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PAUL SIMON RETURNS TO OLD FAVORITES WITH NEW ALBUM ‘IN THE BLUE LIGHT’
Written by broebling on July 12, 2018
Paul Simon will take another pass at several of his favorite – and, in some cases, lesser known – songs on a new LP called In the Blue Light. He co-produced this studio project with longtime collaborator Roy Halee; it’s due on Sept. 7.
“This album consists of songs that I thought were almost right or were odd enough to be overlooked the first time around,” Simon said in a news release. “Redoing arrangements, harmonic structures and lyrics that didn’t make their meaning clear gave me time to clarify in my own head what I wanted to say, or realize what I was thinking and make it more easily understood.”
He reached back to selected songs from 1973’s There Goes Rhymin’ Simon, 1975’s Still Crazy After All These Years, 1980’s One-Trick Pony, 1983’s Hearts and Bones, 1990’s The Rhythm of the Saints, 2000’s You’re the One and 2011’s So Beautiful or So What, transforming them with new arrangements and guest stars, including Wynton Marsalis and Bill Frisell. A complete track listing is below.
Watch Paul Simon Discuss ‘In the Blue Light’
“It’s an unusual occurrence for an artist to have the opportunity to revisit earlier works and rethink them; to modify, even completely change parts of the originals,” Simon said. “Happily, this opportunity also gave me the gift of playing with an extraordinary group of musicians, most of whom I hadn’t recorded with before. I hope the listener will find these new versions of old songs refreshed, like a new coat of paint on the walls of an old family home.”
In the Blue Light arrives during the final leg of Simon’s Homeward Bound farewell tour. His last show is Sept. 22.
Paul Simon, ‘In the Blue Light’ Track Listing
“One Man’s Ceiling is Another Man’s Floor”
“Love”
“Can’t Run But”
“How the Heart Approaches What It Yearns
“Pigs, Sheep and Wolves
“René and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War”
“The Teacher”
“Darling Lorraine”
“Some Folks’ Lives Roll Easy”
“Questions for the Angels”
