He began performing with his schoolfriend Art Garfunkel in 1956; together the two came to prominence in the 1960s as Simon & Garfunkel. The duo's blend of folk and rock music in hits like "The Sound of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson", "America", and "The Boxer" served as a soundtrack to the counterculture movement. Their career together peaked with their last album, Bridge over Troubled Water (1970), at one point the best-selling album of all time. Throughout his subsequent solo career, Simon has continued to explore an eclectic mixture of genres, including gospel, reggae, soul, and more. His celebrated 1970s output—comprising Paul Simon (1972), There Goes Rhymin' Simon (1973), and Still Crazy After All These Years (1975)—kept him in the public spotlight and saw critical and commercial acclaim, spawning the hits "Mother and Child Reunion", "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard", and "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover".
Across his life, Simon has intermittently reunited with Garfunkel for several tours, including the famed Concert in Central Park. The widely lauded Graceland (1986) became Simon's biggest album of his career, melding his rock sound with worldbeat flavors; its single "You Can Call Me Al" became one of Simon's top hits. A sequel of sorts, The Rhythm of the Saints (1990), preceded his own successful Concert in the Park, attended by a half-million fans. That decade, Simon focused his energies on a Broadway musical The Capeman (1997), which was poorly received. In the first quarter of the next century, Simon continued to record and tour; his later albums, such as You're the One (2000), So Beautiful or So What (2011), and Stranger to Stranger (2016), have introduced him to new generations. He retired from touring in 2018. His most recent work, Seven Psalms, will see release in May 2023.
Simon is among the most acclaimed musicians and songwriters in popular music, and one of the world's best-selling music artists, both for his solo work and with Garfunkel. He is a two-time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and has been the recipient of sixteen Grammy Awards, including three for Album of the Year. Two of his works, Sounds of Silence and Graceland, have seen induction into National Recording Registry for their cultural significance, and in 2007, the Library of Congress crowned him the inaugural winner of the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. He is a co-founder of the Children's Health Fund, a nonprofit that provides medical care to children.
In an in-depth interview reprinted in American Songwriter, Simon discusses the craft of songwriting with music journalist Tom Moon. In the interview, Simon explains the basic themes in his songwriting: love, family and social commentary (as well as the overarching messages of religion, spirituality and God in his lyrics). Simon explains the process of how he goes about writing songs in the interview: "The music always precedes the words. The words often come from the sound of the music and eventually evolve into coherent thoughts. Or incoherent thoughts. Rhythm plays a crucial part in the lyric-making as well. It's like a puzzle to find the right words to express what the music is saying."
Can i forgive him?
Paul Simon Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I know I've no right to speak.
My son is not the savage boy you see,
The cape, the sneer, the slicked-back hair
Hides the child I nursed and bathed, senora.
Please don't turn your eyes from me
Your son, gone to god, and mine to blame
The state will see to that I am sure, senora
The state will see to that I am sure.
You Spanish people, you come to this country
But nothing here changes your lives
Ungrateful immigrants asking for pity
When all of your answers are knives
This city makes a cartoon of a crime
Capes and umbrellas, the glorification of slime
I have to face this horror, senora
My religion asks me to pray for the murderer's soul
But I think you'd would have to be Jesus on the cross
To open your heart and after such a loss.
Can I forgive him?
Can I forgive him?
No, I cannot
Can I forgive him?
No, I cannot
Friends become strangers
Compassion is hard to express in words
The trembling flowers they bring
Fear in the roots and the stem
What happened to me they know could happen to them.
Can I forgive him?
No, I cannot
Can I forgive him?
No
Only god can say â??forgiveâ??
His son too received a knife
But we go on, we have to live
With this cross we call our life.
It feels like a bomb fell
And wave after wave come the after shocks
You can't believe that it's true
There must be some mistake
You drift through this nightmare
From which you can't wake.
Can I forgive him?
Can I forgive him?
No, I cannot
Can I forgive him?
Can I forgive him?
No, I cannot
Can I forgive him?
No
Can I forgive him?
Can I forgive him?
No, I cannot
Can I forgive him?
Can I forgive him?
No, I cannot
The lyrics to Paul Simon's song "Can I Forgive Him" explore the theme of forgiveness in the aftermath of a tragic event. The song is sung from the perspective of a mother named Esmeralda Agron, who pleads with another mother, a Senora, to see the goodness in her son, who has been accused of a crime. She calls her son a "savage boy" but insists that he is not defined by the superficial image he presents to the world. She acknowledges that the Senora's son has passed away and that her son is to blame, but she champions her son's care and upbringing to defend him.
The song is also critical of the treatment of immigrants in America. Esmeralda Agron criticizes the Spanish for their lack of gratitude and paints a bleak picture of the criminal justice system that seems to fetishize crime and tragedy. She admits that her religion asks her to pray for the murderer's soul, but she finds it difficult to forgive him. She acknowledges that it would take a divine entity like Jesus Christ to be capable of forgiveness in such a situation.
The song touches on how tragedy can affect interpersonal relationships, turning friends into strangers. The "trembling flowers they bring" are a symbol of the compassionate gestures of others, but the "fear in the roots and the stem" suggests the underlying tension and mistrust that comes to dominate those relationships. The song ends with a somber recognition of how life continues despite trauma, but the scars remain.
Line by Line Meaning
I am Esmeralda Agron, senora
I am telling you my name, but I know I am not in the position to speak to you.
My son is not the savage boy you see
My son is not the evil person that the media has portrayed him to be.
The cape, the sneer, the slicked-back hair
Hides the child I nursed and bathed, senora.
The outward appearance of my son may look menacing, but he is the same child that I raised and cared for.
Your son, gone to god, and mine to blame
My fated son, he too is gone
I understand your loss, but I also lost my son, who is responsible for your loss.
The state will see to that I am sure, senora
The state will see to that I am sure.
The government will take care of my son's punishment for his actions.
You Spanish people, you come to this country
But nothing here changes your lives
Ungrateful immigrants asking for pity
When all of your answers are knives
This city makes a cartoon of a crime
Capes and umbrellas, the glorification of slime
I am frustrated by the perception that some people have of immigrants as criminals, when they are just people trying to make a better life. The way this city commercializes crime is disgusting.
My religion asks me to pray for the murderer's soul
But I think you'd would have to be Jesus on the cross
To open your heart and after such a loss.
My faith urges me to forgive, but it's difficult for me to do so in the midst of my own pain.
Friends become strangers
Compassion is hard to express in words
The trembling flowers they bring
Fear in the roots and the stem
What happened to me they know could happen to them.
My relationships with people have changed since the incident. It's difficult for people to know what to say or do in response to my pain.
Only god can say â??forgiveâ??
His son too received a knife
But we go on, we have to live
With this cross we call our life.
Ultimately, only God can provide true forgiveness. Like others who have experienced loss, I too must continue living with this burden.
It feels like a bomb fell
And wave after wave come the after shocks
You can't believe that it's true
There must be some mistake
You drift through this nightmare
From which you can't wake.
The aftermath of the tragedy feels like a never-ending nightmare that I can't escape from.
Can I forgive him?
Can I forgive him?
No, I cannot
The question of forgiveness is difficult for me to answer, but ultimately I cannot forgive him.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: DEREK WALCOTT, PAUL SIMON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind