Albums. You have to be a good host to people’s attention span. We have an official You Can Call Me Al tab made by UG professional guitarists. You’re The One. _g1.classList.remove('lazyload'); Written by Simon, its lyrics follow an individual seemingly experiencing a midlife crisis. So “You Can Call Me Al” is an example of that kind of writing. And the other thing that I try to remember, especially if a song is long, is: You have plenty of time. Skip to main content. So I started to try and work with more feelings around with words because the sound of the record was so good, you could move feelings.“You Can Call Me Al” starts very ordinary, almost like a joke; like the structure of a joke cliche; “There’s a rabbi, a minister and a priest….” “Two Jews walk into a bar…” “A man walks down the street…”  That’s what I was doing there.Because how you begin a song is one of the hardest things. Because there’s been a structure, and those abstract images, they will just come down and fall into one of the slots that the mind has already made up about the structure of the song. Paul Simon: You Can Call Me Al (Video 1986) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Asked what effect that had on this song, he gave the following answer, which leads into his explanation of discovering what became “You Can Call Me Al.”. Paul Simon Live 2014 =] You Can Call me Al [= Feb 8 2014 - Houston, Tx. FAVORITE (5 fans) Paul Simon. _g1 = document.getElementById('g1-logo-inverted-source'); en el puesto número 44 en octubre de 1986, pero fue reeditado obteniendo un mayor ascenso en las listas en marzo de 1987 y llegó al número 23. To let the words tumble this way and that way, and sometimes I’d increase the rhythm of the words so that they would come by you and then when a phrase was sort of different and came by you so quickly that all you could get was the feeling. If you’ll be my bodyguard I can be your long lost palI can call you BettyAnd Betty, when you call me, You can call me AlCall me Al From Paul Simon’s landmark Graceland, “You Can Call Me Al” is quintessential Simon. Then it has a chorus that you can’t understand what is he talking about –  “You can call me Betty, and Betty, you can call Me Al.”  You don’t know what I’m talking about, but I don’t think it’s bothersome. CBS had prepared a video of the track for MTV, but Paul was deeply dissatisfied with it. Paul Simon’s Concert In … Live In New York City. We have an official You Can Call Me Al tab made by UG professional guitarists. You don’t know what I’m talking about, but neither do I, at that point. The lyrics shift from the ordinary language of the first verse to a third verse imbued with enriched imagery, the “angels in the architecture, spinning in infinity…” That progression is not random. November 8, 2015 cover version of the 1986 Paul Simon song. If you’ll be my bodyguard I can be your long -ost pal I can call you Betty And Betty, when you call me You can call me Al Call me Al. Anyone else got this? Surprise. Stream ad-free or purchase CD's and MP3s now on Amazon.com. For the latest songwriting tips, reviews, podcasts, and more. [The mind] always picks up on something true. Which is not to say he calculates his lyrics; he doesn’t. My version has a song by Falco on the flip-side, but the label is Gumboots. _g1.setAttribute('src', _g1.getAttribute('data-src') ); The guy in the third verse thinks, “Maybe it’s the third world, maybe it’s his first time around…” I thought it was interesting to combine what was on my mind with that music. With Paul Simon, Chevy Chase. Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941 in Newark, New Jersey) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. So the thing would go along smoothly, then some image would come out that was interesting, then it would go back to this very smooth conversational thing. 