Paul Simon admits “my generation’s time is up”
With Simon & Garfunkel, Paul Simon rose to prominence as an artist in 1965 with the release of his duo’s debut single ‘Sound of Silence’. Now, however, he says that his generation’s “time is up”.
With the release of his forthcoming album Seven Psalms approaching, Simon was reflecting on the album’s themes. He picked out one verse, in particular, as a pertinent theme. “I’m not ready, I’m just packing my gear/ Wait/ My hand’s steady/ My mind is still clear,” the song states.
His wife, the singer-songwriter Edie Brickell, then joins him for a duet on the song’s final passage. “Heaven is beautiful/ It’s almost like home/ Children, get ready/ It’s time to come home,” they emotionally sing.
When speaking with The Sunday Times, Simon grew tearful over the song realising that he was the protagonist facing his mortality. “It’s a spooky thing to be writing something and just be thinking, ‘Oh, this is what the song needs,’” Simon explains.
“And then it’s, ‘By the way, this is about you. You’re actually the subject of this.’ It’s just the age we’re at. Gordon Lightfoot just passed away; Jeff Beck too. My generation’s time is up,” he concludes.
The new seven-song LP is Simon’s 15th studio album and the singer-songwriter’s first since 2018’s In the Blue Light. Seven Psalms will be Simon’s first album of original material since 2016’s Stranger to Stranger and his first LP since he retired from touring back in late 2018.
“On January 15th, 2019, I had a dream that said, ‘You’re working on a piece called Seven Psalms,’” Simon explained in the album’s trailer. “The dream was so strong that I got up and I wrote it down. But I had no idea what that meant. Gradually, information would come.”
“This is a journey for me to complete,” Simon added. “This whole piece is really an argument I’m having with myself about belief or not.”
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