We all reach a point in our lives when the aging process becomes a lot less fun than it used to be. Turning 18? A highly anticipated moment in everyone’s life. Turning any age past 25? A little less anticipated…That’s the onus behind Paul Simon’s playful take on a mid-life crises, “You Can Call Me Al.” Though the song was inspired by a specific event, Simon used his songwriting chops to give it a much wider scope than originally intended. Uncover the meaning behind this track, below.
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Behind the Meaning of Paul Simon’s Mid-Life Crises, “You Can Call Me Al”
A man walks down the street
He says, “Why am I soft in the middle now?
Why am I soft in the middle?
The rest of my life is so hard
I need a photo-opportunity
I want a shot at redemption
Don’t want to end up a cartoon
In a cartoon graveyard”
The opening line quickly orients the listener to the subject of this song: growing up. Why am I soft in the middle, Simon asks, not doubt prompting a knowing chuckle from many of his listeners. Like many Simon songs, his language borders on figurative, but the meaning is still easily understood. Simon struggles with growing up and aging out of a time when life seems to be easy breezy.
Despite the explicit meaning of this song concerning aging, the title was inspired by a real life event in Simon’s life. As the story goes, he attended a party and was mistaken for some man called “Al.”
The Party Behind the Song
“Fun fact, the titular line for ‘You Can Call Me Al; was inspired by an amusing misunderstanding at a party,” a post on Simon’s Facebook reads. “One evening in the early 1970s, French composer Pierre Boulez, who had just been named musical director of the New York Philharmonic, attended a party hosted by Paul and his wife. At the end of the night, Paul said goodbye to Boulez at the door, who politely responded, ‘Thank you, Al, and please give my best to Betty.’”
In the end, Simon used this miscommunication to explain the apathy that can creep into our lives as we grow older. Things that once amused us, annoyed or, or angered us fail to rouse any emotion what so ever. It’s a nuanced track with many different point of relatability for the listener. Overarchingly, it seems Simon wants someone to commiserate with about the unceasing passing of time.
Revisit this track, below.
Bone digger, bone digger
Dogs in the moonlight
Far away in my well-lit door
Mr. Beer belly, Beer belly
Get these mutts away from me
You know, I don’t find this stuff amusing anymore
If you’d be my bodyguard
I can be your long-lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty, when you call me
You can call me Al
A man walks down the street
He says, “Why am I short of attention?
Got a short little span of attention
And, whoa, my nights are so long
Where’s my wife and family?
What if I die here?
(Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
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