Paul Simon names his favourite and most hated Paul Simon songs
Paul Simon has looked upon his astonishing career, which began alongside Art Garfunkel, and named his favourite seven songs from his canon. Plus, the track he feels less warmly towards.
Simon is currently in a reflective mood ahead of the premiere of the new documentary series, In Restless Dreams, which is set to arrive on MGM+ on March 17th. To promote the upcoming release, Simon appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on March 14th to deliver a contemplative insight into his remarkable journey.
To celebrate Simon, Colbert spoke with the legendary singer-songwriter for half an hour, who also performed ‘Your Forgiveness’ from his most recent album, Seven Psalms.
When asked about his favourite songs, Simon chose ‘The Sound of Silence‘ and ‘The Boxer’ from his back catalogue with Simon and Garfunkel. However, the bulk of his selections came from his solo career, with Simon picking, ‘Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard’, ‘Graceland’, ‘Mother and Child Reunion’, ‘Late In The Evening’ and ‘Still Crazy After All These Years’.
However, elsewhere in the conversation, Simon also discussed his ill feelings for the Simon and Garfunkel track, ‘The 59th Bridge Song’.
He remarked: “I loathe that song. Sometimes in shows, if I made an error in some other song, I would sing that song as punishment. Here’s what it is: I come up to the line, and I just don’t wanna sing, ‘Life, I love you, all is groovy.’ I don’t wanna sing it.”
Meanwhile, at the DGA New York Theater on March 13th, Colbert was in conversation with Simon at the premiere of In Restless Dreams.
At the event, Simon opened up about his hearing difficulties, revealing that he’s made progress recently and he now feels “comfortably singing and playing guitar and playing a few other instruments.”
As People reported, “I can hear my voice the way I want it in the context of the music. If there’s a drum or an electric guitar, it’s too loud and I can’t hear my voice. But when I first lost the hearing, I couldn’t get, it threw me off. Everything was coming from this side.”
It comes after last year Simon announced his hearing had prevented him from performing live, telling The Sunday Times: “Quite suddenly I lost most of the hearing in my left ear, and nobody has an explanation for it.”
“So everything became more difficult. My reaction to that was frustration and annoyance; not quite anger yet, because I thought it would pass, it would repair itself,” he added.
While Simon’s condition has improved, as his performance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert proved, he remains retired from touring and has no plans to hit the road.
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