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Paul Simon — Me And Julio Down By The School Yard
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dew34
(Wisconsin-quite woodsy)
Posted: Feb 02, 2013 - 18:29
 
 dpvest wrote:

or maybe you just have pretty old taste for a good guy...
 
Or maybe you taste pretty good!

dpvest
(northern cali)
Posted: Jan 02, 2013 - 13:33
 
 Keef wrote:
Another great song from my childhood.  My dad had pretty good taste for an old guy.
 
or maybe you just have pretty old taste for a good guy...

hayduke2
(Southampton, NY)
Posted: Aug 29, 2012 - 17:43
 
Glorious comments by the saintly; my good boy Jake (a brindle mutt) is fascinated by the whistling portion of Julio and he turns his head as if its a call from outside, someone wants his attention...super song

Keef
(Confluence of the American River)
Posted: Aug 29, 2012 - 17:37
 
 Cynaera wrote:
I just love this song - it invariably makes me either sing along, do a little dance, or try my darndest to whistle (where's Andrew Bird when you need him??)  Paul Simon is another of those artists that doesn't spring immediately to mind when I'm asked who my favorite artists are, but he really is one of my favorites. He gets overshadowed by the likes of Jackson Browne, Dan Fogelberg, Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones, and Todd Snider, which is sad, because he's got such a great body of music.

I'm gonna go practice my whistling now... {#Whistle}
 
Paul is still making great music.  Whistle on...

Keef
(Confluence of the American River)
Posted: Aug 29, 2012 - 17:35
 
Another great song from my childhood.  My dad had pretty good taste for an old guy.

Byronape
("post-capitalist wreckageville")
Posted: Jul 29, 2012 - 07:35
 
 bandito wrote:
Royal Tenenbaum is smiling.
 
That is one of my wife's favorite movies.  I really didn't get it at all when I first saw it.  She kept describing it as a comedy, but it never really came off as the kind of funny I was thinking it would be.  Then we watched it about a year later and for some reason it sunk in.  It's a very darkly funny comedy where everyone is at least a little bit crazy.

Moonrise Kingdom is very much of the same vein and we went to see it with the in-laws.  We all really enjoyed it. 

(former member)
(hotel in Las Vegas)
Posted: Jun 27, 2012 - 21:00
 
 srose96 wrote:
..and everbody down by the schoolyard too.. loves it.
 
We be dancing...  love this song...



 

srose96
(grandma's house)
Posted: Dec 20, 2011 - 10:27
 
 romeotuma wrote:

Everybody in my hotel room loves this song...


 
 



..and everbody down by the schoolyard too.. loves it.

Poacher
(Brighton, UK)
Posted: Dec 20, 2011 - 10:25
 
 d-don wrote:
Nearly 40 years later it still makes me smile and sing along.
 
Nearly 40 year later and I still cringe and want it to end. 

(former member)
(hotel in Las Vegas)
Posted: Dec 20, 2011 - 10:24
 

Everybody in my hotel room loves this song...


 

bandito
Posted: Sep 16, 2011 - 12:02
 
Royal Tenenbaum is smiling.

(former member)
(hotel in Las Vegas)
Posted: Sep 16, 2011 - 12:00
 


I'll dance to this...



 

d-don
(Oregon)
Posted: Sep 16, 2011 - 11:59
 
Nearly 40 years later it still makes me smile and sing along.

RickyBobby
(Oxford Mills, Ontario - We have a Wal-Mart you know)
Posted: Sep 16, 2011 - 11:57
 
Yep. It was against the law.{#Dancingbanana} 

Jeff09
(Gainesville, Florida)
Posted: Jul 15, 2011 - 18:25
 
Just, for the first time, heard the cuíca (Brazilian friction drum) in the background at the end.



(former member)
(hotel in Las Vegas)
Posted: Apr 11, 2011 - 21:00
 


Absolutely awesome...  this song is still as great as the day it came out...  seems like this is in the key of C...  been a long time since I played it...  love it...

