The song Paul Simon said was way “too close to the heart”
Every artist like Paul Simon is taking a risk whenever they put out a new record.
Not only do they have to worry about the entire world liking the catchy tunes that they have to offer, but there’s also a chance that they let a little too much of themselves show whenever they start working on their tunes. And while Simon can claim to have a lot of people in his corner thanks to records like Graceland, not every record has the same kind of euphoric musical development all the way through.
But when you think about it, Simon was able to turn shit into gold on more than a few occasions. The entire recording process for Bridge Over Troubled Water would have been a pain in the ass for anyone, but when Simon and Garfunkel actually put it out, it actually felt like they had taken all of that tension and channelled it into every song to create magic. That tension can definitely work, but it can sometimes be a happy accident.
I’m sure that Fleetwood Mac didn’t necessarily want to have a falling-out with their bandmates to create Rumours, but those situations do occasionally get the most profitable songs out of their artists. And while Simon was content to move on with his life after Simon and Garfunkel, not everything was about to be million-sellers thanks to having his name on it.
Records like There Goes Rhymin’ Simon and Still Crazy After All These Years did have a lot of great moments on them, but it was always going to be tricky to follow a record like Graceland, but if that was he record of happiness, The Rhythm of the Saints brought the same worldbeat rhythms to everything but kept a lot of the open-hearted songs from Simon’s early years back into the mix.
He had already been coming off of his divorce with Carrie Fisher, and while this isn’t necessarily the Blood on the Tracks of his discography, it does have its fair share of tunes where he lets his emotions take over for a few minutes. And while ‘She Moves On’ is intended to be a bit more of a retort to Fisher leaving him, Simon did have a few hangups whenever it came to revisiting the song.
Even in interviews, Simon said that ‘She Moves On’ got a lot more intimate than even he wanted to go, saying, “It’s not really stuff I talk about casually. That song is close to my heart. Too close to the heart. It’s about men being afraid of women’s anger. It felt pretty real.” And judging by the lyrics of every verse, it’s not like it paints the greatest picture of Simon by any stretch, either.
He had every right to be upset over losing his wife, but there are many moments where he seems to lay into himself more than Fisher. There are a handful of lines that even Fisher herself confirmed were about her, but the image of a man shaking a rattle at the skies doesn’t exactly paint him as this scorned lover that is taking the high road and trying his best to pick up the pieces of his broken heart.
But like all “divorce” songs, ‘She Moves On’ is more than a little bit messy, and Simon was never going to run away from his feelings. He knew that the pain demanded to be felt, and even if he was happy to get a lot of things off his chest in song, it’s not like he was trying his best to come off as the most level-headed person in the world, either.
