Most legendary musical artists often display restlessness when it comes to their musical approach. Paul Simon certainly fits this description. He has always pushed into new territory when he easily could have just repeated past successes. “Obvious Child”, the lead single from his 1990 album The Rhythm Of The Saints, featured yet another fresh musical avenue traveled. Simon managed to combine this musical twist with lyrics that captured many of the fears and desires of the listening audience that had been with him since the 60s.
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“Child” at Play
How can you possibly follow up an album like Graceland? The 1986 album, made up in large part of Paul Simon’s embrace of South African music, took the music world by storm. Fans marveled at how seamlessly Simon had incorporated his singer-songwriter style into this bold, brilliant music.
For his next record, Simon decided to check out the music from another part of the globe, particularly Brazil. In this case, Simon was thrilled about the exciting use of polyrhythms within the music that he heard in the South American country.
In one instance, Simon found out that the famous drum collective known as Grupo Cultural Olodum was rehearsing one day in Brazil. He went to hear them and decided that he wanted that thrilling sound on the new album. To make it happen, he recorded them in the open air in the town of Salvador.
Once he had the music in place, Simon returned to New York City to tackle the vocals. The lyrics that he wrote for the song touch on some favorite themes of his, such as the travails of aging and how to go on living your life when youthful dreams and expectations haven’t quite been fulfilled.
Exploring the Lyrics of “The Obvious Child” by Paul Simon
“The Obvious Child” utilizes shifting perspectives to keep audiences on their toes. It begins with a first-person section that can best be described as defiant in the face of frustration. “Well I’m accustomed to a smooth ride,” Paul Simon begins. “Or maybe I’m a dog who’s lost its bite/I don’t expect to be treated like a fool no more.”
It then flashes back to a youthful romance and the ideals that the narrator shared with his lover. “And we said these songs are ours,” Simon bellows. “These days are ours/These tears are free.” The phrase, “The cross is in the ballpark”, has confounded folks over the years. Simon has explained that he liked the sound of it. He also thought of it as an expression about how the burdens faced by the characters are surmountable.
The couple then has a baby named Sonny, but Paul Simon briefly returns to the first person in the next verse, as the narrator recounts his solitary preoccupation with the passing time and the sky. “Why deny the obvious child,” he keeps asking when people try to simplify the phenomena he encounters. In other words, there is hidden meaning behind everything.
We’re then treated to the tale of Sunny’s bittersweet middle-aged problems. His frustration with his lot in life seems evident by his feeling that “some rooms are like cages.” Perusing his high school yearbook and pondering the fates of his classmates takes him out of the moment. “Sonny wanders beyond his interior walls,” Simon says. “Runs his hand through his thinning brown hair.”
While Paul Simon is jumping between eras and characters, the thunderous drumming steadily undergirds the narrative. It seems to snap these folks to attention, making them aware of the necessity to grab life by the throat while the opportunity exists. “The Obvious Child” might not have a meaning that’s all too obvious, but that’s OK. It’s what it drums up in each of us as we compare it to our own lives that matters.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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