5:13. There’s a delightful bass break by Bakithi Kumalo, which was not part of the original arrangement, but suggested by Paul when learning that it was the bassist’s birthday. Other Videos. Only members can comment. As opposed to what you’re thinking. I always have this image in my mind of a road that goes like this: [motions with hands to signify a road that starts narrow and gets wider as it opens out], so that the implication is that the directions are pointing outward. if ( localStorage.getItem(skinItemId ) ) { _g1.setAttribute('srcset', _g1.getAttribute('data-srcset')); It was completed at the Hit Factory in New York with Roy Halee in April of 1986. Check out You Can Call Me Al by Paul Simon on Amazon Music. It’s like a Zen exercise, really. Facebook. "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime," lyrics by Yip Harburg, music by Jay Gorney (1931) They used to tell me I was building a dream, and so I followed the mob, Simon brought those recordings back to his New York City home, where he allowed the energy of the music to inspire the lyrics and melodies. You Can Call Me Al Paul Simon Buy this song. I thought it would be interesting to an African audience, if they could get to the point of hearing it. Tumblr. In The Blue Light. About You Can Call Me Al "You Can Call Me Al" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It didn’t have anything to do with logic or anything; I don’t know where it came from. Catalog number printed on the labels: "7-28667". PAUL SIMON: The act of throwing a ball and catching a ball is so natural and calming.It’s like a Zen exercise, really. Boulez introduced them to his guests as “Al and Betty.” It was the first single from Graceland, and became a hit, launched by the famous music video with Chevy Chase. That was a technique that I was learning. Paul Simon’s Concert In The Park. Rob Mounsey, who played synth, also arranged and conducted the nine-piece horn section (five trumpets, two trombones, baritone and bass saxophones). View credits, reviews, tracks and shop for the 1986 Vinyl release of "You Can Call Me Al" on Discogs. Twitter. Google+. The Complete Albums Collection. Tumblr. You Can Call Me Al, 7", Single, Spe, 9 28667-7, 7-28667, You Can Call Me Al, 7", Single, 928 667-7, You Can Call Me Al, 7", Single, Pap, W8667, 928 667-7. Because as soon as your mind knows that it’s on, and it’s supposed to produce some lines, either it doesn’t or it produces things that are very predictable.And that’s why I say I’m not interested in writing something that I thought about; I’m interested in discovering where my mind wants to go or what object it wants to pick up. The Paul Simon Collection: On My Way, Don’t Know Where I’m Going. PAUL SIMON: The act of throwing a ball and catching a ball is so natural and calming. If you'll be my bodyguard I can be your long-lost pal I can call you Betty And Betty, when you call me You can call me Al Call me Al A man walks down the street It's a street in a strange world Maybe it's the third world Maybe it's his first time around He doesn't speak the … It was the lead single from his seventh studio album, Graceland (1986), released on Warner Bros. Records. ... You Can Call Me Al Audio Preview The Concert in Hyde Park. My copy of this has the label for Peter Cetera - Glory of Love on side one. [1] La canción originalmente debutó en los EE. Other Videos. _g1.setAttribute('src', _g1.getAttribute('data-src') ); And they did, once the album became a big hit. An illustration of a magnifying glass. _g1 = document.getElementById('g1-logo-inverted-img'); Why am I soft in the middle? What you’re determined to say is filled with all your rationalizations and your defenses, and all of that what you want to say to the world. Beerbelly, BeerbellyGet these mutts away from meYou know, I don’t find this stuff amusing anymoreIf you’ll be my bodyguardI can be your long lost palI can call you BettyAnd Betty, when you call me, you can call me Al2. _g1.setAttribute('srcset', _g1.getAttribute('data-srcset')); Albums. And by the time you get to the third verse, and people have been into the song long enough, now you can start to throw abstract images. “A Train in the Distance” is in itself that kind of speech: “Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance; everybody thinks it’s true.” That is imagery, and that’s the title.So by the time I got to Graceland,  I was trying to let that kind of enriched language flow naturally in the course of it, so that you wouldn’t really notice it as much. They’re going to sit down, get settled in their seat. 4:46. You want your mind to wander and to pick up words and phrases, and fool around with them and drop them. Too many things are coming; the music is coming, the rhythm is coming; all kinds of information that the brain is sorting out. In The Blue Light. Pinterest. Devorah Wicker. It’s whimsical, rhythmically