 

casey1024
(Here and Now)
Posted: Mar 11, 2011 - 08:39
 
 kcar wrote:

I don't know ...
But fans have the right to hold onto the old music of a performer as part of their ongoing lives. They don't have to consider the opinion of the artist, who's sick to death of playing or talking about "Sounds of Silence" or "Tea in the Sahara" or "Begin the Beguine."
  Very well said!



ckcotton
Posted: Mar 11, 2011 - 08:38
 
Just plain awesome!

kcar
Posted: Jan 07, 2011 - 18:15
 
 gregormiz wrote:
 WonderLizard wrote:
In his very self-conscious review of Stephen Sondheim's Finishing the Hat in this past Sunday's NYTimes Book Review, Simon called "Me and Julio...' a "bit of inscrutable doggerel." So, what do you suppose his RP rating would be? 1? 2? 
 
Back in the 1980's, I read an interview where Simon trashed all of his "Simon and Garfunkel" era songs.
That was when I began to question his integrity, and certainly his taste.  How disingenuous is it to claim that your work (beloved by millions), work that made you famous, is crap?  Does he give all of his royalties directly to Garfunkel?  Donate them to charity?
It's also quite disrespectful of the people who bought his music.  Sting did the same thing, and it was equally distasteful. Then there was the (very profitable) violation of the South African embargo...  Desmond Tutu has still not forgiven him, and neither will I. 
 
I don't know the whole story about violating a South African embargo, or Bishop Tutu's take on Paul Simon. Other RPers have pointed out that Paul Simon tried to take total credit for the song "The Myth of Fingerprints", which he apparently stole from Los Lobos during studio sessions. When LL confronted Simon, he told them to sue him and threatened to destroy their careers. 

Maybe Paul Simon isn't the greatest guy. But as you pointed out, Sting and others have trashed their past efforts. I absolutely loved Billy Joel's live album "Songs in the Attic", but he referred to it as "Songs in the Toilet" years later. Apparently he does that sort of thing a lot...when he's not crashing cars.  

Perhaps these songwriters need to break with their past work in order to clear their heads and write new (and hopefully) better stuff. But once the've put a song out there, fans will appropriate and interpret it as they see fit. Couples repeatedly told Sting that "Every Breath You Take" was their song, which annoyed him because he wrote the work in the voice of an obsessed, dangerous stalker. 

Years ago Paul Simon starred in a movie called "One Trick Pony" about a songwriter struggling to make himself relevant again, only to face fans who just wanted him to play his one hit song yet again. I'm sure he dreads living that part when he starts up another Simon and Garfunkel tour—his music from that era has to be only about the money for him at this point. 

In short: artists have the right and (maybe) need to move from their past. Hell, Artie Shaw repeatedly quit touring and playing. He even walked off bandstands in the middle of performances. He put the clarinet down at the height of his career and never picked it up again. Check out his bio on Wikipedia—a complex and self-confessed "very difficult man."

But fans have the right to hold onto the old music of a performer as part of their ongoing lives. They don't have to consider the opinion of the artist, who's sick to death of playing or talking about "Sounds of Silence" or "Tea in the Sahara" or "Begin the Beguine."


 


gregormiz
(Portland, OR)
Posted: Jan 04, 2011 - 11:22
 
 WonderLizard wrote:
In his very self-conscious review of Stephen Sondheim's Finishing the Hat in this past Sunday's NYTimes Book Review, Simon called "Me and Julio...' a "bit of inscrutable doggerel." So, what do you suppose his RP rating would be? 1? 2? 
 
Back in the 1980's, I read an interview where Simon trashed all of his "Simon and Garfunkel" era songs.
That was when I began to question his integrity, and certainly his taste.  How disingenuous is it to claim that your work (beloved by millions), work that made you famous, is crap?  Does he give all of his royalties directly to Garfunkel?  Donate them to charity?
It's also quite disrespectful of the people who bought his music.  Sting did the same thing, and it was equally distasteful. Then there was the (very profitable) violation of the South African embargo...  Desmond Tutu has still not forgiven him, and neither will I. 

