Tag Archives: So Beautiful Or So What

by

Song of the Day #2,302: ‘Love is Eternal Sacred Light’ – Paul Simon

so_beautiful_so_what

Best Albums of the 10s So Far
#15 – Paul Simon – So Beautiful Or So What

 
Continuing my countdown of the best albums of the decade so far, I arrive at Paul Simon’s 2011 comeback record, So Beautiful Or So What.

Simon released only two album in the 00’s: You’re the One in 2000 and Surprise in 2006. The former was half-great and the latter a general disappointment. Before those records, it’s just 1997’s Broadway experiment Songs from the Capeman and the sublime Rhythm of the Saints way back in 1990.

Not very prolific, Mr. Simon.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #1,696: ‘Questions For the Angels’ – Paul Simon

so_beautiful_so_whatToday’s random SOTD comes from Paul Simon’s wonderful 2011 album So Beautiful Or So What.

‘Questions For the Angels’ is the quietest and probably the least ambitious song on the album, and it’s a safe bet that it’s the first song to feature both Jay-Z and a crying zebra.

Actually, Kanye West probably got there first.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #1,372: ‘Dazzling Blue’ – Paul Simon

I’ve written several times that I consider Paul Simon’s most recent album, last year’s So Beautiful Or So What, one of his best ever — an equal of The Rhythm of the Saints and withing shouting distance of Graceland.

That’s certainly high praise, the sort of thing that is sometimes said during the blush of excitement that accompanies a new album release. Months later you’ll return to the same record and enjoy it but not to the degree you’d advertised.

With this album, however, that hasn’t been the case.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #1,281: ‘Love and Blessings’ – Paul Simon

Closing out my Paul Simon Weekends is another song from the excellent So Beautiful Or So What. ‘Love and Blessings’ is the album’s penultimate track and one that crept up on me, going initially unnoticed before emerging as one of my favorites.

I was working in the yard one day, listening to the album on headphones, when a line toward the end of this song struck me: “Maple trees just a little but duller than the memory of the year before.”

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #1,280: ‘Rewrite’ – Paul Simon

I have reached my 18th and final installment of Paul Simon Weekends — four and a half months of what I consider some of the finest songwriting ever committed to tape.

It’s fitting that Simon goes out on a high note, with his latest album, So Beautiful Or So What, receiving some of the best reviews of his career. “Best since Graceland” is the popular refrain for those discussing this album, and I tend to agree, though it’s easier and less controversial to say “best since Rhythm of the Saints.”

Continue reading →