nothing is different, but everything's changed.
    • Well I'll just skip the boring parts chapters one, two, three and get to the place where you can read my face and my biography.
    • Well I never cared much for money, and money never cared for me. I was more like a land-locked sailor, searching for the emerald sea.
    • I am walking up the face of the mountain. Counting every step I climb. Remembering the names of the constellations. Forgotten is a long, long time.
    • I'm gonna watch you shine, gonna watch you grow. Gonna paint a sign so you'll always know. As long as one and one is two. There could never be a father who loved his daughter more than I love you.
    • Trust your intuition. It's just like goin' fishin'. You cast your line and hope you get a bite. But you don't need to waste your time worrying about the marketplace, try to help the human race. Struggling to survive its harshest night.
    • paul simon

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