Hearts and Bones
Sep 13th, 2006 at 8:22 pm by Susie
This Paul Simon song (from the vastly underrated album of the same name) might be the most beautiful broken-hearted song ever. I was interviewing Maggie Roche once (of The Roches, who were produced by Paul Simon for one of their albums) and told her how underrated this album was. She got very excited and said she’d have to tell Paul, because he thought so, too and the lack of critical support crushed him:
One and one-half wandering Jews
Returned to their natural coasts
To resume old acquaintances
Step out occasionally
And speculate who had been damaged the most
Easy time will determine if these consolations
Will be their reward
The arc of a love affair
Waiting to be restored
You take two bodies and you twirl them into one
Their hearts and their bones
And they won’t come undone
Hearts and bones.
Add me to the list.
same.
Haunting.
Gug
Before I tell you this, I admit that it may not be true. I read it in Esquire years ago, not long after the “Hearts and Bones” album came out. According to the story:
“Hearts and Bones” was originally conceived as a “comeback” Simon and Garfunkel album. The two men recorded it together. But Simon was always a little hurt that he never had a solo hit as big as the hits they sang as a team.
So when the album turned out better than expected, Simon decided he didn’t want to share its success. With high hopes, he dumped Garfunkel’s vocal tracks and replaced them with his own. Result: an underrated flop.
Or so I’m told.
Interesting story. I know Garfunkle sang backup on these songs at some live appearances.