Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician,
actor and singer-songwriter. Simon's fame, influence, and commercial
success began as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, formed in 1964 with
musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote nearly all of the pair's
songs, including three that reached No. 1 on the U.S. singles charts:
"The Sound of Silence," "Mrs. Robinson," and "Bridge Over Troubled
Water". The duo split up in 1970 at the height of their popularity, and
Simon began a successful solo career as a guitarist and
singer-songwriter, recording three highly acclaimed albums over the next
five years. In 1986, he released Graceland, an album inspired by
South African township music. Simon also wrote and starred in the film One-Trick
Pony (1980) and co-wrote the Broadway musical The Capeman (1998)
with the poet Derek Walcott.
Simon has earned 12 Grammys for his solo and collaborative work,
including the Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2001, he was inducted into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2006 was selected as one of the
"100 People Who Shaped the World" by Time magazine. In 2011, Rolling
Stone magazine named Simon as one of the 100 Greatest Guitarists. Among
many other honors, Simon was the first recipient of the Library of
Congress' Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in 2007. In 1986, Simon was
awarded an Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee College of
Music, where he currently serves on the Board of Trustees. (Click
here for full Wikipedia article)
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All lies and jests, still a man hears what he wants to hear and
disregards the rest.
Faith is an island in the setting sun,
But proof is the bottom line
for everyone.
I believe it's no good to talk about your songs; it's wrong. You should leave your songs alone and let them say what they say; let people take what they want from them.
I get all the news I need from the weather report.
I'm more interested in what I discover than what I invent.
Improvisation is too good to leave to chance.
In terms of quality of work, experience is an advantage. But when the
whole culture changes its value system, as ours has been doing, you can
evolve in a way that's appropriate for your age and still wind up as an
artifact.
It's actually very difficult to make something both simple and good.
Much of songwriting is simply a mystery.
Music is forever; music should grow and mature with you, following you
right on up until you die.
One man's ceiling is another man's floor.
Sometimes even music cannot substitute for tears.
The thought that life could be better is woven indelibly into our hearts
and our brains.
The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenements
halls and whispered in the sounds of silence.
We work our jobs, collect our pay; believe were gliding down the highway
when in fact, we're slip sliding away.
When I look back on all the crap
I learned in high school,
It's a
wonder
I can think at all.
(lyrics, Kodachrome)
(October 13 is also the birthday of Lenny
Bruce.)
Categories:
Paul Simon,
Quotes of the day
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