Sunday, January 31, 2010

Sunday Sounds: Two from Paul Simon

A beautiful morning in Tennessee...snow still on the ground, sun shining, and a never-ending bird show out my dining room window. A perfect day for Sunday Sounds!

Today...two more from Paul Simon. These songs are from the album, "You're The One." Reviews for this album were all over the place. Some loved it..some hated it...some wondered what Paul was smoking. I fall into the love it camp, lock, stock, and barrel.

Up first is "Old," a birthday song of the first order. Next is "Pigs, Sheep, and Wolves." Listen to that one carefully, and I'd be really interested in your thoughts about the story.

Enjoy yourself...and thanks for letting me share the music I love. If you like what you hear, you can buy "You're The One" here.



Old

The first time I heard "Peggy Sue"
I was 12 years old
Russians up in rocket ships
and the war was cold
now many wars have come and gone
Genocide still goes on
Buddy Holly still goes on
but his catalog was sold

First time i smoked
guess what - paranoid
First time I heard "Satisfaction"
I was young and unemployed
Down the decades every year
Summer leaves and my birthday's here
And all my friends stand up and cheer
And say man you're old
Getting old
Old
Getting old

We celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day
And Buddah found Nirvana along the Lotus Way
About 1,500 years ago the messenger Mohammed spoke
And his wisdom like a river flowed
Through hills of gold
Wisdom is old
The Koran is old
The Bible is old
Greatest story ever told

Disagreements?
Work 'em out

The human race walked the Earth for 2.7 million
And we estimate the universe about 13-14 billion
When all these numbers tumble into your imagination
Consider that the Lord was there before creation
God is old
We're not old
God is old
He made the mold

Take your clothes off
Adam and Eve

Pigs, Sheep, and Wolves


Big and fat
Pig's supposed to look like that
Barnyard thug
Sleeps on straw and calls it a rug
Yeah that's a rug, ok
He's walking down the street
And nobody's gonna argue with him
He's a half-a-ton of pig meat

Up in the hills above the farm
Lives a pack of wolves
Never did no harm
Sleep all day
Hunt till four
Maybe catch a couple of rodents
You know a carnivore

Sheep in the meadow
Nibbling on some clover
One of the sheep just wanders over
Sits by a rock
Separated from the flock
He's just sitting by a rock

Where'd he go? I don't know
Well he was here a minute ago
I don't know
Sheep's dead
Got a gash as big as a wolf's head
Oh god
Big and fat
Pig's supposed to look like that
Wallowing in lanolin
He's rubbing it into his pigskin
Police are going crazy
Sayin' let's get him
Let's get that wolf
Let's get him
Let's get that wolf
Let's get him
Let's kill him, let's get him
Let's kill him

Court-appointed lawyer wasn't very bright
Maybe he was bright
Maybe he just had a late night
Yeah it was just a late night
And he files some feeble appeal
And the governor says forget it
It's a done deal
It's election, i don't care, election
Let's give that wolf a lethal injection
Let's get him, let's get him,
Let's kill him, let's get him
Let's kill him, let's get him, kill him
Let's get him and kill him

Whew, slow
Here comes the media
With their camera
Asking everybodys opinion


About pigs, sheep and wolves

Big and fat
Pig's supposed to laugh like that
This is hilarious
What a great time
I'm the pig who committed
The perfect crime

All around the world
France, Scandinavia
There's candle light vigils
Protesting this behavior
It s animal behavior
Animal behavior
Its pigs, sheep and wolves
Pigs, sheep and wolves
Pigs, sheep and wolves
It's animal behavior
It's pigs, sheep and wolves

4 comments:

  1. LOL .. ummm yaaaaa .. our Brother Paul was a'smokin somethin'.

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  2. Anonymous3:13 PM

    Not so sure he was smokin' anything. How many times have we seen the set up where those who are innocent (the sheep) pay the price, some other (the wolf) gets blamed for the crime simply because "well, they're equipped to to do it and that's what they do", while the person who really profits (the pig) sits there enjoying his take (ie, the lanolin) from the kill while watching someone else get blamed for it?

    I think there's plenty of situations that this applies. The fact that France and Scandanavia are mentioned as protesting makes the think that it is human rights related. Whatever it is, it's something a liberal country would complain about and our political system mussed it all up. What year was it written? That could give a clue.

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  3. Anonymous3:13 PM

    By the way, I loved 'Old'. First time I've ever heard that one. Very astute. I love Paul Simon!

    ReplyDelete
  4. @IndigoSatin Haha! You're not the first person to think that, Sis!

    @Sitara Haye I thought you might like these songs...and I agree with your assessment of 'Pigs, Sheep, and Wolves.' I loved it the first time I heard it. It's scathing on a lot of fronts. I'd like to know if he's speaking about specific issues or if it's a general indictment of all the times we've seen the scene you and he describe so aptly. The France and Scandanavia connection does point to human rights. I'll check the date in the liner notes. And yeah, I really liked 'Old,' too...I find myself singing it every year from the middle of October until after my birthday. Great song!

    ReplyDelete

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