Paul Simon - You Can Call Me Al

 
A man walks down the street,
He says, Why am I soft in the middle now?
Why am I soft in the middle?
The rest of my life is so hard!
I need a photo-opportunity,
I want a shot at redemption!
Don't want to end up a cartoon,
In a cartoon graveyard .....
 
Bonedigger, Bonedigger,
Dogs in the moonlight.
Far away, my well-lit door.
Mr. Beerbelly, Beerbelly,
Get these mutts away from me!
You know, I don't find this stuff amusing anymore ....
 
If you'll be my bodyguard,
I can be your long lost pal!
I can call you Betty,
And Betty, when you call me,
You can call me Al!
 
A man walks down the street,
He says, Why am I short of attention?
Got a short little span of attention,
And whoa, my nights are so long!
Where's my wife and family?
What if I die here?
Who'll be my role-model?
Now that my role-model is ....
Gone ...... gone,
He ducked back down the alley,
With some roly-poly, little bat-faced girl.
All along .... along ....
There were incidents and accidents,
There were hints and allegations .....
 
If you'll be my bodyguard,
I can be your long lost pal!
I can call you Betty,
And Betty, when you call me,
You can call me Al!
Call me Al ......
 
Instrumental
 
A man walks down the street,
It's a street in a strange world.
Maybe it's the Third World.
Maybe it's his first time around.
He doesn't speak the language,
He holds no currency.
He is a foreign man,
He is surrounded by the sound, sound ....
Cattle in the marketplace.
Scatterlings and orphanages.
He looks around, around .....
He sees angels in the architecture,
Spinning in infinity,
He says, Amen! and Hallelujah!
 
If you'll be my bodyguard,
I can be your long lost pal!
I can call you Betty,
And Betty, when you call me,
You can call me Al!
You can call me Al ......
 
na, na, na, na, na etc

 

Graceland

 

The Mississippi delta
Was shining like a national guitar
I am following the river, down the highway
Through the cradle of the Civil War
 
I'm going to Graceland, Graceland
In Memphis, Tennessee
I'm going to Graceland
Poorboys and pilgrims with families
And we are going to Graceland
 
My traveling companion is nine years old
He is the child of my first marriage
But I've reason to believe
We both will be received
In Graceland
 
She comes back to tell me she's gone
As if I didn't know that
As if I didn't know my own bed
As if I'd never noticed
The way she brushed her hair from her forehead
 
And she said losing love
Is like a window in your heart
Everybody sees you're blown apart
Everybody sees the wind blow
 
I'm going to Graceland
Memphis, Tennessee
I'm going to Graceland
Poorboys and Pilgrims with families
And we are going to Graceland
 
And my traveling companions
Are ghosts and empty sockets
I'm looking at ghosts and empties
But I've reason to believe
We all will be received
In Graceland
 
There is a girl in New York City
Who calls herself the human trampoline
And sometimes when I'm falling, flying
Or tumbling in turmoil I say
Whoa, so this is what she means
She means we're bouncing into Graceland
 
And I see losing love
Is like a window in your heart
Everybody sees you're blown apart
Everybody feels the wind blow
 
In Graceland, in Graceland
I'm going to Graceland
For reasons I cannot explain
There's some part of me wants to see Graceland
And I may be obliged to defend
Every love, every ending
Or maybe there's no obligations now
Maybe I've a reason to believe
We all will be received
In Graceland
 
Whoa-oh-oh-oh, in Graceland, in Graceland,in Graceland
I'm going to Graceland

Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard

The mama pajama rolled out of bed
And she ran to the police station
When the papa found out he began to shout
And he started the investigation
It's against the law
It was against the law
What the mama saw
It was against the law
 
The mama looked down and spit on the ground
Everytime my name gets mentioned
The papa said, "Oy, if I get that boy
I'm gonna stick him in the house of detention."
Well I'm on my way
I don't know where I'm going
I'm on my way
 
I'm taking my time
But I don't know where
Goodbye to Rosie the queen of Corona
See you, me and Julio
Down by the schoolyard
See you, me and Julio
Down by the schoolyard
Me and Julio down by the schoolyard
 
In a couple of days they come and take me away
But the press let the story leak
And when the radical priest
Come to get me released
We was all on the cover of Newsweek
And I'm on my way
I don't know where I'm going
I'm on my way
 
I'm taking my time
But I don't know where
Goodbye to Rosie the queen of Corona
See you, me and Julio
Down by the schoolyard
See you, me and Julio
Down by the schoolyard
Me and Julio down by the schoolyard

 

