Forum Mainpage

Start a new Thread

Bottom

Page: [1] [2] [3] [4]

Thomas
May-06-2005, 18:48 GMT
IP:
Netherlands

I think the fact that the quality of the beauty of the word by Paul Simon is huge isn´t interesting for your research but it is the truth. Look at the "favourite lines" in the fan databse by each person and everybody has an other beautifull sentence. This combined with great music makes Paul Simon one of the best musicians ever. Because I´m pretty young (just 18, YIPPIE), so i might give my opinion about the prototype Paul Simon fan.

1. I can be wrong, but I think there are more and more young people who listen to older musicians. Paul Simon is part of the group older musicians.

2. I think most Paul Simon fans had/have a good education. If I look at my country, the youth on the "normal" high school listen to the new music. Music which is promoted with a lot of commercials and stuff. Youth with a better education then the "normal" school are not influenced by the commercials and they check what kind of music there was in the past. They listen to Paul Simon and it could be possible they like it. They don´t care what the group like, but what THEY like. That´s typical of the higher-educationyouth. You can see that in everything, not only in taste of music.

My conclusion of the prototype Paul Simon fan if you check the YOUTH:

Paul Simon fans have a better education.

(That´s what I think)

Beth
May-06-2005, 23:23 GMT
IP:
USA - United Staates America

I think that anyone who likes poetry likes the songs of Paul Simon......In the early 70´s, I used the poetry of PS to teach poetry to my high school English students.....I also liked the harmony of the voices of S&G which was so melodic....I was actually upset when the duo split as I enjoyed listening to them and couldn´t fathom anything better down the road.....there was some reluctance with enjoying Paul´s first solo album.....I was not open to this new experience.....the eyes of PS kept looking at me from the cover of that first solo album...and I would look back telling him that this was a big mistake....It may not have been til Graceland that Paul had me totally hooked again...and I saw him in concert on the Rhythm Of The Saints Tour in Feb. 1991...and I began to realize that what he has had to say since the days of S&G keeps getting better...it has been totally his voice...not a duo....I think the latest album, YTO, speaks to Paul´s and my generation.....and is my favorite album...to date....I shook his hand during that tour at the Columbus, Ohio concert...he winked at me before he left the stage.....the highlight of my many years of Love and admiration for this man....I saw the S&G Friends Tour both fall and summer which was a nice diversion for Paul...and was a beautiful tribute to these two and the songs of PS....and I look forward to his music yet to come...I am a college professor who has an autographed picture of Paul on top of the file cabinet in my office and a poster of him advertising YTO on the wall.....the first things anyone sees as they come in the door....I have no idea if I fit the PS type....and I really don´t care.....Just let him keep making music as long as he enjoys it...and continue to tour...there is nothing like that personal experience of seeing him on stage.....

Kathys_song65
May-07-2005, 00:23 GMT
IP:
USA - United Staates America

@ Eileen:
Ah, I see :) Actually, I´m one of his younger fans (I´m 14). So far I fit Klausi´s description, except for my age. You´re right, my favorite of his music (so far at least) is with Artie.
I listen to Paul because it´s good. What people my age are listening to is just crap, imho. Paul´s music has a meaning, and it has variety, unlike a lot of music out there.
Oh gosh, I wish I could get my feelings out easily. There´s a whole lot to say, and for a non-literary such as myself, it´s really hard to say what I need to say... :/

Travis
May-07-2005, 06:45 GMT
IP:
USA - United Staates America

I´m 18 and a high school student. I would say that I am one of maybe three or four in my high school of over 2,000 who has taken the time to listen to any Paul Simon solo albums outside of Graceland (still few there). Though some kids listen to older music at my high school, it seldom goes past Led Zeppelin albums and Dark Side of the Moon. I like Paul Simon for his voice, his lyrics and his melodies. No artist captures my moods better than Paul. Many kids my age cannot listen to a song unless it has "power chords" like Green Day. People litening to my Paul collection have said it puts them to sleep. Many no nothing more about Paul past him and Art singing Mrs. Robinson and Sound of Silence. Many on this website show optimism about the youth liking Paul´s music but I am more stunned at the lack of interest of a man that stands above all at songwriting. Hopefully other high schools around the world are different than mine (I will find out at college next year thankfully), but I feel a lack of open mindedness and attention span coming from most youth I have encountered. Hopefully this message wasn´t too negative, I do feel Paul´s music was put on this earth to be celebrated.

