tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post3730483075626764360..comments2024-03-24T12:25:13.240-07:00Comments on Every Single Paul Simon Song*: Can't Run ButAnother Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17490204558031016152noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-29168753613006745912018-10-28T16:04:58.114-07:002018-10-28T16:04:58.114-07:00Mr. Phipps-- Thank you. I suppose if Simon can be-...Mr. Phipps-- Thank you. I suppose if Simon can be-- to borrow a phrase from him-- "still creative after all these years," it's the least I can do to try to keep up! And he may give us another album yet; he has only said that he is retiring from touring... nothing else. He has a restless mind that will never stop producing new ideas. I also saw the Eagles recently, and they reproduced their hits to sound the way they did in the 1970s. Nothing against Henley Walsh & Co., but I couldn't see Simon being content to do that.<br />I have to admit that Can't Run But is not my favorite Simon song, personally. I find the Chernobyl reference dated, for one thing, and I find the melody unsettling (perhaps that was its intention). But Simon loves it, and even performed it on SNL, so there must be something to it. <br />I like many other songs on this album better; I think Cool Cool River (also unsettling) has, line for line, the best lyrics be ever put in one song. (I mention just so that people don't think I only go in for the "pretty ones" like Born at the Right Time or Spirit Voices.)<br />I caught the farewell tour in Chicago, but I had to wait until early October to get the CD, since my mother insisted she get it for me for my birthday! <br />I don't know that I disliked the original arrangements so much I felt that they were begging for makeovers, but Blue Light is certainly a case study in "If I knew then what I know now..."Another Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17490204558031016152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-34525764568680176702018-10-26T00:20:40.451-07:002018-10-26T00:20:40.451-07:00I definitely see the relation to Poe -- good obser...I definitely see the relation to Poe -- good observation!<br /><br />I had the album the day it came out, and I heard the new arrangement of it the night it was released on his VEVO. Before that, I was privileged enough to hear him preform it live in Seattle during his Farewell tour, which was the show of a lifetime. I've seen well over a hundred live music performances, and I can say without doubt that his was my favorite.<br /><br />Out of the tracks that are on In The Blue Light, I think this song is my favorite (The Teacher being a close second.) Some of the tracks are still taking time to get used to, such as Rene And Georgette which I do not care for so much. . . The original is just so good!<br /><br />Anyways, I definitely enjoyed this project, but I can't help but hope for one more proper album, more akin to So Beautiful or Stranger. I loved those albums a great deal, and have grown to enjoy the late-Simon work almost as much as his early stuff. Good to see you're still running the blog and keeping things up to date. As before, love readingJ. M. Phippshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12667309796159387074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-26940069014212446772018-08-26T19:28:39.519-07:002018-08-26T19:28:39.519-07:00J.M. Phipps-- Thanks for the comment, and the comp...J.M. Phipps-- Thanks for the comment, and the compliment. Yes, it is an eerie line, worthy of Edgar Allan Poe. You could see someone falling asleep after a late meal, with all that's left on the table being empty bottles of booze and picked-clean bones... It also calls to mind imagery from a foxhole to a pirate ship.<br />If you love this song, get his new album, In the Blue Light. There is a radical and fascinating new arrangement to this song on it; Simon debuted it during his Farewell tour. Another Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17490204558031016152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-70038369766081095742018-08-24T17:40:37.646-07:002018-08-24T17:40:37.646-07:00I always loved the line "In the bottles and t...I always loved the line "In the bottles and the bones of the night" -- it seems so ominous, especially as it follows "I had a dream about us"<br /><br />It's as if he had some kind of revelation, born from the bottles and the bones -- the bottles perhaps symbolizing denial, the bones, decay. Combined with the imagery of "the night" it makes it seem all the more as though our narrator has reached some dark and final conclusion about whoever "us" is. Though it is only a dream, it seems to offer understanding and closure. . .<br /><br />Shortly after, he recounts the feeling of the "love bite" which (as you observe) does not sound friendly. Love this song to pieces, thanks for the analysis -- I love reading your blog. J. M. Phippshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12667309796159387074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-58514747713251980212013-08-26T19:13:24.908-07:002013-08-26T19:13:24.908-07:00I can accept the "trying too hard" readi...I can accept the "trying too hard" reading of the man's behavior-- maybe he is trying to downplay his age. But "in advance" means "before," so her laughter is about something that is to happen, not something happening at the moment.Another Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17490204558031016152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-41671372199355164242013-08-24T02:33:12.664-07:002013-08-24T02:33:12.664-07:00Hmm. Everything fits my readings except the couple...Hmm. Everything fits my readings except the couple. I've always read the description as one of pretense. He's wearing a jacket and jeans--trying too hard to be hip--and failing. Likewise, she's laughing in advance because her mirth is manufactured. She's not amused by him, but she wants him to believe she is (or wants onlookers to believe she finds him amusing). Prince Valianthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09864898286728172148noreply@blogger.com