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A lifelong native of the Northeast, legendary singer-songwriter Paul Simon is a little bit more accustomed to the weather up there than his wife, Texas native and fellow musician Edie Brickell.
His “internal thermostat” is just fine for living in Connecticut. His spouse’s? Not so much. “She can’t readjust,” Simon says.
Before he enjoys another fall in New England, Simon hits the road for a U.S. tour through the summer, playing old hits as well as songs from his newest record, So Beautiful or So What, in stores April 12.
We talked with Simon about his new album, sports and staying current in today’s music world:
There are three songs on your new CD with “love” in the title. Were you in that kind of mood?
I don’t actually plan any of the songs I write. I try to find an interesting opening line, and then I just follow the path and see where it leads me. I don’t know where it ends – sometimes it’ll head into one direction and I’ll go along and then I’ll change directions as if the song had broken into a fork in the road and I was following two different paths at once. A lot of them come to the point really just at the end when it’s time for me to say what the story is about or the song is about. My general mood, I really don’t know. Once I get writing, I’m in a good mood. It’s the beginning when things are very slow that I get a mild worry that things are too slow or I won’t think of anything.
Last year’s American Idol winner Lee DeWyze did a popular version of “The Boxer.” Do you enjoy hearing younger musicians interpret your songs?
Generally speaking, I would say sure – not that I always like it. I like to hear people sing my songs, but those really old songs, the really famous songs from Simon & Garfunkel, that’s a different story than what I’ve been writing since then. But when people sing somewhat obscure songs of mine, I like that. They went to some song that might have been a really good song but was never a really popular song, wasn’t a hit, but was still a good song. Most songwriters will tell you that they have a lot of songs they thought were really good that never caught the public’s fancy.
Let’s say you were 20 or 21 again. Do you feel you’d have the same success in today’s music industry?
I have no idea. I have no idea if I were 20 years old if I would do this again. Assuming that I would – and actually I do think I would, as it seems to be something I really like – if you’re so interested in something that you could stay with it for hours and hours and hours without being bored and still find you’re discovering things, you have a pretty good chance of being able to make a career out of whatever it is that fascinates you to that degree. Whether you have the kind of success that I had, I doubt it. That was the time that I came of age in – there was an enormous amount of interest in popular music and it was a cultural bellwether. That’s not the case now. There may be a big interest in popular music, but it’s not at the same level of intensity and it’s not at the same level of experimentation. It’s more corporate, really.
You’re a big New York Yankees fan. How are they going to do this year?
They’ll do well because it’s a really good team, but the Red Sox improved their team a lot. So did Baltimore. They’re in a tough division, but they’re really good. They always have the ability to pick up some player in the middle of the season. You can’t tell from the opening-day roster what’s going to happen by the middle of the season. Texas wouldn’t have been in the World Series if they hadn’t picked up Cliff Lee last year, and I think the Yankees would have won the World Series if they had picked up Cliff Lee. The truth is, I just like baseball. Yeah, I’m a Yankee fan but I don’t get upset if the Yankees don’t win. I just like to go to as many games as I can and watch any good team.
Do your kids have favorite Paul Simon songs or a favorite era?
Adrian, my oldest son with Edie, seems to have gone through the whole body of work. He just reviewed everything I did, from Simon & Garfunkel up to the present. His favorite album is The Capeman.
Do you enjoy being a parent in your 60s? Do you connect different with your kids than you had previously?
Yes, but I don’t mean it in the sense that it’s better or worse. I’m different and they’re different. It’s different than the first time that I was a parent, but I was always thrilled with it. I always got enormous pleasure from the kids.
You turn 70 this fall. Do you feel age at this point?
Conceptually, I do. Physically I don’t. Of course, I’m aware the clock is ticking and there’s not as many years in front of me. But otherwise, I enjoy life and I enjoy my work and I don’t feel any physical limitations. I’m healthy. You go ahead and live the best you can.
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