The Paul Simon Song Book

The Paul Simon Songbook 1965 (UK)

I Am a Rock

Leaves That Are Green

The Side of a Hill*

A Simple Desultory Philippic

Flowers Never Bend With the Rainfall

Patterns

*The Side Of A Hill

On the side of a hill in a land called somewhere

a little boy lies asleep in the earth

While down in the valley a cruel war rages

and people forget what a child's life is worth

On the side of a hill a little cloud weeps

and waters the grave with its silent tears

While a soldier cleans and polishes a gun

that ended a life at the age of seven years

And the war rages on in a land called somewhere

and the generals order their men to kill

And to fight for a cause they've long ago forgotten

while a little cloud weeps on the side of a hill

- Paul Simon -
"The Paul Simon Songbook", 1965.

A Rarity From Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel

Bad News Feeling

A song from the 'Five To Ten' broadcasts that was not re-recorded for The Paul Simon Songbook. The original version, recorded in January 1965, was broadcast with eleven other songs which would later make up Songbook. The song is about young drug addicts, with a melody based upon Davy Graham's song Anji.

It has never been released as neither have the 'Five To Ten' versions of the other songs. Since the songs were recorded by the BBC, the tapes quite likely no longer exist due to their stupid practices of deleting material they considered unmarketable.

a note: Five to Ten was an inspirational and spiritual programme that used to run on BBC Radio Light Programme. It vanished when the BBC re-aligned it's channels in the late sixties,they became Radio's One, Two, and Three.

Other Simon and Garfunkel Transcripts

from the Five to Ten programmes

(all dated 1965)

Introduction to A Most Peculiar Man

Paul Simon : I can recall reading in the paper once a short little piece about a man who had committed suicide, it was about four lines long, and I thought it was a rather bad eulogy to someone who is obviously so oppressed with life that he flung it away. So it prompted me to write this song. I hope it's a better eulogy than the four lines in the paper.

Introduction to Bleecker Street

Paul Simon : Bleecker street is a street in New York in Greenwich Village, and it's come to be more than just a street, it's come to be a metaphor for Greenwich Village which is unfortunate because Bleecker street is littered with bad art galleries and pizza stands and it obscures some of the good things, some of the creative things that are happening.

A fog's rolling in off the East River bank

Like a shroud it covers Bleecker Street

Fills the alleys where men sleep

Hides the shepherd from the sheep.

Introduction to Sparrow

Art Garfunkel : We just have released in Britain an EP of songs written by Paul entitled Wednesday Morning 3AM. This next song is from the EP and is called Sparrow.

Introduction to I Am A Rock

Paul Simon : This is unquestionally my most neurotic song. I finished it and I thought, oh man, I can't be this sick. It's called I am a Rock.

A winter's day, in a deep and dark December

I am alone, gazing from my window

To the streets below on a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock, I am an island.

simon and garfunkel are is