Travis
May-07-2005, 06:47 GMT
IP:
USA - United Staates America

Don´t get me wrong Led Zepplin and Pink Floyd are amazing as well.

Klausi
May-07-2005, 07:50 GMT
IP:
Germany

I saw some here misunderstood what I wanted to say. It`s what most people say here.

I saw Simon in concert about 15 times. And I saw others (Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, Suzanne Vega (For me very like Simon apart from being female), Mark Knopfler 2 weeks ago (Audience very similar to Simons), Elton John, Neil Young, Jethro Tull, and many others).

The Simon visitors are astonishingly mixed regarding age, polite, almost shy, sensitive and intelligent, as far as I can say.

I never feared any act of violence and saw so much enthusiasm at the same time.

The greatest disappointment was Sting. He makes good music, but as we as the only ones sat behind him(because only there you could sit), we could see that his speaker was really a monitor, where all his lyrics ran simultaneously to his singing. Even the best songwriter can forget part of his lyrics in a concert, as Simon (very rarely). But reading them? Also nearly every minute, a young girl was "handed over" from the crowd, unconscious in view of this beautiful man. I felt Old there, though younger than the star.

Klausi
May-07-2005, 08:49 GMT
IP:
Germany

There is another point already mentioned here:

Let`s say I know from about 100 people, what music they like. I guess more, several school classes etc. etc.

I don`t know any other PS-Fan.

But I also don`t know anyone, who doesn`t like at least one of his songs.

There is no other big pop-star who defines himself so exclusively through his very big variety of good music.

So likely most Simon-fans have also songs of him they don`t like (but don`t admit?)

Well, I don`t like songs like Cars Are Cars...

miriam
May-07-2005, 11:01 GMT
IP:
Germany

Hmm, I´m not sure if good education is characteristic for a Simon fan. I mean, I don´t know how you define well-educated - I don´t consider myself as well-educated in the sense of knowing much about history, maths (LOL!) etc, I had the same education like hundreds of others in my school and they have a worse musical taste than I ;-)
I rather believe most younger people come across Simon´s music by accident (like me), and then they discover they like it and it´s different from the usual stuff. And yes, maybe being good at English helps you to think about his lyrics and makes you discover that they might be something you can identify yourself with. At least that was the case with me :-)

miriam
May-07-2005, 11:08 GMT
IP:
Germany

@Klausi: I saw Knopfler too (in Frankfurt), and I must say I didn´t have the feeling his audience has very much in common with Paul´s...Most people were looking bored and some of them didn´t even seem to be very intelligent...The problem with Knopfler´s fans is that most of them, especially the older ones, go to his concerts to hear the Old Dire Straits hits, whereas Simon´s fans seem to be more open-minded. I never saw one audience member at a Simon concert leaving to get a beer because he was playing a boring new song.

Klausi
May-07-2005, 14:06 GMT
IP:
Germany

Hello Miriam, you must have seen my girlfriend and me, but there were intelligent people too.

I agree, that there was no much entusiasm in the crowd, but the star did a great job, playing more relaxed than on his records. He obviously regards himself as guitar player, since his two electric guitars really were the main point, also had the best sound and light.

He is not a great singer and knows that, but he also is not a showman.

And the title song was the only one from "Brothers in arms". Not a Greatest Hits-Show.

But with "Sultans of swing". This song became popular in a similar way than "The sound of silence". It was made to a hit by radio-disc-jockeys with a sense for something extraordinary good (and new).

The variety of tempo and musical styles is nearly as big as in Simon-concerts.

By the way: I regularly manage to have a beer in concerts. Last time, at Simon and Garfunkel in Cologne, I went to get it myself.

