Background

Many months ago, I couldn’t get out of work soon enough.

On my favorite mass transit sat a young lady.

I interrogated her on what she does, she said she is an editor for a publisher.

Asked her what type of books.

She replied that they often have different layers.

As she described the different twists, admittedly, she lost me, a bit.

Videos

1. The Cool, Cool River
   • Videos
     • Video #1
       Channel:- Paul Simon
       Uploaded:- 2014-November-8th
       Link
2. The Obvious Child
   • Videos
     • Video #1
       Channel:- Paul Simon
       Uploaded:- 2011-June-16th
       Link

Lyrics

The Cool, Cool River

Link

Moves like a fist through traffic
Anger and no one can heal it
Shoves a little bump into the momentum
It’s just a little lump
But you feel it
In the creases and the shadows
With a rattling, deep emotion
The cool, cool river
Sweeps the wild, white ocean

Yes, Boss–the government handshake
Yes, Boss–the crusher of language
Yes, Boss–Mr. Stillwater
The face at the edge of the banquet
The cool, the cool river
The cool, the cool river

I believe in the future
I may live in my car
My radio tuned to
The voice of a star
Song dogs barking at the break of dawn
Lightning pushes the edge of a thunderstorm
And these old hopes and fears
Still at my side

Anger and no one can heal it
Slides through the metal detector
Lives like a mole in a motel
A slide in a slide projector
The cool, cool river
Sweeps the wild, white ocean
The rage, the rage of love turns inward
To become prayers of devotion
And these prayers are
The constant road across the wilderness
These prayers are
These prayers are the memory of God
The memory of God

And I believe in the future
We shall suffer no more
Maybe not in my lifetime
But in yours, I feel sure
Song dogs barking at the break of dawn
Lightning pushes the edges of a thunderstorm
And these streets
Quiet as a sleeping army
Send their battered dreams to heaven, to heaven
For the mother’s restless son
Who is a witness to, who is a warrior
Who denies his urge to break and run

Who says, “Hard times?
I’m used to them
The speeding planet burns
I’m used to that
My life’s so common it disappears”
And sometimes even music
Cannot substitute for tears

©1990 Words and Music by Paul Simon

The Obvious Child

Link

Well, I’ve been waking up at sunrise
I’ve been following the light across my room
I watch the night receive the room of my day
Some people say the sky is just the sky
But I say
“Why deny the obvious child?
Why deny the obvious child?”

Sonny sits by his window and thinks to himself
How it’s strange that some rooms are like cages
Sonny’s yearbook from high school
Is down on the shelf
And he idly thumbs through the pages
Some have died
Some have fled from themselves
Or struggled from here to get there
Sonny wanders beyond his interior walls
Runs his hands through his thinning brown hair

Summary

Life is hard enough.

Pity your readers and listeners.

Make good plain, and bad plainer.