Tag Archives: Paul Simon

Song of the Week – Kodachrome, Paul Simon; Us and Them, Pink Floyd; Stir It Up, The Wailers

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Ignored             Obscured              Restored

Congratulations to the New York Knickerbockers for winning the 2026 NBA Championship.  Much has been made of the Knicks’ 53-year title drought.  Their last championship came on May 10, 1973, when they defeated the Los Angeles Lakers four games to one, winning four straight after dropping the opening game in Los Angeles.

To appreciate just how much time passed between championships, let’s take a trip in the Way-Back Machine and revisit some of the terrific music we were listening to in the spring of 1973.

A logical place to start is There Goes Rhymin’ Simon, since Paul Simon is the quintessential New Yorker — even if he’s more of a Yankees fan than a Knicks fan. Released on May 5, 1973, the album earned a five-star rating in the first Rolling Stone Record Guide and was nominated for Album of the Year at the 1974 Grammy Awards.

The album opens with “Kodachrome,” which was released as a single and climbed to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.

More than fifty years later, “Kodachrome” remains one of the great summer songs, buoyed by an infectious melody, sunny harmonies, and a soaring chorus:

Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
Give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day, oh yeah
I got a Nikon camera
I love to take a photograph
So mama, don’t take my Kodachrome away

If Paul Simon provided the soundtrack for a sunny afternoon, Pink Floyd supplied the soundtrack for late-night contemplation.  The Dark Side of the Moon was released on March 1, 1973, and has since become one of the most successful albums in history.  It has sold more than 45 million copies worldwide and spent an astonishing 996 weeks on the Billboard album chart.  Like There Goes Rhymin’ Simon, it earned a five-star rating in the first Rolling Stone Record Guide and was later included in MOJO’s The Greatest Albums of All Time.

While “Money” remains the album’s signature hit, I’m choosing “Us and Them” for today’s post.  Perhaps that’s my saxophone player bias. 

Originally composed by Richard Wright for Michelangelo Antonioni’s film Zabriskie Point, the music was ultimately rejected for the soundtrack.  Repurposed for The Dark Side of the Moon, it became one of the album’s emotional centerpieces, pairing Wright’s haunting melody with Roger Waters’ meditation on conflict, division, and human indifference.

Another landmark release from the spring of 1973 was Catch a Fire, issued by The Wailers on April 13.  Like Dark Side of the Moon, it earned a place in MOJO’s The Greatest Albums of All Time.  For many rock fans, Catch a Fire served as an introduction to reggae music, bringing the sounds of Jamaica to a much wider audience.

The album was memorable even before listeners dropped the needle.  Early pressings came packaged in an ingenious album-sized Zippo lighter sleeve, complete with a hinged top.  It was an expensive production choice, but one that perfectly matched the music’s originality. (I still have one in my collection.)

Among the album’s highlights is “Stir It Up,” a song Bob Marley had originally recorded and released as a single in Jamaica in 1967 before revisiting it for Catch a Fire.

Smooth, sensual, and effortlessly melodic, it’s the musical equivalent of a warm Caribbean evening.

So, congratulations to the Knicks on ending one of the longest championship droughts in professional sports.  And thanks for providing an excuse to revisit some of the remarkable music that filled the airwaves the last time New York stood atop the basketball world.

Enjoy… until next week.

Song of the Week – Outrageous, Paul Simon

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Ignored             Obscured              Restored

Today’s post was written by my friend Julie Chervin.  Julie has a very deep appreciation for good music in a wide variety of styles that she demonstrated in her suggestions for our repertoire when we were in bands together.

Paul Simon wrote “Father and Daughter” as the theme song for the 2002 animated family film The Wild Thornberrys Movie.  At the time, the song was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and in 2006 was released in an alternate version on Simon’s album Surprise in 2006.  Surprise reached number 14 on the Billboard 200 and number 4 in the UK, was written with significant collaboration from Brian Eno, and was largely inspired by 9/11, the Iraq invasion and the wars that followed.  Another critical inspiration for the album as a whole was that Simon had turned 60 in 2001.

“Outrageous”, the third cut on the album, was also released as its third single.

While it received some radio airplay, it never reached the pop heights of “Father and Daughter”. A thoughtful, catchy, and playful tune that transitions rhythmically, melodically, and lyrically to carry the listener from an angry “old person’s” rant to a humble appreciation of loving and being loved, is perhaps the track that most explicitly represents Simon’s reflections on aging:

Who’s gonna love you when your looks are gone?

Tell me, who’s gonna love you when your looks are gone?

(Instrumental transition)

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

Surprise was heralded as a “comeback” for Simon by some, but so far as this listener is concerned, he never left!  For an even more playful reflection on aging by Simon, also check out “The Afterlife” on the 2011 album So Beautiful or So What. 

