Paul Simon: Hearts And Bones - 1983
From 1983, this was Paul Simon’s least successful album, which was somewhat of a travesty, as far as I am concerned, because there are some really good songs on it. It was a personal collection of songs related to the rather typically educated-American problem of reaching a perceived middle-age and still dealing with new love and romance. Simon incorporated several contemporary dance-ish beats into the album too, as well as his more traditional sounds of doo-wop.
Allergies, after a quiet, slow start, breaks out into a rhythmic, staccato chunky number containing many of those politely cynical but wryly amusing Simon lyrics. The song has some fine horn breaks too and is a really good, underrated Simon song. Check out that quirky guitar solo too. Even more archetypal Simon is the subtle strains of Hearts And Bones with its quiet melody and pre-Rhythm Of The Saints lyrics, particularly the first verse. Once again, it is a most impressive and atmospheric song. It ends with the sort of tribal drum sound that Simon would use a lot by the end of the decade.
Simon has always liked a bit of lyrical fun and we get some here on When Numbers Get Serious. It is a chunky, attractive number with gentle reggae hints and a throwback feel to those Caribbean-influenced hits of the early seventies like Mother And Child Reunion and Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard.
Think Too Much (B) has an infectious rhythm, sheep-goat noises and a fetching vocal from Simon. Again, it is a pre-cursor to the Rhythm Of The Saints material. The melodious Song About The Moon is more typical of mid-seventies Simon fare. The second part of Think Too Much (A) (curiously A comes after B) is even more upbeat, with a thumping drum beat, some skanking-funky guitars and a great, deep bass line.
Train In The Distance has some homage paid to Simon’s beloved doo-wop at the beginning, before it becomes a familiar gentle Simon song with a killer hook line in “everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance...”. He’s right, we do. Nice saxophone at the end, too.
Rene And Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After The War is one of my favourite song titles, and the song is duly pictorial in its lovely images and plaintive delivery. It is a truly fine song. I love the bit where Simon changes the lyrics to “apres la guerre...”.
Cars Are Cars ups the tempo on a quirky, amusing number. The album closes with a moving, evocative tribute to John Lennon in The Late Great Johnny Ace. The lyrics are typically cryptic at times but as with many of Simon’s songs, it doesn’t matter. I love the last line about drinking with a stranger in a bar on the night Lennon died. Overall, for me, this was a good album and any criticism it received was quite unfair.
