The 10 best Paul Simon solo songs
As the 1960s drew to a close, Simon and Garfunkel didn’t need to prove anything to anyone. Their swansong, Bridge Over Troubled Water, had wrapped their career on a solid note, and everyone was ready to put the folk-rock legends into history. But for Paul Simon, breaking up his iconic duo was just the beginning.
After splitting away from Garfunkel, Simon was determined to become a superstar in his own right, picking up where he left off with songs that had much more nuance than what he was up to in his early years. Although you can hear the seeds of his musical alma mater in his early material, Simon gave us more than a few surprises along the way.
As well as his standard folk-rock roots, Simon used his solo career to flex his creative chops, either writing about topics that no one had heard before or incorporating elements of jazz and world music into his sound later down the line.
Even when he worked with world musicians on Graceland, you never forget that you’re listening to a Paul Simon record whenever you throw it on the turntable. On every single entry on this list, Simon approaches his songs the same way an artist looks at a canvas. You can use whatever colours you like, but it’s always going to be your identity once the full picture is formed.
Here are the ten best songs from Paul Simon’s illustrious solo career.
The 10 best Paul Simon solo songs:
10. ‘Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard’
Simon released ‘Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard’, one of his most enduring singles, as part of his eponymous 1972 record. It was flanked by the album’s lead single, ‘Mother and Child Reunion’, along with ‘Duncan’, but surfaced as the release’s highlight thanks to a catchy rhythm and Simon’s characteristically immersive lyrics.
The lyrics tell the story of two boys, the narrator and Julio, who have broken an unrevealed law. When “the mama pajama” finds out what they have done, she goes to the police station to report the mishap. The repenting pair are later arrested, but released when a “radical priest” gets involved.
9. ‘You Can Call Me Al’
Perhaps the most endearing song in Simon’s solo catalogue, ‘You Can Call Me Al’ is probably not the song that Simon himself would care to be remembered for. But with its infectious rhythms and sublime solos, Simon’s major MTV hit was just what Simon needed to push Graceland into the mainstream.
While the rest of the album found Simon exploring world music, ‘You Can Call Me Al’ is a pure soul-pop romp, complete with horns, goofy lyrics, and a reversed bass solo. Pull it all together with a memorable video starring Chevy Chase, and you have what is still one of Simon’s most unforgettable tracks.
8. ‘Graceland’
In 1984, Simon found himself in a downward spiral of depression as his marriage to Carrie Fisher deteriorated. During this period, he became fascinated with the positive energy of a bootleg cassette of mbaqanga, a collection of South African street music. Inspired, Simon set off for South Africa to record his seventh solo studio LP, Graceland.
With the helping hand of Johannesburg street musicians, Graceland was an unmitigated success with the classic dancefloor filler ‘You Can Call Me Al’ and ‘Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes’. The songs showed eclecticism, narrative and a heap of positive energy. None of the songs intrinsically represent the record’s DNA as much as ‘Graceland’ – a true anthem of the age.
7. ‘Loves Me Like A Rock’
Paul Simon only managed to score one solo number one hit during his career (we’ll have more to say about that a little further down this list), but he made it to number two a handful of times. One was on the nostalgic throwback tune ‘Kodachrome’, but we prefer another one of Simon’s number-two hits: the gospel-infused sing-along ‘Loves Me Like a Rock’.
With an assist from the Dixie Hummingbirds, Simon recalls motherly love and presidential ambitions through one of his most infectious and shockingly simple tunes. While Simon became best known for his lyrical wit and musical eclecticism, sometimes you just want a really catchy song to bowl you over, which is exactly what ‘Loves Me Like a Rock’ provides.
6. ‘The Boy in the Bubble’
When fans first put on track one/side A of Graceland, they had no idea what they were going to be exposed to. For the next 45 minutes, Simon took his listeners through the traditional sounds of South Africa, the markets of the Caribbean, and the domain of Elvis Presley without ever sounding cliched or pretentious. But it would never have worked had Simon not caught the listener’s ear immediately.
With its instantly recognisable accordion intro, ‘The Boy in the Bubble’ is so singular in its sound that it’s impossible to ignore. While Simon signs about poverty and destruction, he remains buoyant and joyful in ways that only make sense within the unique experience that is Graceland.
5. ‘The Obvious Child’
Drumming is often pushed to the background in modern pop music; while an integral part of the musical structure, the listener is ordinarily guided to focus on the lyrics or a catchy guitar riff. However, on a few occasions, the drums take centre stage. As Phil Collins’ classic solo in ‘In The Air Tonight’ did some ten years before, the drumming on Simon’s ‘The Obvious Child’ undoubtedly inspired thousands of youngsters to pick up the sticks.
The triumphant marching beat in ‘The Obvious Child’ opened the first side of Simon’s 1990 album The Rhythm of the Saints, and the tribal feel tied in perfectly to the album’s artwork. Alongside ‘Proof’ and ‘Born at the Right Time’, this lead single buoyed the album to the top of the UK album chart and number four in the US.
4. ‘Slip Slidin’ Away’
Most artists got wimpy in the face of the growing popularity of adult contemporary in the 1970s. Even some of rock’s biggest names couldn’t resist getting schlocky to appeal to the middle of the road. But Simon had enough skill to navigate the genre with grace and great music.
Maybe Simon was pushing his luck when he included ‘Slip Slidin’ Away’ on his 1977 compilation Greatest Hits, Etc. But time proved Simon’s instincts to be right as ‘Slip Slidin Away’ grew into one of Simon’s greatest tracks, complete with a gentle groove and some of Simon’s most emotionally dense lyrics.
3. ’50 Ways to Leave Your Lover’
Simon’s fourth solo studio album, Still Crazy After All These Years, holds up as one of his most commercially and critically successful moments of the post-Simon & Garfunkel era. Arriving in 1975, the album brought four singles, all of which made their way into the top 40 in the US.
‘50 Ways To Leave Your Lover’, the album’s third single, was the gem in its crown and became the jewel in both the crown of the record and Simon’s solo career. To this day, the single remains Simon’s only solo career hit to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. In a formula characteristic of Simon’s solo output, the track bowled fans over with its profound tempo changes and catchy chorus excursions.
2. ‘Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes’
Paul Simon wanted to bring the music of South Africa to the world. To do that, he needed real South African musicians. Even though it meant breaking the cultural boycott that some had put on the country due to its Apartheid policies, Simon couldn’t resist teaming up with Ladysmith Black Mambazo for the track ‘Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes’.
An equal push and pull between Simon’s western melodies and the choral group’s traditional African chants, ‘Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes’ represents Simon’s most successful fusion of his two worlds on record. While it might cover the darker side of materialism, ‘Diamonds’ never sounds anything less than celebratory and anthemic.
1. ‘Still Crazy After All These Years’
The title track from Simon’s 1975 album, Still Crazy After All These Years, was somewhat unfairly crowded out by its three neighbouring singles, which all held higher ranks on the Billboard Hot 100. ‘Still Crazy After All These Years’ was by no means a poorly performing single, but for us, it’s among Simon’s strongest tracks of all.
“I met my old lover on the street last night,” Simon sings at the opening of the song. The legendary storyteller then poetically sings of how the pair share a drink at a bar despite the fact that he’s “not the kind of man who tends to socialise”. The brooding ballad reaches its choral pinnacle as Simon tells his old lover that he’s “still crazy after all these years”.
