Paul Simon Quotes

Being an artist doesn't mean that you're a good artist. That was the bargain I first made with myself: I'd say, I'm an artist, but I'm not really very good.

Between the ages of 15 and 22, I had made only one very minor hit, so I expected everything to be a flop. I was utterly amazed that The Sound of Silence was a big hit.

Both of us had a significant amount of studio time prior to our Columbia recording days. I did a lot of demos.

By the time I was 12 or 13, I felt that I was special, because I could play the guitar and write songs.

Cecilia was made in a living room on a Sony. It was like a little piece of magical fluff, bur it works. El Condor Pasa a Los Incas record that I love. Bridge is a very strong melodic song.

Central Park was done because there was an overwhelming demand. People seemed to like those songs, which I found surprising, because I felt they were dated.

A phenomenon occurs but because you're in the middle of it, you just think it's your life-until it's over. And then you look back and say, What an unusual thing happened to me in the '60s.


After all those years of automatic success, you don't get nervous any more. It's really necessary to be nervous and be a little bit frightened. It pumps the adrenalin into you and you really get down there and try.


Although I was able to study music with teachers, I never studied lyric writing. I read poetry, and I read other lyricists. But they were never writing in the style or the form that I was interested in.


An artistic bent is innate. Then there are those who work on their technique, because good art has a lot to do with technique. And that can be learned.


Artie is a singer, and I'm a writer and player and a singer. We didn't work together on a creative level and prepare the songs. I did that.


Artie made the kind of records that he wanted to make, and that's a real achievement. The drag of it was that people didn't buy them in sufficient numbers for him to feel that he was successful.


Artie travels all the time. The rehearsals were just miserable. Artie and I fought all the time. He didn't want to do the show with my band; he just wanted me on acoustic guitar.


Artie wanted to do a Bach chorale thing, which I didn't want to do. We were fightin' over which was gonna be the 12th song, and then I said, put it out with 11 songs.


As I got older, I got better-looking. Which is the reverse of what happens to most people. I lost weight. I worked on my hair so it would look better.

Having a track record to live up to and the history of successes had become a hindrance. It becomes harder to break out of what people expect you to do.

How much can you do with two voices? You can sing thirds or you can sing fifths or you can do a background harmony.


I did Loves Me with a Gospel quartet. I went to Alabama to play with the Muscle Shoals rhythm section. I was the first white pop artist to play with them.

I didn't get how big it was until I went home, turned on the television and saw it on all the news, and later that night on the front pages of all the newspapers. Then I got it.


I didn't particularly like sweet, soft music. That is Artie's taste. There's nothing wrong with that; there's a place for lushness. It's not generally the way I go.

I don't consider myself to be a major talent, so the only solace I can take is to hope I'm growing.