Paul Simon

[fox69]

"The Obvious Child"

"The Obvious Child"



I'm accustomed to a smooth ride
Or maybe I'm a dog who's lost its bite
I don't expect to be treated like a fool no more
I don't expect to sleep through the night
Some people say a lie's a lie's a lie
But I say why
Why deny the obvious child?
Why deny the obvious child?

And in remembering a road sign
I am remembering a girl when I was young
And we said These songs are true
These days are ours
These tears are free
And hey
The cross is in the ballpark
The cross is in the ballpark

We had a lot of fun
We had a lot of money
We had a little son and we thought we'd call him Sonny
Sonny gets married and moves away
Sonny has a baby and bills to pay
Sonny gets sunnier
Day by day by day by day

I've been waking up at sunrise
I've been following the light across my room
I watch the night receive the room of my day
Some people say the sky is just the sky
But I say
Why deny the obvious child?
Why deny the obvious child?

Sonny sits by his window and thinks to himself
How it's strange that some rooms are like cages
Sonny's yearbook from high school
Is down from the shelf
And he idly thumbs through the pages
Some have died
Some have fled from themselves
Or struggled from here to get there
Sonny wanders beyond his interior walls
Runs his hand through his thinning brown hair

Well I'm accustomed to a smoother ride
Maybe I'm a dog that's lost his bite
I don't expect to be treated like a fool no more
I don't expect to sleep the night
Some people say a lie is just a lie
But I say the cross is in the ballpark
Why deny the obvious child?

 

[fox69]

"The Rhythm Of The Saints"

"The Rhythm Of The Saints"



If I have weaknesses
Don't let them blind me
Or camouflage all I am wary of
I could be sailing in seizures of laughter
Or crawling out from under the heel of love
Do my prayers remain unanswered
Like a beggar at your sleeve
Olodumare is smiling in heaven
Smiling in heaven I do believe

Reach in the darkness
A reach in the dark
Reach in the darkness
A reach in the dark
To overcome an obstacle or an enemy
To glide away from the razor or a knife
To overcome an obstacle or an enemy
To dominate the impossible in your life

Always a stranger when strange isn't fashionable
And fashion is rich people waving at the door
Or it's a dealer in drugs or in passion
Lies of a nature we've heard before
Do my prayers remain unanswered
Like a beggar at your sleeve
Balalu-aye spins on his crutches
Says leave if you want
If you want to leave

Reach in the darkness
A reach in the dark
A reach in the darkness
Reach in the dark
To overcome an obstacle or an enemy
To glide away from the razor or a knife
To overcome an obstacle or an enemy
To dominate the impossible in your life
Reach in the darkness
A reach in the dark
Reach in the darkness
A reach in the dark
To overcome an obstacle or an enemy
To dominate the impossible in your life
Reach in the darkness
A reach in the dark

 

[fox69]

"The Side Of A Hill"

"The Side Of A Hill"



On the side of a hill in a land called 'Somewhere'
A little boy lies asleep in the earth
While down in the valley a cruel war rages
And people forget what a child's life is worth

On the side of a hill, a little cloud weeps
And waters the grave with its silent tears
While a soldier cleans and polishes a gun
That ended a life at the age of seven years

And the war rages on in the land called 'Somewhere'
And generals order their men to kill
And to fight for a cause they've long ago forgotten
While the little cloud weeps on the side of a hill

 

[fox69]

"The Sound Of Silence"

"The Sound Of Silence"



Hello darkness, my old friend, I've come with talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping, left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain, still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone, narrow streets of cobblestone
Neath the halo of a streetlamp, I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light, split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw, ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking, people hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never shared, and no one dared
To stir the sound of silence

Fool, said I, you do not know, silence, like a cancer, grows
Hear my words and I might teach you, take my arms then I might reach you
But my words, like silent raindrops fell, and echoed in the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed to the neon god they'd made
And the sign flashed its warning in the words that it was forming
And the sign said the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls, and whispered in the sounds of silence

 

[fox69]

"The Teacher"

"The Teacher"



There once was a teacher of great renown
Whose words were like the tablets of stone
Because it's easier to learn than unlearn
Because we've passed the point of no return
Gather your goods and follow me
Or you will surely die

