Paul Simon’s Hearts and Bones carries a lot of baggage but I wasn’t aware of any of it when I first heard the album. I didn’t know it was a Simon & Garfunkel reunion album gone bad, or that it was a critical and commercial flop that seemed to derail Simon’s solo career.
My first exposure to the songs on this album came during a concert in the early 90s. I was familiar with everything Simon played that night except for two gorgeous, musically ambitious ballads — one called ‘Hearts and Bones’ and one called ‘Train in the Distance.’
I quickly bought the album and found much to love, starting with those two tracks and extending to little-known gems such as ‘Song About the Moon,’ ‘When Numbers Get Serious,’ ‘Think Too Much (b)’ and ‘Renee and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog After the War.’
The album’s closer, ‘The Late Great Johnny Ace,’ is a somber twist on ‘American Pie,’ in which Paul Simon mourns John Lennon through the prism of the 50s R&B singer who died of an accidental gunshot wound. When Simon played this song at the Central Park concert with Garfunkel, a man ran onstage and yelled “I gotta talk to you” before security detained him.
To be fair, Hearts and Bones also contains what’s arguably Simon’s worst moment on record — the embarrassing ‘Cars are Cars,’ in which Simon repeats that “cars are cars, all over the world” and explains in syncopated rhyme the many reasons that is so.
But if this is Paul Simon’s worst album, I’d call that a proud accomplishment.
She was married to someone
He was doggedly determined that he would get her
He was old, she was young
From time to time he’d tip his heart
But each time she withdrew
Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance
Everybody thinks it’s true
Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance
Everybody thinks it’s true
Well, eventually the boy and the girl get married
Sure enough, they have a son
And though they were both occupied with the child she carried
Disagreements had begun
And in a while, they fell apart
It wasn’t hard to do
Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance
Everybody thinks it’s true
Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance
Everybody thinks it’s true
Two disappointed believers
Two people playing the game
Negotiations and love songs
Are often mistaken for one and the same
Now the man and the woman, they remain in contact
Let us say it’s for the child
With disagreements about the meaning of a marriage contract
Conversations hard and wild
But from time to time, he makes her laugh
She cooks a meal of two
Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance
Everybody thinks it’s true
Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance
Everybody thinks it’s true
What is the point of this story?
What information pertains
The thought that life could be better
Is woven indelibly
Into our hearts
And our brains
Meet Me In Montauk 
Oh how I love this song. I’m starting this weekend’s reading in reverse, so I’ll have to go read yesterday’s post to find out why the reunion album collapsed. Regardless, I can’t imagine Garfunkel’s voice on this song – this is one of those songs that is so perfectly served by its singer. I guess the first time I heard this song was in that same concert, but it was on a compilation tape from you that it became a staple in my musical rotation. So thank you for that. It’s a beauty.
The chorus of this song has also provided fodder for more than a few discussions – what exactly does everybody think is true? Hmmm…..
I read something (maybe by Simon himself) that said everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance, but nobody likes the sound of a train rumbling by right in front of you.
So maybe a relationship that’s working is like that train in the distance, and one that isn’t is like the train right on top of you. We think the former is “true” until we arrive at the latter.
As I said yesterday, this song is simply wonderful and if this and “Hearts and Bones” were the only tracks on the album, it would still deserve recognition as a fine effort by Simon. And, as you said, there are a number of decent songs scattered throughout the record. I suppose it just takes one bad apple (“Cars are Cars”) to cause critical bashing–kinda like a bad ending to a movie can cause you to think less of the whole film.
As for the song’s meaning, or more particularly the chorus, I think Clay’s interpretation is fairly on the mark–this is basically a “grass is always greener” message pertaining to love and relationships. And Simon basically comes right out in the last verse and tells you what he means, but also noting that, even though we often get repeatedly fooled into thinking a new love will be “true” when it ultimately turns sour, we nevertheless have this never ending need, really a basic human instinct, to keep pursuing that ideal love, hoping that when that train comes closer, it won’t become loud, rumbling and annoying, but instead remain true.
Love this song and your interpretations.