The only song Paul Simon never understood
(Source: Far Out / Harry Chase, Los Angeles Times)
Paul Simon is arguably one of the greatest songwriters to ever put words to a rhythm. He and Art Garfunkel together were a creative force to be reckoned with, one that undoubtedly had its heyday but also felt slightly undermined at times. When you consider how many people the pair played to and that so many of their songs are still considered classics today, it’s hard to deny their legendary status.
When you think of the wealth of songs Paul Simon is responsible for, a wide range of emotions spring to mind. He has always been able to talk about real and fictional things, abstractly and with a narrative attached. It’s a gift that sometimes has its drawbacks, however, as fans are often accused of looking for meaning in a song where there shouldn’t be any.
This is nothing new in music, of course. Many songs and albums are often misunderstood because fans are too quick to question them or think about the deeper meaning that lies within them. Or some people take a song at face value when in reality there is another meaning hidden beneath the surface that needs to be explored.
For example, Bruce Springsteen’s hit “Born in the USA” is often misunderstood as blind patriotism, although some people do interpret it as such. It is played at rallies and people wave American flags and sing at the top of their lungs, although the song was actually a criticism of the poor treatment of soldiers during the Vietnam War.
Similarly, many people hear the song “Love Will Tear Us Apart” by Joy Division and are excited to dance to it because the instrumental is so upbeat and playful. However, the lyrics are incredibly dark and contain a hidden meaning that relates to issues such as depression and epilepsy. People don’t interpret it enough.
In Paul Simon’s case, one of his songs was a track that people read a little too much into. On the track “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard,” Simon sings about a woman (Mama) who saw something that caused a reaction that sent her running to the police. It is never explicitly stated what the Mama sees, and when people turned to Paul Simon with their theories and asked for clarification, it was not something he himself had ever figured out.
“I have no idea what it is,” Simon said when asked what the mum saw in the song. “Something sexual, I imagine,” he continued, “but when I say ‘something’ I never bothered to find out what it was. It made no difference to me.”
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