2/23/2024 0 Comments Keep it simple simonIt's not hard to understand why Simon rearranges his greatest hits. By contrast, 'Love Me Like a Rock' actually benefits from a bit of doo-wop. 'Me and Julio down by the Schoolyard' comes out bizarrely brash, with three guitarists making a great din of strumming. On 'You're the One' the lines 'You are the air/ Inside my chest' make time stand still for a second.īut most songs tonight seem to be struggling to free themselves from some awful instrument shop calamity. Having this many players onstage makes a lot of things possible, not least some gorgeous, multi-part vocal harmonies. Guitarist Vincent Nguini is an especially lovely, fluid player. But within a few bars in come the accordions or the unsuitable rhythms or some other extraneous muso wheeze. Some songs begin simply, with lovely acapella vocals (like the set opener, 'Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes') or with Simon playing his acoustic guitar. 'Slip Sliding Away' creaks under the weight of six players, adding muted horns and layers of guitar and keyboards. 'Boy in the Bubble', one of the singles that re-established Simon's reputation as a pop force in the Eighties, is almost unrecognisable - an aggressive, reverb-drenched trip-hop rendition. His lilies come in for some serious, superfluous gilding. But the song's arrangements - tailored to fit his voluble, six-strong band - are consistently challenging. (Well, except for one on the new album where he gushes about his 11-year-old ('Father and Daughter'). Throughout, his subdued, effortless singing voice sounds exactly as you remember it, warm and breezy by turns. He's as happy to sing old favourites like 'Slip Sliding Away' or 'The Boxer' as he is to preview tracks from Surprise like 'How Can You Live in the Northeast?', a song about intolerance that's easily the most appealing from his uneven new offering. Simon's 13-song set draws enthusiastically from all eras of his career, from his latest album, Surprise (out 5 June), from Graceland, Simon's solo smash of 1986, and from his youth with Art Garfunkel. Modernity and the past remain in great tension throughout tonight's gig. Looking around, even the giddy competition winners look like BBC staffers as though their line managers would have a fit if they did something so vulgar as aim their Nokia at the great man. The ballad tells the story of Simple Simon’s adventures after the first day of his marriage with his unkind wife and how some unhappy accidents puts him in a very bad position in front of her cruelty.Īccording to The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (1951) the Simple Simon’s lyrics as known today were first recorded in a historical booklet from 1764.It's a sign of the age and decorum of the audience at this intimate venue that few dare to snap Simon - who turns 65 this year - in the modern manner. The earliest reference of the character is related to an illustrated ballad chap-book from 1685 called “Simple Simon’s Misfortunes and his Wife Margery’s Cruelty” published by a certain L. There is no clear reference about who was Simple Simon. “Simple Simon” is a traditional nursery rhyme dating back to the 18th century England.
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