The songwriters Paul Simon named “second tier” of music history
Paul Simon is no stranger to the hallowed halls of rock history. Although he may never be considered one of the most hardened rockers of his time, Simon was known for taking the bits and pieces of the songwriters that came before him and using them to find his voice, creating incredible pieces of sonic art both with and without Art Garfunkel. Despite his grand hierarchy for those who have penned songs, Simon felt a few legends fell just shy of the upper echelon of rock history.
When talking about constructing songs, though, Simon has been drawn as much to the music as he is to the lyrics. Despite the massive attention to detail he puts into his lyrics, Simon’s acoustic guitar playing and ear for arranging have carried him through decades of fantastic music, knowing when to incorporate different sonic flourishes while never being afraid to showboat.
At the same time, Simon’s lyrics may be some of the sharpest of his time, writing songs that were biting about the way that modern society works. When not talking about the darkness within everyone on ‘The Sound of Silence’, Simon was breaking down the construction of what a traditional love song was supposed to be like on ‘50 Ways to Leave Your Lover’.
When picking out the greatest songwriters of his generation, though, Simon would focus more on the artists who had an impressive ear for melody. Discussing the massive artists before him, Simon would wax poetic about any kind of songwriter who excelled in their field regardless of commercial success, shouting the praises of Paul McCartney, Hank Williams and Irving Berlin.
Although many rock gods were left off of Simon’s top-tier list, he said that the lower level of songwriters was reserved for people like him, saying, “In the second tier, [John] Lennon is there, [Bob] Dylan is there, Bob Marley and Stephen Sondheim are there, and maybe I’m there too. It’s about whose songs last”.
While each of those songwriters may have written brilliant songs that have become anthems worldwide, it’s easy to see where Simon is coming from. While the likes of Dylan, Marley and Lennon may have had brilliant uses of wordplay throughout their work, they were more about writing music that suited the words rather than the other way around.
Compared to Williams or McCartney, Dylan was looking to observe pieces of the human condition throughout his songs, creating tracks that felt more like spoken-word pieces that just happened to have a guitar behind them. The same could be said of Marley, who had an innate ability to use his songs as political messages and reminders about how people can live their lives.
While Simon may have put himself in the running with those giants, it’s easy to see where he fits in there, often twisting his signature knack for melody in favour of following other trends like experimenting with world music on Graceland. Simon may be able to come up with melodies out of the air in a way few artists can muster, but there was no shame in putting these artists in the second tier of songwriting.
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