“Incredible songwriter”: the Paul Simon songs that Ann Wilson wishes she wrote
As the singer at the helm of hard rock pioneers Heart, Ann Wilson has certainly had her fair share of groundbreaking hits. One of the very first women to break into the male-dominated hard rock scene, Wilson blazed a trail for an entirely new generation of kids to follow in her path. Without the influence of Heart, the world of rock and roll would look very different. Not even Ann Wilson, however, could compete with the all-encompassing influence of American singer-songwriter Paul Simon.
Admittedly, not many people could rival the prolific songwriting talents of Paul Simon. From his early days in the singer-songwriter boom of the 1960s, as one half of Simon and Garfunkel, the New Jersey-born musician has produced a wealth of iconic tracks. Simon’s career, to date, has spanned seven decades and consisted of over 20 studio albums both as a solo artist and with Simon and Garfunkel. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that many musicians view the songwriter with a sense of awe and, to an extent, jealousy.
The arguments over the greatest songwriters of all time will likely wage on forever more, but Simon certainly has a claim to that title more than most. Not only has the singer enjoyed decades of original compositions, but his music has always seemed to move with the times. Many artists who originally found success in the 1960s were doomed to endlessly replicate that sound, whereas Simon took it upon himself to change, adapt and redefine his own style, incorporating various different styles in the process.
Even Wilson, whose distinctive rock and roll stylings seem to be at odds with the typically gentle, folk-influenced sounds of Paul Simon, cannot help but hold a deep-rooted appreciation for him as a performer and writer. Speaking to Forbes back in 2022, the innovative vocalist reflected on her broad range of influences, ranging from Jeff Buckley to Led Zeppelin, but one figure seemed particularly influential on her.
Musing on her dream collaborations, Wilson decidedly said, “It would have to be someone like Paul Simon,” explaining, “just incredible songwriter and intellect and musician. It is Paul Simon”. While Heart don’t seem the most likely band to gel with Paul Simon, stranger things have certainly happened within the world of rock and roll.
Continuing in her appreciation for the songwriter, Wilson revealed, “I would love to have written ‘One Man’s Ceiling is Another Man’s Floor’, of course ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’, one of his best. Yeah, there’s just so many songs that he wrote that are so amazing,” remembering,“‘Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War’”. In fairness to Wilson, Simon has so many celebrated tracks that she did well to narrow it down to only three.
It seems as though Wilson’s endless appreciation for Simon is not limited to his period with Simon and Garfunkel, selecting some of his frankly underrated solo works as particular favourites of hers. The fact that such a legend of the hard rock sphere could harbour such a love for a pretty mainstream, middle-of-the-road artist like Paul Simon speaks to the universal appeal of the songwriter.
