For the last couple of months I’ve been indulging myself in the music of Paul Simon, for reasons (I hope) I need not explain. Today, while biking in sunny weather, I found myself somewhat dissapointed in a song by PS (something which seldom happens): it was all too much alike another well-known song written by Paul Simon himself – note the song itself was really good.
While it is a good thing to be recognizable as an artist, I can’t stand it when a songwriter seems to work with a too limited arsenal of melodies (the way my lyrics are limited by a shortage of methaphores).
You can imagine my relief when it turned out I was listening to an early demo of the same song: only the subject, melody and structure was different.
Lesson learned (again): don’t be satisfied too soon. Improvement is almost always possible.
Note the differences for yourself:
Paul himself tells us the same:
