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 outputâcomprising Paul Simon (1972), There Goes Rhymin' Simon (1973), and Still Crazy After All These Years (1975)âkept 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."
Hey Schoolgirl
Paul Simon Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When you'll be tired
As tired as a dream
That wants to die
And further to fly
Further to fly
Further to fly
Maybe you will find a love
That you discover accidentally
Who falls against you gently
As a pickpocket brushes your thigh
Further to fly
Effortless music from the Cameroons
The spinning darkness of her hair
A conversation in a crowded room going nowhere
The open palm of desire wants everything
It wants everything, it wants everything
Sometimes I'll be walking down
The street and I'll be thinking
Am I crazy
Or is this some morbid little lie
Further to fly
Further to fly
Further to fly
A recent loss of memory
A shadow in the family
The baby waves bye-bye
I'm trying, I'm flying
There may come a time
When I will lose you
Lose you as I lose my light
Days falling backward into velvet night
The open palm of desire
Wants everything, it wants everything
It wants soil as soft as summer
And the strength to push like spring
A broken laugh, a broken fever
Take it up with the great deceiver
Who looks you in the eye
And says baby don't cry
Further to fly
There may come a time
When I will lose you
Lose you as I lose my sight
Days falling backward into velvet night
The open palm of desire
The rose of Jericho
Soil as soft as summer
The strength to let you go
In âHey Schoolgirl,â Paul Simon paints a picture of lifeâs highs and lows. He addresses the challenges that someone â anyone â might face in life, including the imperative to keep going when things get hard. Simon acknowledges the possibility of depression, and the concept of feeling so down that one is âtired as a dreamâ. However, he also encourages the listener to âfly furtherâ, regardless of the struggles.
Simonâs lyrics take the listener on a journey through different scenarios where one might experience profound emotions. Whether itâs discovering love unexpectedly or losing a loved one, Simon reminds us that weâre not alone in our struggles. He describes a crowded room where people are chatting aimlessly, as well as memories of days gone by that have faded away into something shadowy.
The song asks the listener to keep pressing forward, and dreaming about things that may seem out of reach. Through his thoughtful and evocative words, Simon encourages the listener to keep striving, even in the face of adversity.
Line by Line Meaning
There may come a time
At some point in the future
When you'll be tired
When you will be exhausted
As tired as a dream
As tired as a dream that has lost all hope
That wants to die
That wants to fade into obscurity
And further to fly
And longing to go even further
Further to fly
Further and further away from one's problems
Maybe you will find a love
Maybe you will find someone to love
That you discover accidentally
That you find by chance
Who falls against you gently
Who touches you softly
As a pickpocket brushes your thigh
Like a thief who tries not to be noticed
Effortless music from the Cameroons
Music from Cameroon that sounds effortless
The spinning darkness of her hair
The black, curly hair that spins around
A conversation in a crowded room going nowhere
A chat that leads nowhere with so many people around
The open palm of desire wants everything
The uncontrollable urge to have everything
It wants everything, it wants everything
It wants all things, not just one
Sometimes I'll be walking down
At times while walking
The street and I'll be thinking
Thinking to oneself when walking down the avenue
Am I crazy
Asking oneself if one is mad
Or is this some morbid little lie
Or is this a sad and insignificant falsehood
A recent loss of memory
A memory loss that happened recently
A shadow in the family
A figurative darkness in a family
The baby waves bye-bye
The baby says goodbye
I'm trying, I'm flying
I'm doing my best
There may come a time
At some point in the future
When I will lose you
When I will lose the person I love
Lose you as I lose my light
Lose the one I love and everything good in my life
Days falling backward into velvet night
Days going back into darkness like velvet
The open palm of desire
The insatiable desire to have all things
Wants everything, it wants everything
Wants everything and will not stop desiring
It wants soil as soft as summer
It wants incredibly soft soil that is like that of Summertime
And the strength to push like spring
And to be as strong as a spring, pushing forward
A broken laugh, a broken fever
A laugh broken down and a fever that breaks one's will
Take it up with the great deceiver
Blaming one's problems on the devil
Who looks you in the eye
The devil who speaks truth to you
And says baby don't cry
Telling you that everything will be alright
The rose of Jericho
The rose plant that is able to survive even in the driest of conditions
Soil as soft as summer
Soil that is extremely soft like that of Summertime
The strength to let you go
The strength to no longer hold onto someone
Lyrics Š Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ARTHUR GARFUNKEL, PAUL SIMON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
nicholas melby
Wow! Amazing how they still sound great all those years later.
C Johnson
Paul and Art, please consider one more US show in 2015-16 for your old friends . . . it doesn't matter where, this fan will be there! thanks, guys, for your 50+ years of singing, arguing, and friendship.
hobby gamer
one more ? THOUSANDS more
Philidor
If he comes back for just one show I would fly halfway around the world to see him play!
Walter W. Krijthe
I just listened to their first record from 1957 ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9e3hU6KIZo ) and then this live performance in 46 years later. It really shows their talent and skill, singing the song in the same key without any missed note.
Joseph Kelley
amazing what two kids-from-Queens have done with the lives
and careers - just amazing.
Anything's possible.
.
Joseph Kelley
with THEIR lives and careers (typo, sorry).
.
Loulou Dangelo
Splendide merci pour ce beau partage đâ¤
Beaglemaster3
I bought the single when it first came out. Still have it. Disappointed they didn't sing the whole song. Still great they did it!
dano r
They did a good rendition of that song..