A couple weeks ago I came across this song in my iTunes library. I couldn't help but put it on repeat while I put some clean laundry away. I think the song resonates with me because of the combination of how reminiscent the chord changes feel and the rolling conversational lyric. Without compromising the story, he manages to fill the song with some great rhymes (pay attention to the ways he sets up rhyme for "years" in the song title every time).
At least he's singing in English...
Keep writing,
Ben
Paul Simon is my all-time, favorite songwriting hero, especially Simon & Grarfunkel through Graceland. He's the best and this song is a prime example.
ReplyDeleteI heard him say once that the way to avoid cliches in writing is to simply state a fact. Examples of this are all over his catalog: "I met my old lover on the street last night," "They got a wall in China, it's a thousand miles long," "The Mississippi Delta was shining like a national guitar." Brilliant.
Listening to Graceland right now! I think he's onto something with writing such simple, factual lyrics. Get right to the point!
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