Why am I so soft in the middle when the rest of my life is so hard?
-- Paul Simon
Why am I so soft in the middle when the rest of my life is so hard?
-- Paul Simon
Slip slidin' away
Slip slidin' away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you're slip slidin' away
- as sung by Paul Simon "Slip Slidin' Away"
Nothing but the dead and dying
Back in my little town
Nothing but the dead and dying
Back in my little town
- as sung by Paul Simon "My Little Town"
In my little town
I grew up believing
God keeps His eye on us all
And He used to lean upon me
As I pledged allegiance to the wall
Lord I recall
My little town
- as sung by Paul Simon "My Little Town"
And I know a fa-ther
Who had a son
He longed to tell him all the reasons
For the things he'd done
He came a long way
Just to explain
He kissed his boy as he lay sleeping
Then he turned around and headed home again
- as sung by Paul Simon "Slip Slidin' Away"
Slip slidin' away
Slip slidin' away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you're slip slidin' away
- as sung by Paul Simon "Slip Slidin' Away"
Slip slidin' away
Slip slidin' away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you're slip slidin' away
- as sung by Paul Simon "Slip Slidin' Away"
I don't know a soul who's not been battered
I don't have a friend who feels at ease
I don't know a dream that's not been shattered
or driven to its knees
Oh, but it's alright, it's alright
for we lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the
road we're traveling on
I wonder what's gone wrong
I can't help it, I wonder what's gone wrong
- as sung by Paul Simon "American Tune"
Slip slidin' away
Slip slidin' away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you're slip slidin' away
- as sung by Paul Simon "Slip Slidin' Away"
Many's the time I've been mistaken
And many times confused
Yes, and often felt forsaken
And certainly misused
Oh, but I'm alright, I'm alright
I'm just weary to my bones
Still, you don't expect to be
Bright and bon vivant
So far a-way from home, so far away from home
- as sung by Paul Simon "American Tune"
Four in the morning
Crapped out, yawning
Longing my life a--way
I'll never worry
Why should I?
It's all gonna fade
- as sung by Paul Simon "Still Crazy After All These Years"
I'm taking my time
But I don't know where
Goodbye to Rosie the queen of Corona
See you, me and Julio
Down by the schoolyard
See you, me and Julio
Down by the schoolyard
Me and Julio down by the schoolyard
- as sung by Paul Simon "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard"
I know a man
He came from my home town
He wore his passion for his woman
Like a thorny crown
He said Delores
I live in fear
My love for you's so overpowering
I'm afraid that I will disappear
- as sung by Paul Simon "Slip Slidin' Away"
I know a woman
Became a wife
These are the very words she uses
To describe her life
She said a good day
Ain't got no rain
She said a bad day's when I lie in bed
And think of things that might have been
- as sung by Paul Simon "Slip Slidin' Away"
Slip slidin' away
Slip slidin' away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you're slip slidin' away
- as sung by Paul Simon "Slip Slidin' Away"
The mama pajama rolled out of bed
And she ran to the police station
When the papa found out he began to shout
And he started the investigation
It's against the law
It was against the law
What the mama saw
It was against the law
- as sung by Paul Simon "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard"
And after it rains
There's a rainbow
And all of the colors are black
It's not that the colors aren't there
It's just imagin-ation they lack
Everything's the same
Back in my little town
- as sung by Paul Simon "My Little Town"
In my little town
I never meant nothin'
I was just my fathers son
Saving my money
Dreaming of glory
Twitching like a finger
On the trigger of a gun
Leaving nothing but the dead and dying
Back in my little town
- as sung by Paul Simon "My Little Town"
Repeat and fade:
Nothing but the dead and dying
Back in my little town
- as sung by Paul Simon "My Little Town"
And I dreamed I was dying
I dreamed that my soul rose unexpectedly
And looking back down at me
Smiled reassuringly
And I dreamed I was flying
And high up above my eyes could clearly see
The Statue of Liberty
Sailing away to sea
And I dreamed I was flying
- as sung by Paul Simon "American Tune"
We come on the ship they call the Mayflower
We come on the ship that sailed the moon
We come in the a-ge's most uncertain hours
and sing an American tune
Oh, and it's alright, it's alright, it's alright
You can't be forever blessed
Still, tomorrow's going to be another working day
And I'm trying to get some rest
That's all I'm trying to get some rest
- as sung by Paul Simon "American Tune"
Coming home after school
Flying my bike past the gates
Of the factories
My mom doing the laundry
Hanging our shirts
In the dirty breeze
- as sung by Paul Simon "My Little Town"
She said it's really not my habit to intrude
Furthermore, I hope my meaning won't be lost or misconstrued
But I'll repeat myself at the risk of being crude
There must be fifty ways to leave your lover
Fifty ways to leave your lover
- as sung by Paul Simon "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover"
Just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don't need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don't need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free
- as sung by Paul Simon "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover"
She said it grieves me so to see you in such pain
I wish there was something I could do to make you smile again
I said I appreciate that and would you please explain
About the fifty ways
- as sung by Paul Simon "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover"
Just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don't need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don't need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free
- as sung by Paul Simon "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover"
In a couple of days they come and take me away
But the press let the story leak
And when the radical priest
Come to get me released
We was all on the cover of Newsweek
And I'm on my way
I don't know where I'm going
I'm on my way
- as sung by Paul Simon "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard"
The first thing I remember
I was lying in my bed
I couldn't of been no more
Than one or two
I remember there's a radio
Comin' from the room next door
And my mother laughed
The way some ladies do
When it's late in the evening
And the music's seeping through
- as sung by Paul Simon "Late In The Evening"
The next thing I remember
I am walking down the street
I'm feeling all right
I'm with my boys, I'm with my troops, yeah
And down along the avenue
Some guys were shooting pool
And I heard the sound
Of a cappella groups, yeah
Singing late in the evening
And all the girls out on the stoops, yeah
- as sung by Paul Simon "Late In The Evening"
I met my old lover
On the street last night
She seemed so glad to see me
I just smiled
And we talked about some old times
And we drank ourselves some beers
Still crazy afler all these years
Oh, still crazy after all these years
- as sung by Paul Simon "Still Crazy After All These Years"