| If you don't know Paul Simon's Surprise, listen to Outrageous before proceeding. You have to read this blog as it was posted, earliest first. Start with "Cracked 2 More" ('06, Nov.) and then work your way down the list. The fully cracked explanations are in the comments, not in the blogs (for those who want to do their own cracking). |
With this blog and comment, I'll have a complete set. This is the last blog about the first track, and perhaps the toughest. Allow me to start obliquely.
I live in New York's Hudson Valley, west of the river. I grew up in Connecticut about 75 miles due east of here. I like it here.
When the snow melts, snow drops, then forsythia announce a long flower season. July's not too stifling. (It's never too hot if your kayak's in the resevoir.) Maybe the tomato season could be longer, but in fall this is apple country. Macouns (Muh COW ans) compete with Ginger Crisps, Ginger Golds and classics like Empire and Jonathan. Then a "brown as a sparrow" month before snowshoeing and skiing in the Catskills. And when the snow melts ...
Who wouldn't want to live here?
I'm going further when I get to cracking, but first I should confess that I'm of two minds (Yay. Boo.) about this track. Some days I think I've got a good crack, absent a line or two. Other days, I don't think my insights rise to the level of a cracking. Not even close.
Yesterday I asked myself for the millionth time if my insights might not be all wrong. I don't think so. Here's the tally:
Confused: some lines in "How Can You ...", coda to "Everything About It ...", end of "That's Me."
Minor issues: "I Don't Believe", "Once Upon ..."
No issues: "Outrageous", "Sure Don't Feel ...", "Wartime Prayers", "Beautiful", "Another Galaxy", "Father and Daughter"
When I look at the tally, I'm very pleased. The confusion is only in small corners of three songs. The minor issues are minor. Over half have no issues whatsoever. Each time I answer this question, the answer gets more positive.
Well, I've postponed writing the cracking as long as I can. Guess it's time to write that comment. I wonder what I'll say?
P. S. There will be more blogging here. I said I'd postpone the discussion of whether these tracks are songs to a later date. Are they? Yay. Boo. Maybe and maybe and maybe some more.
2 comments:
Let's set aside the fireworks. They reappear in the seventh section (see the annotation at www.CrackingTheSimonCode.org) where we'll be able to discuss them because we'll know more.
That brings us to "How can you live ... How can you be a Christian?..." This is a rant by an angry Simon character. The songpoet answers in the third section (that reprises the music from the fireworks). "Names and religion come / Just after date of birth." The given and family names come literally just after we pop out of the womb. Religion's not so quick, but it works the same way.
We are raised in the religion of our parents. (This is the common case. Essayists can digress with a discussion of parents who do not share a religion. Poets cannot digress without destroying their most important points.) To make it personal, how can I live in the Northeast? Simple. I was born here. (Paul Simon was also born in the Northeast, though in his case it was New York City.)
Given at birth: Tongue to speak? Check. Inner voice? Check. Day at end of week? Check. Note that the sabbath is "to wonder and rejoice" which is critical.
"If the answer is infinite light, ..." I don't believe I get this fully. I don't, in fact, think that "the answer" is infinite light. I'm used to the system where we have light in the day and dark at night. Sleeping in the dark works for me. It's the basic diurnal thing. Does this line show the return of the ranting character?
Next we get a rant repeat. We know it's a Simon-created character because "The holy man only breaks bread" is just plain wrong. Lao-Tse (original Taoist) ate from a rice bowl. Confucius ate from a rice bowl. If I knew anything about Japan's Shinto I'd probably find some more rice bowlers. (This was the first insight that let me into this song.)
Now the fireworks return. When you watch good fireworks you are probably reduced to banalities, like, "Oh, wow!" and "Awesome!". I know I am. They're thrilling. They are something that triggers a feeling of "wonder and rejoice." The broker's call in "I Don't Believe" reminds us that faith can be purely secular. The fireworks are a secular example of "wonder and rejoice." Another example is the "path of stars, / Over the endless skies."
There's that word, "awesome" (poor, over-used, abused word). It means (or meant) filling with awe. The Grand Canyon from the south rim fills you with awe. The cathedral at Chartres fills you with awe. Bach's Prelude and Fugue in D Minor, played with great vigor, fills you with awe. In Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, Rembrandt's "Night Watch" fills you with awe. Surprise fills me with awe. The not-at-all secret purpose of this blog and website is to help others to their share of this awe.
Finally, I dismissed the Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu "How can you..." as a rant. Let's think about it outside the rant. It seems that people all over the world have their religions, whether they break bread, eat from rice bowls or whatever. Simon names the four largest religions plus his own. In "How Can You Live in the Northeast?", Simon is probing something deep in the psyche of the human, the capacity to wonder and rejoice, that was created by, or that impels us to create, religions.
"If the answer is infinite light ..."
Is Simon angry about 9/1/1 here? Muhammad is known as "the infinite light" in Islam.
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