Paul Simon waited six years between You’re the One and his next studio release, 2006’s Surprise.
But he wasn’t slacking off. In 2003, Simon reunited with Garfunkel for a memorable performance of ‘The Sounds of Silence’ at the Grammys. That appearance led to a reunion tour that spanned two years and included runs in the U.S. and Europe. The duo would go on to perform together several more times over the next seven years.
When he did return to the studio, Simon paired up with producer Brian Eno to introduce a new sound to his repertoire. The resulting album, Surprise, received much critical acclaim for its foray into electronic soundscapes without abandoning Simon’s signature sensibility.
This album has a strange amnesiac effect on me. Every time I revisit it, I marvel at how good it is — how intricately composed and impeccably performed. But I don’t find myself reaching for it again unless I have to (for purposes of this blog).
That’s happening to me again, as I offer up the marvelous second track, ‘Everything About It Is a Love Song,’ and wonder why this is probably the Paul Simon album I listen to the least.
(Note: I have no idea what the creator of this YouTube video was going for… apparently he subscribes to the notion that any song can be made better by playing it over pictures of really hot women. Who am I to argue?)
Of words in a melody line
I took a walk along the riverbank of my imagination
Golden clouds were shuffling in the sunshine
But if I ever get back to the twentieth century
Guess I’ll have to pay off some debts
Open the book of my vanishing memory
With its catalog of regrets
Stand up for the deeds I did, and those I didn’t do
Sit down, shut up, think about God
And wait for the hour of my rescue
We don’t mean to mess things up, but mess them up we do
And then it’s “Oh, I’m sorry”
Here’s a smiling photograph of love when it was new
At a birthday party
Make a wish and close your eyes
Surprise, surprise, surprise
Early December, and brown as a sparrow
Frost creeping over the pond
I shoot a thought into the future, and it flies like an arrow
Through my lifetime, and beyond
If I ever come back as a tree, or a crow
Or even the windblown dust
Find me on the ancient road
In the song when the wires are hushed
Hurry on and remember me, as I’ll remember you
Far above the golden clouds, the darkness vibrates
The earth is blue
And everything about it is a love song
Everything about it
Everything about it is a love song
Everything about it
Everything about it is a love song
Meet Me In Montauk 
I haven’t reached for this album either. Did he even do anything from this album at the recent concert we saw?
This is another one that deserved, I think, another listen. However, while I find today’s song interesting in one sense, it seems to lack any hook whatsoever. Sometimes of late Simon’s writing can get just a bit too amorphous. and maybe that is what keeps us from returning.
He ignored this album (as well as You’re the One and Capeman) in the concert.