Paul Simon's "Surprise"

The CD “Surprise” by Paul Simon was released last spring, and I had planned to buy it after hearing just a couple of tracks. Only recently did I get around to filling this order, but I’m glad I did.

Paul Simon is part of my personal musical bedrock. He has been turning out pop songs throughout my life, and those songs stand like points of reference. I remember that my parents listening to his folk stuff in the days when needles rode on tracks in vinyl, when sound systems were called “hi-fis,” and when he was still paired up with Art Garfunkel. When I think of his solo pop songs, I think of bright melodies and interesting, evocative lyrics. I always turned the radio up when “Kodachrome” was played. “Fifty ways to leave your lover” makes me think of an early episode of “Saturday Night Live” when that show was new and different, and Simon’s association made him seem new and different. I was in graduate school when “Graceland” came out. For two years after, he was all over radio.

As before, the release of “Surprise” is also a point of reference, but this time for how little attention it got. Maybe that’s why it took months to pick up a copy. I’m not saying “Surprise” is better than “Graceland, but it is at least as good as some of his other albums.

A lot has changed for both Paul and me since his last CD in 2000. He turned 60; I turned 40. And a lot has changed for all of us. Just like on my favorite Paul Simon album “Graceland,” the songwriting on “Surprise” chronicles those changes, both personal and universal. The first track is an example. That song is wrap-up of American history over the last five years -- divisive elections, war, disasters and the cultural divide: “How can you live in the Northeast? How can you live in the South? How can you live on the banks of a river when the flood waters pour from the mouth? How can you be a Christian? How can you be a Jew? How can you be a Muslim? A Buddhist? A Hindu? How can you?”

The best song could be “Outrageous,” which is feels more like personal history for those of us growing old. Like the aforementioned first track, the rhetorical question again turns up: “Who’s going to love you when you’re looks are gone?” The song also has that comic touch that made “Kodachrome” one of my favorites. I also like “Beautiful” for its playful tune and lyric. “Snowman sitting in the sun doesn’t have time to waste. He had a little bit too much fun; now his head’s erased.”

On “Outrageous,” Simon shares songwriting credit with Brian Eno. Eno, the liner notes tell us, provide the “sonic landscape” of this CD. Paul Simon has had many collaborators of all sorts throughout his career, and he manages to bring them together quite well. Paul Simon can be eclectic and continue being distinctly Paul Simon. The liner notes also noted Tchad Blake at the mixing board. I shouldn’t be surprised that I recognized the name. Blake has worked with a number of my favorite artists, including Lob Lobos, Tom Waits, Sheryl Crow and Bonnie Raitt.

By the way, I love liner notes. I’m going to miss them once the mp3 completely overwhelms the CD format, much like CD wiped out vinyl. I think Paul Simon might miss them, too. Otherwise, why else would “Surprise” have so much fun with liner notes? The facing page of each song lyric is an image pulled from a variety of sources. Each image is like an icon to the song, or so I think. And the song lyrics have certain words in boldface type. The common element between the words appears to be water: drop, pool, snow, ocean, tears, etc. Why? I don’t know. One of the songs (“I don’t believe”) even has footnote: “’The universe loves drama,’ you know.” The footnote explains, “Observation by E.B. after 2004 presidential election.” E.B. – That’s probably Edie Brickell, his wife. What has that to do with the song? I don’t know, but it’s fun anyway.