Canter Bridge

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Question: How does a man with such an ordinary voice and diminutive stature toss off a whole anthology of agile, smart hits with an edgy title and huge listenability?

Answer: He writes. Good grief, but the man writes.

There is a lyrical agility about the work of Paul Simon that stands almost unequalled in his period. A notion of liberal irony with a common touch leaks through most of his tunes and it ends up endearing the man and his songs to people across a wide continuum of opinion. I suspect that’s because of the self-deprecating note Simon characteristically strikes.

The sheer verbal smarts of these songs, combined with what classical critics might call the occasional ‘musical joke’ astounds in retrospect, especially when one ponders the fact that we’re only talking about sixteen years of music (a mere two-and-a quarter years in dog time).

Must be heard once a year to avoid still-crazy-after-all-these-years syndrome.