I was only a child of the city
My parents were children of immigrant stock
So we followed as followers go
Over a mountain with a napkin of snow
And ate the berries and roots
That grown along the timberline
Deeper and deeper the dreamer of love
Sleep on a quilt of stars

It's cold
Sometimes you can't catch your breath
It's so cold

Time and abundance thickened his step
So the teacher divided in two
One half ate the forest and fields
The other half sucked all the moisture from the clouds
And we, we were amazed at the power of his appetite

Deeper and deeper the dreamer of love
Sleeps on a quilt of stars

Sometimes we don't know who we are
Sometimes force overpowers us and we cry
My teacher carry me home
Carry me home my teacher
Carry me home
Carry me home my teacher
Carry me home

 

[fox69]

"The Vampires"

"The Vampires"


[HERNANDEZ]
Well, did you bring me my money,
My cab fare
My new shoes?
I got expenses, you know
Where's my weekly dues?

[SAL]
I ain't giving you my fucking money.

[HERNANDEZ]
Oye, mother fucker, where's this jibaro from?
You go when I say.

I call, you come.
You know it takes a strong man to survive.
It ain't no accident that you're still alive.

[HERNANDEZ & THE VAMPIRES]
We stand for the neighborhood

[HERNANDEZ]
He still lives with his mami, but he sneaks down,
A coolie in the shadow of the playground
You want to fight for your people, don't you, Sal?

[SAL]
Well, yeah, if I got to.

[HERNANDEZ]
Oh, you got to. Come here, I want to show
you something.
This is the cave of The Vampires,
Count Dracula's castle,
The very sight could turn a white man grey.
Made in the shade, use my umbrella
Black like the night we fly in.
That blade is all you need to keep the dogs away.
So, you want to be a vampire, man! That's good.
We always looking for young blood in the
neighborhood now

Carlos Apache collects the dues
So you bring us something that we can use

[HERNANDEZ & THE VAMPIRES]
If you got the balls, then come on, mette mano.
If you got the balls, then come on, mette mano.

[HERNANDEZ]
Frenchy Cordero goes down to Hell's Kitchen
To sell the Irish some weed
So this Paddy boy's mother on the stoop
starts bitchin'
'Bout spies is a mongrel breed
Now here comes her son
He looks like a ton of corned beef
Floating in beer

He says
'Fucking Puerto Rican dope-dealing punk
Get your shit-brown ass out of here.'

[HERNANDEZ & THE VAMPIRES]
'Fucking Puerto Rican dope-dealing punk
Get your shit-brown ass out of here.'

We stand for the neighborhood.

[HERNANDEZ]
So the shanty-town Irish they kicked his ass good.

Fractured his collar bone
Cono, all I was thinking is, 'What home of the brave?
This a fucking war zone'

[THE VAMPIRES]
If you got the balls, then come on, mette mano,

We stand for the neighborhood.

If you got cojones, come on, mette mano

We stand for the neighborhood

If you got the balls, then come on, mette mano,

We stand for the neighborhood.

If you got cojones, come on, mette mano

 

[fox69]

"Time Is An Ocean"

"Time Is An Ocean"


[SAL]
I speak to you in Jesus's name
As Jesus speaks through me,
The evil we do can't be blamed upon our destiny
I have walked through the valley of death-row to
the shore
I have stumbled through silvery water to my savior
my Salvador!

[SALVADOR]
It took me four years to learn
I was in prison not in church.
And two more to begin the book of my soul's search

[SAL & SALVADOR]
Time is an ocean of endless tears

[SAL]
A wild boy from the streets of El Barrio
An orphan from the hills of Mayaguez

[SALVADOR]
And when I wrote my story
The words flew from the page
And my soul in solitary
Escaped its iron cage.

[SAL & SALVADOR]
Time is an ocean of endless tears

[SAL]
Mama, I got your letter today
The next time that you write I'll be transferred far away.
I'm leaving Greenhaven's towers of stone
Where the Latin population will soon be minus one.

[SALVADOR]
Time is an ocean of endless tears.

[SAL]
I know how hard it's been for you these many years,
You say the Agulnaldo makes you dream of home
Where once we strolled the beach at Et Malecon
Go back don't you worry, I am your grown-up son.

