3 Eternal Paul Simon Solo Songs That Will Play Forever

To many, Paul Simon is synonymous with his duo Simon & Garfunkel, which he co-founded with his childhood friend Art Garfunkel. But Simon didn’t spend the entirety of his music career singing harmonies with his partner. No, he also has enjoyed an award-winning and very distinguished solo career all on his own.

Here below, we wanted to explore three songs from Simon that have also risen to the top of the crop. A trio of tracks that are very much a part of the musical zeitgeist. Indeed, these are three eternal Paul Simon solo songs that will play forever.

[RELATED: Listen to Paul Simon’s New Duet with Wife Edie Brickell, “Bad Dream”]

“Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” from Graceland (1986)

In a way, Paul Simon is as much an ethnomusicologist as he is a songwriter and performer. And perhaps the biggest and most pronounced evidence of this is his iconic song “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes.” While this track has one of the most famous bass breakdowns in popular music history, it was also created after Simon went on a trip to South Africa to study and absorb the songs and sounds of the region. The song at its core is one about financial disparity, something he surely saw a lot of on his visit. And on the song, Simon sings,

She’s a rich girl
She don’t try to hide it
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes
He’s a poor boy
Empty as a pocket
Empty as a pocket with nothing to lose

“Still Crazy After All These Years” from Still Crazy After All These Years (1975)

Paul Simon has a long history with Saturday Night Live and this is a song he’s performed on the show three times—once in 1975 during the show’s first season, then again in 1976, and during its 40th anniversary in 2015. The song is about how time ages us all but in the end, we’re still the same goofy, silly, crazy people we always have been. Especially when it comes to matters of the heart. Indeed, on the iconic offering, Simon sings,

I met my old lover on the street last night
She seemed so glad to see me, I just smiled
And we talked about some old times, and we drank ourselves some beers
Still crazy after all these years
Oh, still crazy after all these years

I’m not the kind of man who tends to socialize
I seem to lean on old familiar ways
And I ain’t no fool for love songs that whisper in my ears
Still crazy after all these years
Oh, still crazy after all these years

“Graceland” from Graceland (1986)

Speaking of both matters of the heart and trips to foreign places, this song was inspired by a trip Simon took after his marriage to actress Carrie Fisher ended. This Grammy Award-winning song features vocals by the The Everly Brothers and supporting musicianship by South African artists. And on the track, Simon sings about departure—specifically going to Graceland, which is of course a famous place thanks to its relationship to Elvis but can also be a place where grace is literally prized. Simon must have needed that idea when his heart was broken. And on it, he sings,

The Mississippi Delta
Was shining like a national guitar
I am following the river
Down the highway
Through the cradle of the Civil War

I’m going to Graceland, Graceland
Memphis, Tennessee
I’m going to Graceland
Poor boys and pilgrims with families
And we are going to Graceland

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