Paul Simon: After all these years

When he started writing tunes for his new album, So Beautiful or So What, out April 12, Paul Simon surprised even himself when he had three songs with "love" in the title and five that included God, Christmas or both.

"That's probably the most pleasurable part: that it's a mystery and you don't know why you think it," says the 13-time Grammy winner, both as a solo artist and as an era-defining duo with Art Garfunkel.

When he's not on tour — as he will be throughout the summer — Simon makes his home in Connecticut with his wife, fellow musician Edie Brickell (of New Bohemians fame) and their three children: sons Adrian, 18, and Gabriel, 12, and daughter Lulu, who turns 16 this month.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member checked in from his New England home to talk about everything from music to turning 70 in October:

Song origins. For Simon, it all starts with an opening line. "I don't actually plan any of the songs I write. I just follow the path and see where it leads me."

American Idol. Simon enjoys hearing younger musicians interpret his songs, but prefers they dig a little deeper into his catalog. "Occasionally, I'll hear some indie band do a version of one of my songs that nobody does," he says. "That shows they were listening and didn't take the first choice."

Young influences. Simon's kids keep him up to date on current music — he likes young English singer James Blake and recent Grammy winner Arcade Fire. Left to his own devices, Simon tends toward music from the 1950s to the '80s, "like classic country, '50s rock, blues, that kind of stuff."

When he feels youngest. "It isn't looking in the mirror, I'll tell you that," Simon says, laughing. "When I'm playing music, I don't feel any age at all."