Paul Simon has been a singer/songwriter for over 50 years, writing songs like “The Sound Of Silence” and “Mrs. Robinson” in his 20s. Now turning 75, rhymin’ Simon seems to want to put his fame behind him.
In a new interview with the New York Times, Simon talks about the pitfalls of fame and his desire to retire from the limelight. “I’ve seen fame turn into absolute poison when I was a kid in the ’60s,” he said. “It killed Presley. It killed Lennon. It killed Michael Jackson. I’ve never known anyone to have gotten an enormous amount of fame who wasn’t, at a minimum, confused by it and had a very hard time making decisions.”
He seems taken aback by his own success in the chat, saying “All of a sudden you’re there, and you’re surprised. This happened to me at times where some line comes out, where I’m the audience and it’s real, and I have to stop, because I’m crying. I didn’t know I was going to say that, didn’t know that I felt that, didn’t know that was really true. I have to stop and catch my breath.”
Simon addresses retirement throughout the piece.“You’re coming towards the end,” he says. “It’s an act of courage to let go… I am going to see what happens if I let go. Then I’m going to see, who am I? Or am I just this person that was defined by what I did? And if that’s gone, if you have to make up yourself, who are you?” The piece also said that Simon wants to explore neuroscience and spirituality, choosing to turn over new stones instead of coasting off into the sunset.
Whatever Simon decides, we can be thankful for an incredible career that has brought such musical joy for so long