infectious, poetic and conversational, all before it expands into a whole other realm. See what's new with book lending at the Internet Archive. A man walks down the streetIt’s a street in a strange worldMaybe it’s the third worldMaybe it’s his first time aroundDoesn’t speak the languageHe holds no currencyHe is a foreign manHe is surrounded by the sound, the soundCattle in the marketplaceScatterings and orphanagesHe looks around, aroundHe sees angels in the architectureSpinning in infinityHe says, “Amen and Hallelujah!”If you’ll be my bodyguardI can be your long lost palI can call you BettyAnd Betty, when you call me, you can call me Al. I always think it is funny when I hear this song, as the singer (Paul Simon) implores you to call him “Al”, despite his name actually being “Paul Simon”. Twitter. UU. Over The Bridge Of Time: A Paul Simon Retrospective (1964-2011) Graceland. Simon wrote the song using a new approach to lyrics, which combined colloquial speech with abstract, “enriched” language. } For Simon, this turned out to be a happy accident. “Hearts and Bones” is more of that. Songwriter. All the songs for Graceland, unlike his previous work written with voice and guitar, were written to tracks he and his friend, the producer-engineer Roy Halee, recorded in Africa. Songs From The Capeman. So now you have this guy who’s no longer thinking about the mundane thoughts, about whether he’s getting too fat, whether he needs a photo opportunity or whether he’s afraid of the dogs in the moonlight and the graveyard,  and he’s off in: “Listen to the sound, look what’s going on… there’s cattle and scatterlings…And these sounds are very fantastic. You Can Call Me Al Paul Simon Tempo: 128 bpm [Intro] Keyboard cue Bass F C Gm F C F C Gm C F C Gm F C F C Gm C [Verse 1] F C A man walks down the street, Gm C he says why am I soft in the mi So Beautiful or So What. The second verse is really a recapitulation of the first: A man walks down the street he says… another thing. A man walks down the streetHe says, “Why am I short of attention?Got a short little span of attentionAnd, whoa, my nights are so longWhere’s my wife and family?What if I die here?Who’ll be my role modelNow that my role model is gone, gone?”He ducked back down the alleyWith some roly-poly little bat-faced girlAll along, alongThere were incidents and accidentsThere were hints and allegations3. Simon and his first wife Peggy arrived, meeting their host at the door, who evidently had no clue who they were. You’re not going to come in there and work real hard right away. var _g1; Enter the American Songwriter Lyric Contest. About You Can Call Me Al "You Can Call Me Al" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. Songs From The Capeman. It’s really silly!! Bakithi improvised the fast fretless break, which Roy sonically doctored in New York; he used the first half of the phrase, then reversed it for the second half, creating a musical palindrome. “[“Rene & Georgette] Magritte” has more of that. if ( localStorage.getItem(skinItemId ) ) { The Paul Simon Collection: On My Way, Don’t Know Where I’m Going. It goes “phooomp,” and that’s the end. Dave from Cardiff, Wales Chevy Chase was a great choice for the video - many people have claimed in the past that they dislike filming videos with Paul Simon because he's quite tall and dwarfs tham, but in the video for "You Can Call Me Al" he looked about a foot smaller than Chevy Chase! One of the tracks recorded entirely at the Hit Factory was the album's first single, 'You Can Call Me Al', whose lyrics dealing with identity crisis were inspired by a party that Paul Simon had attended with then-wife, Peggy Harper, where the host mistakenly addressed them as 'Al' and 'Betty'. You Can Call Me Al. And that’s the end of the song. Jazz musician Morris Goldberg played the other solo on the song on a penny whistle. The lead single off of Paul Simon’s album Graceland, “You Can Call Me Al” was a hit in the UK in September 1986. Written by Simon, its lyrics follow an individual seemingly experiencing a midlife crisis. Written by Simon, its lyrics follow an individual seemingly experiencing a midlife crisis. A line drawing of the Internet Archive headquarters building façade. You Can Call Me Al est une chanson de Paul Simon parue en 1986 sur l'album Graceland.Elle est également parue en single et a rencontré un grand