[SALVADOR]
The politics of prison are a mirror of the street.
The poor endure oppression
The police control the state.

Correctional facility
That's what they call this place

But look around and you will see
The politics of race.

[SAL]
A forest and a prison
Where the snow and guards are white

[SALVADOR]
If you want to keep your sanity
You'll teach yourself to write.

You were a child of sixteen
With a twelve-year-old mind
You came here numb and battered
Ry the streets I left behind

[SAL]
I'll take the evil in me
And turn it into good,
Though all your institutions
Never thought I could
So now I'll turn to say goodbye

[SALVADOR]
I'll keep your image in my eye

[SAL & SALVADOR]
I turn around to say goodbye

[SALVADOR]
I'll keep your image with me till the day I die

[SAL & SALVADOR]
Time is an ocean of endless tears

 

[fox69]

"Trailways Bus"

"Trailways Bus"


[LAZARUS]
A passenger traveling quietly conceals himself
With a magazine and a sleepless pillow
Over the crest of the mountain the moon begins
its climb
And he wakes to find he's in rolling farmland

The farmer sleeps against his wife
He wonders what their life must be
A Trailways bus is heading south
Into Washington, D.C.

A mother and child, the baby maybe two
months old
Prepare themselves for sleep and feeding.
The shadow of the Capitol dome slides across
his face
And his heart is racing with the urge to freedom.

The father motionless as stone,
A shepherd resting with his flock,
The Trailways bus is turning west -
Dallas via Little Rock.

[WAHZINAK]
O my darling, darling Sal
The desert moon is my witness.
I've no money to come East,
But I know you'll soon be here

[LAZARUS]
We pull into downtown Dallas by the side of the
Grassy Knoll
Where the leader fell and a town was broken.
Away from the feel and flow of life for so
many years
He hears music playing and Spanish spoken

The border patrol outside of Tucson boarded the bus

[BORDER PATROLMAN]
Any aliens here? You better check with us,
How about you son?
You look like you got Spanish blood.
Do you 'Habia Ingles,' am I understood?

[SAL]
Yes, I am an alien, from Mars.
I come to earth from outer space.
And if I traveled my whole life
You guys would still be on my case
You guys would still be on my case

[LAZARUS]
But he can't leave his fears behind,
He recalls each fatal thrust
The screams carried by the wind,
Phantom figures in the dust
Phantom figures in the dust
Phantom figures in the dust.

 

[fox69]

"Train In The Distance"

"Train In The Distance"



She was beautiful as Southern skies
The night he met her
She was married to someone
He was doggedly determined that he would get her
He was old, he was young
From time to time he'd tip his heart
But each time she withdrew
Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance
Everybody thinks it's true
Well eventually the boy and the girl get married
Sure enough they have a son
And though they both were occupied
With the child she carried
Disagreements had begun
And in a while they fell apart
It wasn't hard to do
Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance
Everybody thinks it's true
Two disappointed believers
Two people playing the game
Negotiations and love songs
Are often mistaken for one and the same
Now the man and the woman
Remain in contact
Let us say it's for the child
With disagreements about the meaning
Of a marriage contract
Conversations hard and wild
But from time to time
He makes her laugh
She cooks a meal or two
Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance
Everybody thinks it's true
Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance
Everybody thinks it's true
What is the point of this story
What information pertains
The thought that life could be better
Is woven indelibly
Into our hearts
And our brains

 

[fox69]

"Under African Skies"

"Under African Skies"



Joseph's face was black as night
The pale yellow moon shone in his eyes
His path was marked
By the stars in the Southern Hemisphere
And he walked his days
Under African skies

This is the story of how we begin to remember
This is the powerful pulsing of love in the vein
After the dream of falling and calling your name out
These are the roots of rhythm
And the roots of rhythm remain

In early memory
Mission music
Was ringing 'round my nursery door
I said take this child, Lord
From Tucson Arizona
Give her the wings to fly through harmony
And she won't bother you no more

This is the story of how we begin to remember
This is the powerful pulsing of love in the vein
After the dream of falling and calling your name out
These are the roots of rhythm
And the roots of rhythm remain

Joseph's face was black as night
And the pale yellow moon shone in his eyes
His path was marked
By the stars in the Southern Hemisphere
And he walked the length of his days
Under African skies