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| Headline | Inspiration for I am a rock |
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| Author | Comment |
joopdehoop
Dec-14-2006, 17:01 GMT
IP:
Netherlands
 | Can someone tell me more about what inspired Paul Simon to write the song I Am A Rock? I work on a documentary about a Dutch painter/writer called Jan Cremer. He lived in New York in the mid sixties and was supposedly acquainted to people like Bob Dylan and also Paul Simon. Jan Cremer claims "I am a rock" was inspired by his personality. |
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Dave C
Dec-14-2006, 18:07 GMT
IP:
United Kingdom
 | He must be a bundle of laughs then |
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Hawkeye
Dec-14-2006, 18:49 GMT
IP:
USA - United Staates America
 | That´s possible, but the tune is at least partially based on a John Donne poem called "No Man is an Island."
I actually heard this song playing at a sushi restaurant last night. |
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Ans
Dec-14-2006, 19:08 GMT
IP:
Netherlands
| I doubt that it is true what Jan Cremer claims. AFAIK the song "I Am A Rock" was written in England an on Paul´s first solo album "The Paul Simon Songbook" which was released in England in 1965. |
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Brandy
Dec-15-2006, 21:49 GMT
IP:
Canada
 | Actually, it was taken from one of John Donne´s sermons, as he turned away from poetry and became a preacher later in life. Paul twisted Donne´s famous claim that, "No man is an Island . . . etc . . . therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee." (American writer Ernest Hemingway used the latter part of that saying for the name of one of his novels).
I suppose Paul knew about that sermon because he studied English Literature, and so he probably read about Donne at some point or another. You know, I´m actually surprised that Paul never wrote a book of poetry or a novel himself -- I think he´d be good at it. |
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Bodo
Dec-16-2006, 23:14 GMT
IP:
Austria
 | Oh, I´m happy that Paul never wrote a book and writes more music - he is so slow at writting, I think it will take about 20 years until he has finished a complete book of 200 pages ;-)
And the other point is - everything artistical Paul did beside recording studio albums was a big flop (the movie, the musical) |
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nancy
Dec-16-2006, 23:41 GMT
IP:
USA - United Staates America
| Just because they weren´t successful doesn´t mean they weren´t good-I loved the movie and the music from the Capeman. |
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Bodo
Dec-17-2006, 11:16 GMT
IP:
Austria
| I Love the ´music´ from the Capeman too - but I have never seen the musical. If the musical is like the movie OTP then I understand why it was such a big flop.
Also I like the music for One Trick Pony, but the movie itself is only loved by Pauls die-hard fans. If you look critical at it then it could have been better for Paul to write another album in that 5 years.
Isn´t it interesting, after big success (Still Crazy After All These Years, Graceland- ROTS) Paul always starts to do something different from music which takes him a few years.
So maybe it was good that Surprise is not nominated for Grammy :-) |
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miriam
Dec-17-2006, 15:46 GMT
IP:
Germany
 | Wow, I didn´t know "I Am A Rock" was inspired by a poem...It´s amazing how I still learn new facts about Paul after all these years of being a fan :-)) |
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Simon Dooker
Dec-18-2006, 15:19 GMT
IP:
United Kingdom
| Well certainly not in the same way that "Richard Cory" definitely was.Literary references abound in Pauls songwriting during this period , and trying to pinpoint actual inspirations for particular songs is difficult.Like with "Homeward Bound" there is mythology upon mythology. What is not a myth though is Paul dismissing IAAR as my most "neurotic" song,and scarcely believing he could be that "sick" when he wrote it. However he still thought fit to include it in the setlist for the live YTO video in Paris. An altered chunkier version which still holds up well in the setting. |
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Simon Dooker
Dec-18-2006, 15:19 GMT
IP:
United Kingdom
| Well certainly not in the same way that "Richard Cory" definitely was.Literary references abound in Pauls songwriting during this period , and trying to pinpoint actual inspirations for particular songs is difficult.Like with "Homeward Bound" there is mythology upon mythology. What is not a myth though is Paul dismissing IAAR as my most "neurotic" song,and scarcely believing he could be that "sick" when he wrote it. However he still thought fit to include it in the setlist for the live YTO video in Paris. An altered chunkier version which still holds up well in the setting. |
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