Consider yourself blessed to have been able to live long enough to realize it...
Posted on 04/17/2011 9:24:25 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
It’s all about God, Jesus, angels, and the afterlife. And the album cover looks like a multi-colored DNA helix, causing speculation that this album is really about a search for the meaning of life.
The lyrics of the album’s first cut, "Getting Ready for Christmas Day," are taken directly from a 1941 sermon by famed Atlanta preacher Rev. J.M. Gates.
“I took a big chunk of this guy’s sermon, which was recorded in 1941,” said singer/Songwriter Simon. “It was like it was meant to be there.”
The catchy, African-inspired and bluesy rhythm of that first track underscores the chorus:
Getting ready for the power and the glory and the story of the Christmas Day.
Those aren’t the only religious lyrics in Simon’s new album, So Beautiful or So What.
In the song "Afterlife," Simon imagines meeting his Maker this way:
After you climb,
up the ladder of time,
the Lord God is here.
Face to face,
in the vastness of space,
your words disappear.
And you feel like swimming
in an ocean of love,
and the current is strong.
But all that remains
when you try to explain
is a fragment of song…
Lord is it,
Be Bop A Lu La or
Ooh Poppa Do
Lord,
Be Bop A Lu La or
Ooh Poppa Do
Be Bop A Lu La
Ben Witherington, seminary professor at Asbury Theological Seminary, reflects on the song, “It reminds me of John Donne’s poem ‘A Hymn to God, my God, in My Sickness’. In that poem Donne talks about tuning up here below to get ready to sing in the heavenly choir. In fact he talks about preparing to be made God’s music, and thinking here how to tune his instrument. I think Paul is being made God’s music even now, he just isn’t fully aware of it.”
Simon has said about So Beautiful or So What, “I thought right away, this is a really special album.”
Witherington goes on to remark that singer Paul McCartney, upon hearing some of the new album, said to Simon, “Aren’t you a Jew? How come you’re singing about Christmas and Jesus, and that sort of stuff?"
Simon was born to Jewish Hungarian parent in Newark, N.J. He has included other Christian-themed lyrics in previous songs, such as "Bridge Over Troubled Water" with Art Garfunkel and various songs in the album Graceland.
But in Simon’s previous album before this one, he spoke harshly about religious belief:
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?
Weak as the winter sun, we enter life on earth.
Names and religion come just after date of birth.
Simon even included a song called “I Don’t Believe,” in the album.
But the new album seems to show a change of heart.
In an interview with NPR on Tuesday, interviewer Steve Inskeep asked Simon about the religious references in the new album.
“The fact that there is so much reference to religion in this album makes me wonder if you're thinking about religion more, or thinking about God more.”
Simon responded, “I don’t think it's really so much about religion. There are quite a few references to God or in a spiritual sense. And I guess I would have to say from the evidence of this album that I am thinking about it more.
The album also include the lyrics,
God and his only Son
paid a courtesy call
on Earth one Sunday morning.
Orange blossoms opened
their fragrant lips,
Songbirds sang
from the tips of Cottonwoods,
Old folks wept for his love in these hard times.
Rolling Stone magazine has called Simon’s new album “the best since Graceland.”
“Moneymoneymoney...money money...money”.
He's gonna be 70 in a few months....."DOH!"
Mrs. Robinson was being shipped off to rehab for her drinking to a place that was obviously Christian and the staff would tell her that Jesus loved her,IMO.
Consider yourself blessed to have been able to live long enough to realize it...
Time, time, time, see what’s become of me
While I looked around
For my possibilities
I was so hard to please
But look around, leaves are brown
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter
Hear the Salvation Army band
Down by the riverside, it’s bound to be a better ride
Than what you’ve got planned
Carry your cup in your hand
And look around, leaves are brown now
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter
Hang on to your hopes, my friend
That’s an easy thing to say, but if your hopes should pass away
Simply pretend
That you can build them again
Look around, the grass is high
The fields are ripe, it’s the springtime of my life
Ahhh, seasons change with the scenery
Weaving time in a tapestry
Won’t you stop and remember me
At any convenient time
Funny how my memory slips while looking over manuscripts
Of unpublished rhyme
Drinking my vodka and lime
Ilook around, leaves are brown now
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter
Look around, leaves are brown
There’s a patch of snow on the ground...
Look around, leaves are brown
There’s a patch of snow on the ground...
Look around, leaves are brown
There’s a patch of snow on the ground.
—himself
Old friends, old friends sat on their parkbench like bookends
A newspaper blowin’ through the grass
Falls on the round toes of the high shoes of the old friends
Old friends, winter companions, the old men
Lost in their overcoats, waiting for the sun
The sounds of the city sifting through trees
Settles like dust on the shoulders of the old friends
Can you imagine us years from today, sharing a parkbench quietly
How terribly strange to be seventy
Old friends, memory brushes the same years, silently sharing the same fears...
—also himself
The Bangles did a killer cover of that.
Edie Brickell ... as far as I know, yes. I like her music and voice. "Circle of Friends" is another fairly well known song of hers.
I was college-age in the Eighties. Ah, yes, I remember it well.
RE: He’s gonna be 70 in a few months.....”DOH!”
“I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older; then it dawned on me - they’re cramming for their final exam.”
— George Carlin
RE: Is he still married to the What I Am gal from Texas.
He married folk singer Edie Brickell on May 30, 1992. They have three children together.
Another tidbit: Though Paul Simon is left-handed, he plays the guitar right-handed.
NoGray, you are right of course. Somehow, though, I find myself feeling like the early to arrive workers in the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Simon is going to come in at the last minute and the same heavenly reward as I get.
Funny you mentioned that name - I just added Crimson & Clover to my playlist. Took me right back to gradeschool.
His version of “Go Tell It On The Mountain” is great. As far as “ripping off” music, I disagree completely. Simon is not motivated by money, he loves music of every genre. A true artist, warts and all.
“Well my Lord spoke, he spoke to me
Yes he did, yes he did
Talkin’ about a man from Galilee
Yes he did, yes he did
My Lord spoke, he spoke to me
Yes he did, yes he did
Talkin’ about a man from Galilee
Yes he did, yes he did
He brought joy joy, joy into my heart”
Recorded by Simon
I'm just the opposite, I'm right-handed but I play left-handed.
I understand your concern; however, it is not ours to be concerned about.
He wants ALL of us. I don’t think He will get us all, but the more, the merrier!
Only He knows what is in our hearts and we must leave it up to Him to decide.
I can’t remember the exact story or where in the Bible it is, but it was a story about 1 son who did everything he was supposed to and the other son did not. The “bad” son came back, seeking forgiveness. His father rewarded him and the “good” son was wroth with jealously.
I’ll have to look that up. I remember what I read in my Bible, I just don’t remember where I read it!
RE: His version of “Go Tell It On The Mountain” is great
For those who want to hear his version with Art Garfunkle, here it is :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yFbjsiZLQ4
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.