'Writing words to express what the music is saying'

 

“I suppose an artist takes theelements of his life and rearranges them and then has them perceived by othersas though they were the elements of their lives.” – Paul Simon
Simon, born in October of 1941, has been named by Rolling StoneMagazine as one of the 100 greatest musicians who ever lived.  That distinction followed his being named one ofthe 100 greatest songwriters, the first recipient of the Library ofCongress’s Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, and Time Magazine’s naming him “100 People Who Shaped TheWorld.”   Not too bad for the son ofimmigrant parents who grew up playing stickball in New York City streets.  Simon's musical career began at age 11 whenhe and neighbor Art Garfunkel first performed together.  By age 12 they had “a neighborhood hit” withhis song “The Girl for Me” (the only song written by an 11-year-old to be enshrinedin the Library of Congress).
Thatled to hundreds more songs – among them such multiple Grammy Award winners and mega-hits as “Sounds of Silence,” “Mrs. Robinson,” “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary &Thyme,” “Homeward Bound,” and, of course, “Bridge Over Troubled Water."   Healso wrote a number of hit songs for other artists.
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Simon’spoignant written words accompany some of the most memorable music ever written.  His are the words of our times and places thatwill resonate with us for generations to come.  He told an interviewer that writing the right words is “…like a puzzle …to express what the music is saying.”