Marieno
May-07-2005, 15:16 GMT
IP:
France

I don´t believe that Simon´s fans are necessarily well-educated or that they like poetry and so on: this is a caricature...Am i well-educated? i discovered Paul´s music when i was 14, i was an average schoolgirl in an average school in an average suburb...so...Do i like poetry? i must admit that i used to read poetry...for my homework...so...But i think i was open-minded to his music because i was (am) the youngest children of my family, my elder sister was (are) 9 years older than me, so i´ve always had adult tastes...
By the way Klausi, as i said before, i don´t read poetry (i prefer theater), so i´ve never tried to write poetry or anything else, i don´t want to sleep with Mick Jagger but i have nothing against a Paul "beginning of the 80´s" style...I know, i know, you only quoted Paul, but a Paul "S&G in the late 60´s" style...:-)

Klausi
May-07-2005, 16:43 GMT
IP:
Germany

Hi Kathys_song 65.

It would really be difficult to play without your left arm.

Paul Simon had a problem with his right hand around 1973 (calcium deposit or something like that).

So he tried to play left-handed, since he is a left handed base-ball-player. Didn`t work at all, he said.

And with the right hand, but without the whole left arm?

Let`s treat this instrument as we are used to, and hope Nobody will hear it.

Eileen
May-08-2005, 06:28 GMT
IP:
USA - United Staates America

Well, obviously its possible to like, say, Van Halen and Paul Simon? But when you choose to put in one CD over the other, what are your motives? For example, is there room for rebellion in Paul Simon? Or is his music more of an appeal to the need to calm yourself from rebellion once in a while (specifically for the young audience.) I remember when I was in highschool, I was incredibly rebellious, and I still liked Paul Simon...but I also really liked AC/DC, and others. But I remember listening to Paul Simon becuase he addressed issues such as teenage angst but he also managed to soothe them, as oppose to get me riled up which is more what AC/DC was for...any thoughts?

Micky
May-08-2005, 07:48 GMT
IP:
United Kingdom

Hi Eileen

I was brought up listening to Simon & Garfunkel. I have a strong memory of myself and my sister putting the Greatest Hits album on the record player and enjoying the music.

"Bridge..." lefts it´s imprint on me, that´s for sure, because about 10 years ago now, my brother-in-law fetched the CD and I had a listen. Except for like "Bridge.." "The Boxer" and one or two others, the other tracks where never played on the radion, but it all came back to me as I listened to the CD play. I remembered every single track. That´s when mum told me that they had both "Bridge..." and "The Greatest Hits" albums and Myself and Lolly would play them to death :-)

What is really funny is that the first Paul Simon album I listened to was "Graceland" and at the time I never made the connection with Simon & Garfunkel and so I was doubly happy when I realised who he was.

For me, Paul is one of the best Singer Songwriters of our time. His songs are simple and yet extremely complex. And even the songs that don´t first grab me, get me in the end. When I heard "Rhythm..." at his 1991 tour I was struck...don´t know why, just wasn´t. But by the end of the concert I was hucked. The next day, on my way home, I did a rare thing. Impulsed bought an album and listened to it o the train home....That was it, Paul Simon had got me totally.

So, even though he has been with me through out my whole life, it wasn´t until 1991 he totally got me.

Well, I hope that does for you Eileen :-) My heads a shed at the moment, had a very long week and I´ve been awake since 6:15 am.

Have funs...

Hugs

Micky

gypsy
May-08-2005, 10:26 GMT
IP:
United Kingdom

sorry if i misinterpreted what you said Klausi, was in a feminist mood that day;-)

I think that most PS fans are well-educated but not always in the "well-schooled" sense of the word. You can still be really smart, without going to university or whatever. I think typically, Simon fans like books and/or poetry, which makes most of them well-educated.

as for the age issue, i only know of a few peole my age (16) who like PS or S&G, but i think most people would like hits like Mrs Robinson, if they actually had the oppurtunity to listen to them more often. In the steel band i play in, Bridge is a favourite amongst most of us even though it´s really difficult to play. (People in the band are aged between 14 and 20.)

Page: [1] [2] [3] [4]

Forum Mainpage

Start a new Thread

Top