succès, se classant 4 e au Royaume-Uni) et 23 e aux États-Unis.. In The Blue Light. ], It’s like a baseball diamond; there’s more and more space out here as opposed to like [motions an inverted road growing more narrow], because if it’s like this at this point in the song, you’re out of options.So you want to have that first line that has a lot of options to get you going. Nothing Simon does is random. A concert given in Zimbabwe, Africa, by singer Paul Simon, featuring such South African musicians as Miriam Makeba and Hugh Masakela. And as a lyricist, my job is to find out what it is that I’m thinking. Lyrics to 'You Can Call Me Al' by Paul Simon: A man walks down the street He says, Why am I soft in the middle now? var _g1; When it happens and I’m the audience and I react, I have faith in that because I’m already reacting. _g1 = document.getElementById('g1-logo-mobile-inverted-source'); It starts off very easily with sort of a joke: “Why am I soft in the middle when the rest of my life is so hard?” It’s a joke, with very easy words. April 18, 2020, 12:11 pm. Their concentration is not even there. Especially if it’s a rhythm tune. And at a certain point, when the brain is loping along easily, then you come up with the first kind of thought or image that’s different. Does anyone else think this song from a Broadway musical influenced Paul Simon when he wrote, "You can call me Al"? Check out the tab » ... You Can Call Me Al – Paul Simon. Albums. It was the lead single from his seventh studio album, Graceland (1986), released on Warner Bros. Records. Its lyrics were partially inspired by Simon's trip to South Africa and experience with its culture. It may be just as good, but it’s more fun to discover it.”To get to the right place to allow that discovery to occur, he’d listen to the music while tossing a baseball against the wall, and catching it. _g1 = document.getElementById('g1-logo-mobile-inverted-img'); Directed by Gary Weis. Allied styrene pressing: You Can Call Me Al The music video for the song "You Can Call Me Al" by an American musician Paul Simon from the 1986 album "Graceland". When the rest of my life is so hard! referencing You Can Call Me Al, 7", Single, Spe, 9 28667-7, 7-28667 I always think it is funny when I hear this song, as the singer (Paul Simon) implores you to call him “Al”, despite his name actually being “Paul Simon”. You Can Call Me Al (from The Concert in Hyde Park) Facebook. Are you a songwriter? Denzil Dylan. I need a photo-opportunity It was the lead single from his seventh studio album, Graceland (1986), released on Warner Bros. Records. How to play } catch(e) {}, by A man walks down the streetHe says, “Why am I soft in the middle, now?Why am I soft in the middle?The rest of my life is so hardI need a photo-opportunityI want a shot at redemptionDon’t want to end up a cartoonIn a cartoon graveyard”Bonedigger, BonediggerDogs in the moonlightFar away from my well-lit doorMr. You Can Call Me Al - Paul Simon and Sting - San Jose, California 2014. try { You Can Call Me Al es una canción de Paul Simon, el primer sencillo de su álbum Graceland. I’ve already been the audience.”, “But if I make it up,” he continued, “knowing where it’s going, it’s not as much fun. Check out the official music video for "You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon Paul Simon's official audio for 'You Can Call Me Al'. I was trying to learn how to be able to write vernacular speech and then intersperse it with enriched language, and then go back to vernacular. The Essential Paul Simon. You Can Call Me AlBy Paul Simon 1. Whereas in Graceland,  I tried to do it where you wouldn’t notice it, where you sort of passed the line and then it was over. “You Can Call Me Al,” the video with Chevy Chase. I think in Hearts and Bones, you could feel it was coming. The first line of a song is very hard. "You Can Call Me Al" is a song by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. A man walks down the street It’s a street in a strange world Maybe it’s the third world Maybe it’s his first time around He doesn’t speak the … And look at the buildings – there’s angels in the architecture. I don’t have to question it. Paul Zollo } This song is available on: The Complete Albums Collection. Google+. You’re The One. Pinterest. 3:53. you can call me al - central park 1991 - paul simon and chevy chase.