List item: Listen to the 1000 Most Acclaimed Albums
Progress: 313/1000
Title: Paul Simon
Artist: Paul Simon
Year: 1972
As we are nearing the first anniversary of the UK heading into COVID-19 lockdown, the last you really want to hear on an album is “Rosie, queen of Corona”. Sure this lyric in ‘Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard’, may refer to a neighbourhood in Queens, New York – but wow is that a bit triggering to hear. The song might be good, but wow I that was a bit of a line that came out of left field.
This is the first time since switching lists (where I didn’t import a review from my previous blog) that I am continuing a discography. Last time was Graceland and that was a post I made seven years ago – about an album that was released 14 years later. These albums are extremely different, with this self-titled being a more straight folk affair – probably due to this being his second album since he went solo.
However, this isn’t a complete folk album. The album opener, ‘Mother and Child Reunion’, is heavily influenced by reggae – something that was pretty unique at the time for a white singer. It’s definitely a sign of things to come that Paul Simon would eventually become this big embracer of world music. The rest of the album, not so much, but it is an interesting indicator.
I know from talking with my husband, that this was an album that hit me a bit more than him. Then again, I am someone who leans more strongly to folk music – especially when I need something calming in the background as something more stressful is happening at work. I do like a good piece of folk music for that.