5 Amazing Album Openers From Paul Simon

Paul Simon left no doubt when he left Art Garfunkel that he was going to be a solo artist of note. His first three albums out of the gate on his own all received massive acclaim and did extremely well with the public. And there wasn’t much of a drop-off after that. Look through Paul Simon’s catalog, and you’ll find that many of the songs he earmarked as album openers turned out to be stone-cold classics. The following are five deserving of special recognition.

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“Mother And Child Reunion” from ‘Paul Simon’ (1972)

It quickly became apparent that Simon wasn’t going to be sticking to the usual singer-songwriter basics. On his first solo album, his musical wanderlust quickly showed itself, right from the very first song on the album. He decided that “Mother And Child Reunion”, inspired somehow by both the name of a dish at a Chinese restaurant and the death of a dog, would be a foray into reggae. To ensure he got it right, he headed to Jamaica to record it. The flickering lead guitar of Hux Brown leaves as much of an impression as the narrative about “a strange and mournful day.”

“Still Crazy After All These Years” from ‘Still Crazy After All These Years’ (1975)

The best songwriters possess a knack for speaking for their entire generation, even when they don’t necessarily intend to do so. “Still Crazy After All These Years” is, on the surface, the story of a guy’s unexpected meeting with a former lover. What it triggered in Simon was a reflection on aging out of the reckless years, even when you still feel a little reckless at heart. The lyrics play around with self-deprecating humor. Simon instead leaves the emotional heavy lifting to the instrumental section in the middle, specifically the moment when Michael Brecker’s saxophone solo rises to the heavens.

“Late In The Evening” from ‘One-Trick Pony’ (1980)

There’s no doubt that Simon does an amazing job casting his instrumentalists, a skill that brings a tremendous amount to his recordings. But it starts with his own rhythmic qualities as a songwriter. “Late In The Evening” possesses a natural hitch in its giddyup, even before you get into what the players bring to it. That makes it a natural for players like bassist Tony Levin and Steve Gadd to tee it up and take it to another level. Throw in the celebratory horns, and the overall vibrancy of the track makes the wee hours of the night sound like the beginning of the story, not the end.

“The Boy In The Bubble” from ‘Graceland’ (1986)

Choosing a song to start off an album often requires picking one that begins with a musical bang. Mission accomplished with “Boy In The Bubble”. The accordion of co-writer Forere Motloheloa seesaws about, creating as much rhythmic friction as melodic punch. When it’s joined by a pounding drum, it’s an incredible jolt. It’s also an interesting choice to start Graceland in that it’s the one song on the album that touches on some of the social turmoil that the places where Simon sourced the music endured. Images of bombings, starving, and economic inequality flash through the restless narrative, all ingeniously connected by Simon’s patter.

“Obvious Child” from ‘The Rhythm Of The Saints’

This has to be one of Paul Simon’s very best album openers. It was impossible for The Rhythm Of The Saints to carry the same kind of impact as Graceland, which beat it to the punch. In addition, the songwriting wasn’t quite as affecting on Saints. That said, you can make the argument that “Obvious Child” stands equal to, if not better than, anything else on the previous album. The drum work of Grupo Cultural Olodum thrills, needing nothing else to make it special. But when Simon adds his lyrics, you realize that the percussion might as well be the beating heart of the narrator, trying to escape its middle-aged shell and achieve some transcendence.

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