I have always put Paul Simon up there with McCartney as one of the greatest writers/arrangers/music people in Rock history. I rarely hear talk about Simon and Garfunkel when talking about the Greats, but what an amazing body of work. And Simon's post Simon and Garfunkel work ain't too shabby either.

I remember when Graceland came out. We listened to it a lot. And in her 'things used to be better' thinking, a friends mom bemoaned Simon's decline in writing ability. She said, it's good, but no one's gonna be singing Diamond on the Soles of her Shoes in twenty years. --- Well it's about twenty years now and I sing that song all the time. My son loves it and it is inextricably a part of Simon's great lyrical content. Actually, the title track Graceland is as elegant and moving a piece he ever wrote. When he sings: Losing love is like a window in your heart/ everybody sees your blown apart/ everybody sees the wind blow. --- Ouch. Divorce is a bitch.

I never did like Garfunkel very much. Seemed like a snob.

Paul's earliest work with Garfunkel doesn't really hold up: I mean, songs like "I am a rock" are kind of embarrassing today (ditto the 59th street Bridge Song, or At the Zoo).

On the other hand, virtually everything since Bookends has been spot on great, and remain incredibly wonderful both in terms of words and music. For some reason, I kind of tear up every time I hear him sing "We're all off to look for America." It recalls that time frame when we were indeed looking for America and for ourselves.

Funny that Kodachrome was finally phased out by Kodak a couple of weeks ago.