50 Ways To Leave Your Lover

The problem is all inside your head she said to me 
The answer is easy if you take it logically 
I'd like to help you in your struggle to be free 
There must be fifty ways to leave your lover 
 
She said it's really not my habit to intrude 
Furthermore I hope my meaning won't be lost or misconstrued 
But I'll repeat myself, at the risk of being crude 
There must be fifty ways to leave your lover 
Fifty ways to leave your lover 
 
(Chorus:) 
Just Slip out the back, Jack 
Make a new plan, Stan 
You Don't need to be coy, Roy 
Just get yourself free. 
Oh, Hop on the bus, Gus 
Don't need to discuss much 
Just drop of the key, Lee 
And get yourself free 
 
Oeh, Slip out the back, Jack 
Make a new plan, Stan 
You Don't need to be coy, Roy 
Y' just listen to me. 
Hop on the bus, Gus 
You Don't need to discuss much. 
Just drop of the key, Lee 
And get yourself free 
 
She said it grieves me so to see you in such pain 
I wish there was something I could do to make you smile again 
I said I appreciate that, and would you please explain about the fifty ways 
 
She said why don't we both just sleep on it tonight 
And I believe in the morning you'll begin to see the light 
And then she kissed me and I realised she probably was right 
There must be fifty ways to leave your lover 
Fifty ways to leave your lover 
 
(repeat chorus) 

Cecilia

Celia, you're breaking my heart 
You're shaking my confidence daily 
Oh Cecilia, I'm down on my knees 
I'm begging you please, to come home 
 
Celia, you're breaking my heart 
You're shaking my confidence daily 
Oh Cecilia, I'm down on my knees 
I'm begging you please, to come home 
Come on home 
 
Making love in the afternoon 
With Cecilia up in my bedroom 
I got up to wash my face 
When I come back to bed 
Someone's taken my place 
 
Celia, you're breaking my heart 
You're shaking my confidence daily 
Oh Cecilia, I'm down on my knees 
I'm begging you please, to come home 
Come on home 
 
Jubilation, she loves me again 
I fall on the floor and I'm laughing 
Jubilation, she loves me again 
I fall on the floor and I'm laughing 

 

Bridge Over Troubled Water

When you're weary, feeling small, 
when tears are in your eyes, i will dry them all; 
I'm on your side. when times get rough 
and friends just can't be found, 
like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down. 
like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down. 
 
When you're down and out, 
when you're on the street, when evening falls so hard, I will comfort you. 
I will take your part oh, 
When darknes comes 
and pain is all around, 
like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down. 
like a bridge over trouble water I will lay me down. 
 
Sail on silvergirl, 
sail on by. 
your time has come to shine. 
All your dreams are on their way. 
See how they shine. 
Oh, if you need a friend I'm sailing right behind 
Like a bridge over troubled water I will ease your mind 
Like a bridge over troubled water I will ease your mind 

 

Mrs. Robinson

And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson 
Jesus loves you more than you will know 
Woh, woh, woh 
God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson 
Heaven holds a place for those who pray 
Hey, hey, hey 
Hey, hey, hey 
 
We'd like to know a little bit about you for our files 
We'd like to help you learn to help yourself 
Look around you, all you see are symphatetic eyes 
Stroll around the grounds 
ds until you feel at home 
 
And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson 
Jesus loves you more than you will know
Woh, woh, woh 
God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson 
Heaven holds a place for those who pray 
Hey, hey, hey 
Hey, hey, hey 
 
Hiding in a hiding-place where no one ever goes 
Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes 
It's a little secret, just the Robinson's affair 
Most of all you've got to hide it from the kids 
 
Coo coo ca-choo, Mrs. Robinson 
Jesus loves you more than you will know 
Woh, woh, woh 
God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson 
Heaven holds a place for those who pray 
Hey, hey, hey 
Hey, hey, hey 
 
Sitting on a sofa on a sunday afternoon 
Going to the candidate's debate 
Laugh about it, shout about it 
When you've got to choose 
Every way you look at it you lose 
 
Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? 
Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you, woo woo woo 
What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson? 
Joltin' Joe has left and gone away 
Hey hey hey 
Hey hey hey 

 

The Sound Of Silence

 

Hello darkness, my old friend;
I've come to talk with you again.
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains within the sound of silence.
 
In restless dreams I walked alone, 
Narrow streets of cobblestone.
'Neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night, and touched the sound of silence.
 
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never shared. 
And no one dared disturb the sound of silence.
 
"Fools," said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might lead you."
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed in the wells of silence.
 
And the people bowed and prayed 
To the neon god they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets
are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls, and whispered in the sounds of silence."