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."
So Beautiful or So What
Paul Simon Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Toss some sausage in the pot
I'm gonna flavor it with okra
Cheyenne pepper to make it hot
You know life is what we make of it
So beautiful or so what
I'm gonna tell my kids a bedtime story
A play without a plot
Maybe yeah, maybe not
I tell them life is what you make of it
So beautiful or so what
So beautiful, so beautiful
So what
I'm just a raindrop in a bucket
A coin dropped in a slot
I am an empty house on Weed Street
Across the road from a vacant lot
You know life is what you make of it
So beautiful, or so what
Ain't it strange the way we're ignorant
How we seek out bad advice
How we jigger it and figure it
Mistaking value for the price
And play a game with time and love
Like a pair of rolling dice
So beautiful, so beautiful
So what
Four men on the balcony
Overlooking the parking lot
Pointing at a figure in the distance
Dr. King has just been shot
And the sirens long melody
Singing savior pass me not
Ain't it strange the way we're ignorant
How we seek out bad advice
How we jigger it and figure it
Mistaking value for the price
And play a game with time and love
Like a pair of rolling dice
So beautiful, so beautiful
So beautiful
In "So Beautiful or So What," Paul Simon reflects on the randomness of life's ups and downs. He starts by describing mundane yet comforting activities, such as cooking a pot of chicken gumbo and telling his children bedtime stories without a real plot. However, he soon shifts to a more somber tone, describing himself as a mere raindrop in a bucket and confronting the reality of human indifference, dangerous advice-seeking, and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Nonetheless, the chorus reiterates that life is beautiful, regardless of the circumstances, and that people have the power to create their own experiences. Throughout the song, Simon juxtaposes the unpredictability and outright horror of the world with everyday moments, reminding the listener that life is a mix of both and that people can choose to find beauty or not.
The song aims to inspire listeners to appreciate the simple things in life, to be mindful of their choices and their impact on the world around them, and to find joy amid the chaos.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm gonna make a chicken gumbo
I am going to cook a chicken gumbo dish
Toss some sausage in the pot
Add sausage to the dish
I'm gonna flavor it with okra
The dish will be seasoned with okra
Cheyenne pepper to make it hot
This dish will be seasoned with spicy Cheyenne pepper
You know life is what we make of it
Life is the result of our choices and actions
So beautiful or so what
Life could be seen as beautiful or indifferent depending on our outlook
I'm gonna tell my kids a bedtime story
I'm going to narrate a story to my children
A play without a plot
The story may not have a well-defined plot
Will it have a happy ending?
I'm unsure whether the story will have a cheerful conclusion
Maybe yeah, maybe not
The story may or may not have a happy ending
I tell them life is what you make of it
I convey to my children that they shape their own lives
So beautiful or so what
Life could be seen as beautiful or indifferent depending on our outlook
So beautiful, so beautiful
Life could be considered beautiful
So what
But it could also be seen as just another experience
I'm just a raindrop in a bucket
I am insignificant and ordinary
A coin dropped in a slot
My value or impact may be like a coin in a slot machine
I am an empty house on Weed Street
I am a vacant house on Weed Street
Across the road from a vacant lot
There is an empty lot across the street from the house
Ain't it strange the way we're ignorant
It's unusual how little information we have in some areas
How we seek out bad advice
We often search for advice that is harmful to us
How we jigger it and figure it
We alter situations and try to calculate outcomes
Mistaking value for the price
We often don't know the true value of something
And play a game with time and love
We toy with the concepts of time and love
Like a pair of rolling dice
As if they were a pair of rolling dice, with uncertain outcomes
Four men on the balcony
Four individuals are on a balcony
Overlooking the parking lot
They are viewing a parking lot below them
Pointing at a figure in the distance
They are directing attention towards a distant figure
Dr. King has just been shot
Dr. King has recently been assassinated
And the sirens long melody
The sound of sirens is heard faintly in the background
Singing savior pass me not
The sirens sound like they are singing the religious hymn 'savior pass me not'
So beautiful
Life could be considered beautiful
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: PAUL SIMON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind