{"id":258648,"date":"2025-11-03T00:53:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T00:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/258648\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T00:53:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T00:53:08","slug":"the-song-paul-simon-said-nobody-would-understand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/258648\/","title":{"rendered":"The song Paul Simon said nobody would understand"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Paul<\/p>\n

(Credits: Far Out \/ YouTube Still)<\/p>\n

Sun 2 November 2025 21:00, UK <\/p>\n

It\u2019s difficult to pinpoint the beginning of the end for Paul Simon<\/a> and Art Garfunkel. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to figure out what sparked the start of their drawn-out fallout because there were countless chips along the way. The nail in the coffin, however, had to be Simon\u2019s decision to put out a solo album when they\u2019d been working on material together, material that would eventually be re-worked and released as Simon\u2019s solo record, Hearts and Bones.<\/p>\n

Simon and Garfunkel were already clinging to the frayed edges of their relationship at this particular moment in time. The record went out in 1983, and when you think about the fact that Simon once said that he and Garfunkel were already \u201cover before the \u201970s began\u201d, any attempts to rectify a partnership that only flourished at one moment in time seem especially futile. <\/p>\n

That said, the reasons why Simon eventually erased Garfunkel\u2019s work from Hearts and Bones make sense. A lot of the material is incredibly personal, especially songs like the title track, which saw Simon reflecting on his relationship with Carrie Fisher, asking questions like, \u201cTell me why \/ Why won\u2019t you love me \/ For who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simon and Garfunkel had worked together on personal lyrics<\/a> before, but this reached deeper into the dynamics of self-consciousness and the battle of the heart and mind, with specific references to things in Simon\u2019s own life. Another that seemingly saw Simon expressing his displeasure and constant wishing of a better future was \u2018Train in the Distance\u2019. Hinging on the literal metaphor of waiting for something to arrive, \u2018Train in the Distance\u2019 tackles a complex relationship and the constant \u201cthought that life could be better\u201d.<\/p>\n

At first, Simon wasn\u2019t sure that the meaning would be clear. The lyrics themselves speak to a convoluted dynamic and the persistent waiting, the haunt at the back of the mind that wonders whether there\u2019s something better. But he isn\u2019t necessarily saying that those anxieties come from anywhere real. Much like the metaphor of the train in the distance, it\u2019s there, a lingering presence, but there\u2019s no evidence to suggest it\u2019ll arrive \u2013 or if it\u2019s even the train you need to get to where you want to be. <\/p>\n

As Simon once explained, per Unmask Us<\/a>, \u201cThe title of the song and the line that keeps recurring is a metaphor.\u201d <\/p>\n

He went on, \u201cAnd although I liked the metaphor and I thought it was effective, by the time I got to the end of the song, I said, \u2018Well, look, I don\u2019t know if anyone will understand what I\u2019m talking about here.\u2019 So, in case you didn\u2019t get what this metaphor is about, let me just say this is what it is: everybody thinks things could be better.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the biggest themes of the song \u2013 and the relationship that Simon is reflecting on \u2013 is disagreement. Not necessarily in the finer details, or relating to trivial matters, but in the fundamental meaning of marriage. In the beginning, Simon\u2019s narrator is young, but he goes through the motions and ticks all the boxes, before reflecting upon the years about whether he decided not to give it all a chance before it had even begun.<\/p>\n

Simon concludes all of this towards the end of the song, recalling how their moments are now civil, sometimes they\u2019ll laugh together, and everything will be as fine as it can be. But \u201cwhat information pertains\u201d is that we\u2019re always thinking about what else is out there, whether things could be better, which, according to Simon, is forever \u201cwoven indelibly into our hearts and our brains\u201d. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Related Topics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Credits: Far Out \/ YouTube Still) Sun 2 November 2025 21:00, UK It\u2019s difficult to pinpoint the beginning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258649,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,134,136,152302,152303],"class_list":{"0":"post-258648","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-music","12":"tag-paul-simon","13":"tag-simon-and-garfunkel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}