Happy Listening!

Enjoy… until next week.

Song of the Week – Music in Films as Vehicles for Rock Stars

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Ignored           Obscured            Restored

In May of 2020, I started a series of posts under the theme of Rock Music in Films.  I notched eight posts in the series through May 2021.  But the series isn’t complete.  I have a few more ideas and today I resume after nine months – this time featuring films as vehicles for rock stars.

This idea was “invented” by Elvis Presley.  The Beatles and other British Invasion groups took advantage of the medium to enhance their popularity.  But those were all covered in earlier installments of the series.

Take note – my idea of films as vehicles for rock stars doesn’t include movies that simply star rock musicians.  The film has to feature their music as a key component.  So, Madonna’s Desperately Seeking Susan and David Bowie’s Labyrinth are out.  Bob Dylan’s music was critical to Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, but his acting role was too insignificant to qualify as a vehicle for him.  That one’s out.  Mick Jagger starred in Performance and sang the excellent “Memo From Turner” but that’s his only song on the soundtrack.  Out.

So, what films do meet my criteria?  One great example is The Harder They Come (1972), starring Jimmy Cliff.  I know, this film features Reggae music not rock.  But by my definition, Cliff is a rock star!

The title tune is terrific, but the best song on the soundtrack is “Many Rivers to Cross.”

“MRtC” has a gospel feel and an amazing vocal performance.  It is even more spectacular when you consider the legend that it was recorded in one take at the end of a session where the backing musicians had never heard the song before!  In Wikipedia, Cliff is quoted as saying “I started singing, the band came in, and that was it.  Once.  That was it.”

“MRtC” has been covered by many stars – from Harry Nilsson to Linda Ronstadt.  You can’t keep a great song down.

Another super film that was a vehicle for a rock star was Prince’s Purple Rain (1984). I know, this film features funk and R&B music, not rock.  But by my definition, Prince is a rock star!

The title tune is terrific, but the best song on the soundtrack is “When Doves Cry.”

“WDC” was written as a metaphor (doves being the bird of peace) for the dysfunction in relationships – in this case, the discord between his mother and father coming full circle in his own relationship.

How can you just leave me standing
Alone in a world that’s so cold? (So cold)
Maybe I’m just too demanding
Maybe I’m just like my father, too bold
Maybe you’re just like my mother
She’s never satisfied (she’s never satisfied)
Why do we scream at each other?
This is what it sounds like
When doves cry

“WDC” received a wonderful cover by Patti Smith.  You can’t keep a great song down.

The underappreciated One Trick Pony (1980), by Paul Simon, was also a film vehicle for a rock star.  I know, many of you don’t consider Paul Simon a rock musician.  But by my definition, he is a rock star!

The key song on the soundtrack is “Late in the Evening.”

Steve Gadd’s drum groove and the spicy Cuban horn charts (arranged by Dave Grusin) drive it.  No one would dare cover it!

Enjoy… until next week.

Song of the Week – America, First Aid Kit

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Ignored           Obscured            Restored

I wanted to write something patriotic to honor our Independence Day.  There is so much turmoil today that we need something to bring us – all Americans – together.  After quite a bit of thought, I decided on Paul Simon’s “America”, originally on the Simon and Garfunkel album Bookends.

The song was used to great effect in one of the Muscarella family’s favorite movies, Almost Famous.  In the “America” scene, Anita Miller (Zooey Deschanel) is leaving home to become an airline stewardess.  Her mother (Frances McDormand) and little brother William (Michael Angarano) stand watching as the car is packed for the journey.  Before she takes off, Anita whispers to William… “One day you will be cool.  Go look under your bed.  It will set you free.”

Everyone needs a big sister like Anita!

“America” evokes Anita’s yearning for freedom and mobility.  It is a travelogue of a bus trip across the US.  True Americana.  References to real places (Pittsburgh, Saginaw), roads (NJ Turnpike), and the nostalgia of Mrs. Wagner’s Pies.

First Aid Kit recorded a beautiful version of “America” that is today’s SotW.

But what really grabs me today is the first two lines of the final verse.  That’s when the previously playful road trip (“Laughing on the bus, playing games with the faces”, “She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy”, “I said, be careful, his bowtie is really a camera”) turns somber.

Cathy, I’m lost, I said though I knew she was sleeping
And I’m empty and aching and I don’t know why

These lines seem to capture the anxiety and isolation many of us are feeling in these times of COVID-19, racial tension, and economic insecurity.

First Aid Kit performed “America” live, at the Polar Music Prize (a Swedish music award), in front of Paul Simon in 2012.  Simon was so moved, he gave them a standing ovation and seemed to be close to tears.

If their performance was good enough for Paul, it’s good enough for me.

Happy Independence Day!

Enjoy… until next week.