I notice a pattern in Paul Simon’s early work of competition and jealousy surrounding Art Garfunkel. Despite Simon’s status as the songwriter of all those wonderful tunes they recorded together, it sometimes feels as if he saw himself in Garfunkel’s shadow.
Take his nagging regrets over letting Garfunkel take the lead on ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water,’ or the cryptic songs he wrote about their partnership sometimes without even letting Art in on their meaning.
I wonder if Simon decided to jump into acting in large part because Garfunkel had found success there (in films such as Carnal Knowledge and Catch-22).
That’s just armchair psychology, but it might explain why somebody so good at what he normally does would go out on a limb to try something far less natural.
Of course some people thrive on trying things that are scary or uncomfortable. And soon enough Simon would apply that experimental streak to his music, with splendid results.
My second selection from One-Trick Pony, ‘Oh, Marion,’ is another smooth groove that could have fit in nicely on Still Crazy After All These Years. I wonder if this album would have fared better if it hadn’t been tied to an unsuccessful movie but just released on its own.
He just don’t use ‘em, that’s all
The boy’s got brains
He just refuse to use ‘em and that’s all
He says, “The more I get to thinking
The less I tend to laugh”
The boy’s got brains
He just abstains
The boy’s got a heart
But it beats on his opposite side
It’s a strange phenomenon
The laws of nature denied
He said, “It’s a chance I had to take
So I shifted my heart for its safety’s sake”
The boy’s got a heart but it beats on
His opposite
Oh, Marion
I think I’m in trouble here
I should’ve believed you
When I heard you saying it
The only time
That love is an easy game
Is when two other people
Are playing it
The boy’s got a voice
But the voice is his natural disguise
Yes the boy’s got a voice
But his words don’t connect to his eyes
He says, “Ah, but when I sing
I can hear the truth auditioning”
The boy’s got a voice
But the voice is his natural
Oh, Marion
I think I’m in trouble here
I should’ve believed you
When I heard you saying it
The only time
That love is an easy game
Is when two other people
Are playing it
Meet Me In Montauk 
It’s interesting that Simon was jealous of Garfunkel early on, if only he knew how successful he would become as a musician, and Garfunkel didn’t really have huge success after they split as an actor or singer. Anyway, I’m glad Simon went on the create his wonderful music.
I’m not sure Simon’s foray into acting was motivated by jealousy of Garfunkel. I think that, during the 60’s and 70’s, many musicians tried their hand at acting with varying degrees of success. I’m sure many of those musicians were friends of Simon and he also hung around with Hollywood types who may have persuaded him to go for it also. Around that time you had people like Bowie and Jagger, among other contemporaries, taking a stab at acting. You also had Townsend writing rock operas, and then Daltry starring in Tommy (with Elton and others joining in). So, while Simon’s flirtation with acting was a failure (as was his later attempt at writing a Broadway musical), it probably seemed like very much the “thing to do” at that time.
Interestingly, both this movie and his later Capeman show would fare far better musically than on the stage or screen.