tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post541294027628440276..comments2024-03-24T12:25:13.240-07:00Comments on Every Single Paul Simon Song*: That's Why God Made the MoviesAnother Paulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17490204558031016152noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-4207882046028531452023-10-01T20:31:20.565-07:002023-10-01T20:31:20.565-07:00Richard-- Thanks for doing the investigative repor...Richard-- Thanks for doing the investigative reporting on this one! The Beach Boys hit with Kokomo as late as 1988, after Graceland, so I guess I should not have assumed they stopped recording and releasing new material. For all I know, they still are.<br />As for whether this information about "...Radio" means that, conversely, the Beach Boys were influenced by Simon's title... I doubt it. The Simon song is obscure and obtuse, while the Beach Boys' song is a nostalgia piece. And I don't hear a line in the Beach Boys' song referencing Simon or the movie.<br />Thanks again.Another Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17490204558031016152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-73400547406986696012023-09-24T21:55:49.006-07:002023-09-24T21:55:49.006-07:00Near as I can tell the Beach Boys' "That&...Near as I can tell the Beach Boys' "That's Why God Made the Radio" was written in the late 90s and wasn't released until 2012... nigh on two decades after Paul Simon's 1980 release of "That's Why God Made the Movies" ...Richard Ewinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09339718829457133353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-86803533047550763982018-03-05T19:23:31.580-08:002018-03-05T19:23:31.580-08:00rich-- Thanks again for your kind words, and best ...rich-- Thanks again for your kind words, and best wishes to you.Another Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17490204558031016152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-29727350213631194372018-03-05T19:22:17.739-08:002018-03-05T19:22:17.739-08:00rich-- It's true that we turn to movies lookin...rich-- It's true that we turn to movies looking for many of the same things we ask of a parent. However, many protagonists-- especially Disney ones-- don't have mothers, and so must make their own way. So perhaps movies show us how to do that, as well. Another Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17490204558031016152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-56707848154616699592018-02-25T16:04:18.452-08:002018-02-25T16:04:18.452-08:00Another Paul: Sorry. I didn't see your post ab...Another Paul: Sorry. I didn't see your post above before I posted again. I appreciate very much your post. richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11780501598341184606noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-40105594169435968482018-02-25T16:00:42.672-08:002018-02-25T16:00:42.672-08:00I want to say I re-read your review, I find it ver...I want to say I re-read your review, I find it very very thoughtful and insightful, and I think our views are much closer than I first thought. Yours are extremely eloquent and considered. <br />Thank you very much. richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11780501598341184606noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-4607369743955569692018-02-25T15:56:22.313-08:002018-02-25T15:56:22.313-08:00I hadn't finished my last comment, even though...I hadn't finished my last comment, even though it was long. The second verse suggests that you may be right about an actual death, though I took it as symbolic but either way it's an abandonment leaving him with a core abandonment heart wound. The middle I take to be his singing/talking to every woman take me to your loving breasts (like my mother never did) and don't leave me (like my mother did) for some other man - may be his child brain trying to "make sense" of the reason for his mother's abandonment - and then he sings say you'll love me just the way I am (which his mother didn't do) say you love me now say you will just say you will- like a little kid demanding ir cuddling up to his mommy. So the middle verse is his hope, salvation. <br />Then the last verse repeats the original abandonment and says since that day I've paid my way - that 4 word phrase shows how much and long he has suffered - boy of the wild - no nourishment, human contact, community, etc., raised by wolves, hungry. And that's why God made the movies - because it's an escape from his pain, overstimulation, and entry into a world where people do have mothers who are larger than life or have abandoning mothers with whom he can identify. richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11780501598341184606noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-87208532715457249222018-02-25T15:34:32.424-08:002018-02-25T15:34:32.424-08:00Rich-- Thank you so much for your incredibly brave...Rich-- Thank you so much for your incredibly brave honesty. Yes, we all use the movie to escape reality, and abandonment is sadly a too-common reality. But the movie is always there with its comforting happy ending. (I deleted your other comment when I realized the ending had been cut off.) Another Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17490204558031016152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-20629085373455105212018-02-23T15:20:27.677-08:002018-02-23T15:20:27.677-08:00I love this song. When I first heard it I knew wha...I love this song. When I first heard it I knew what it meant for me as I have always sought deeply for answers in my life and early childhood and was once told by my aunt that they had to change my blood after I was born. I had tremendous trouble as a sex addict and saw a lot of pornographic movies and am very sensitive to the fact that movies are made to include extremely sexually stimulating women and situations (so I say in my exaggerated knowing way at times that they are by sex addicts for sex addicts knowing that's my own personal exaggeration). I see the song not as a literal death on the birth table (bed) but rather an abandonment- which is the essential element of forming an addict because a newborn needs his/her mother for survival, nourishment, warmth, comfort, etc. The mother doesn't die in the song: The newborn says "where you going, ma? I'm just born!!! She says she'll only be gone for a while, my mother liked to leave in style"! Which is almost worse than an actual death. She is telling the newborn I don't want you! I'd rather leave - and in style! And THAT'S why God made the movies - because he can't take the unbearable pain of his mother's abandonment- not only that - I just realized this, she tells him that right to his face at birth whereas most mothers are mixed or conceal feelings about abandonment. So for me and my background I focus on the sexual stimulation/orientation part of the movies, but either as you say it's to relieve the pain. I think God is making the movies because the whole experience is so all encompassing. <br />Thanks for reading and your writing. richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11780501598341184606noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-52236372717167338212018-02-23T15:17:56.418-08:002018-02-23T15:17:56.418-08:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11780501598341184606noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-70585451563984957862017-03-13T18:11:26.131-07:002017-03-13T18:11:26.131-07:00Mike-- Thanks for the catch! The Simon movie came ...Mike-- Thanks for the catch! The Simon movie came out in 1980, and the Beach Boys song could easily have been released before then. As to why he changed it to "movie," well, this was Simon's first stab at a movie. Another Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17490204558031016152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-6807470658294822612017-03-12T12:03:21.363-07:002017-03-12T12:03:21.363-07:00I only found out today that the Beach Boys had a s...I only found out today that the Beach Boys had a song called "That's Why God Made the Radio". The refrain and title of the Paul Simon song <i>has</i> to be an allusion to that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAmk-Wk2pNAMike Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06039663158335543317noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-77550727788844859332016-05-09T17:12:04.400-07:002016-05-09T17:12:04.400-07:00Mark-- Thanks. I think there is just so much brain...Mark-- Thanks. I think there is just so much brain-space anyone can give to this or that singer, so for so many, if they are given any thought at all, it's just to their "Greatest Hits." But for a songwriter like Simon, every song is worth seeking out, as you say.Another Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17490204558031016152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7824464142604361129.post-3639100251351169712016-05-06T15:36:55.275-07:002016-05-06T15:36:55.275-07:00well thought and put on such an underrated song an...well thought and put on such an underrated song and <br /><br />albumAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06712112013789144386noreply@blogger.com