WonderLizard
(2,755.46 mi. due east of Paradise)
Posted: Nov 05, 2010 - 09:45
 
In his very self-conscious review of Stephen Sondheim's Finishing the Hat in this past Sunday's NYTimes Book Review, Simon called "Me and Julio...' a "bit of inscrutable doggerel." So, what do you suppose his RP rating would be? 1? 2? 

If you enjoy Sondheim, and I do, here's a link to the full review: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/books/review/Simon-t.html?_r=1&ref=books. It says as much about Simon as he says about Sondheim—IOW not the best written review. Who'd have thought he was that insecure?

Rooney
(Near Paradise)
Posted: Nov 05, 2010 - 09:35
 
Makes you wonder what he and Julio did exactly down at that old School Yard, doesn't it?  For the very same reason that Bobbi Gentry and Billie Jo McAllister threw that mystery something off the Talahatchie Bridge, I ponder.  {#Stupid}



Cynaera
(South of Neanderthal)
Posted: Oct 04, 2010 - 19:31
 
I just love this song - it invariably makes me either sing along, do a little dance, or try my darndest to whistle (where's Andrew Bird when you need him??)  Paul Simon is another of those artists that doesn't spring immediately to mind when I'm asked who my favorite artists are, but he really is one of my favorites. He gets overshadowed by the likes of Jackson Browne, Dan Fogelberg, Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones, and Todd Snider, which is sad, because he's got such a great body of music.

I'm gonna go practice my whistling now... {#Whistle}

coolpeople_rule
(Winter wonder land)
Posted: Sep 02, 2010 - 19:29
 
Great song!! Great musician!!

Thank you Paul Simon!

gregormiz
(Portland, OR)
Posted: Aug 01, 2010 - 19:27
 
"Me First and the Gimme Gimmies" do a better job with this song.

(former member)
Posted: Jun 30, 2010 - 22:16
 
 yodasan_magoo wrote:
How does he get his hair to do that?
 
Fall out?

calypsus_1
Posted: May 26, 2010 - 19:41
 

Paul Simon - "Me & Julio" Live, Sesame Street



yodasan_magoo
Posted: Apr 28, 2010 - 09:45
 
How does he get his hair to do that?

Businessgypsy
(Deepest, Darkest Florida)
Posted: Mar 27, 2010 - 18:31
 
I'll always remember this as the song that introduced the sound of a Cuíca to mainstream America. Maybe there was one in the M.A.S.H. theme (Suicide is Painless) also, but here it really has a voice.


(former member)
(hotel in Las Vegas)
Posted: Jan 23, 2010 - 18:11
 
 rachlan wrote:
so what did he and julio do??!!!!

(drugs?  something homosexual?.....)
 


They were huffing a doobie...




NickDanger
(Athens - not that one, the music one)
Posted: Dec 23, 2009 - 08:04
 
Great song for a sing-along!  Been singing along ever since it came out during my 9th grade year.

rachlan
(nyc)
Posted: Nov 21, 2009 - 21:47
 
so what did he and julio do??!!!!

(drugs?  something homosexual?.....)



Siljanus
Posted: Oct 21, 2009 - 11:53
 
I saw a clip of Paul Simon playing this on a stoop in Sesame Street.  I even remember seeing that when I was a kid.  Back then it was just a fun tune to bounce around to.  Listening to the lyrics now, I guess such a song would corrupt the youth of today.  I guess this is why I'm incorrigible...{#Cowboy}


lmic
(Narrow Minded Couch Potato)
Posted: Sep 19, 2009 - 22:09
 
There Goes Rhymin Simon is my fave PS album. This one's not bad - Mother and Child Reunion the finest cut, IMHO.

TanteJensen
(one step ahead from my shoe shine, two steps away from the county line)
Posted: Jun 17, 2009 - 00:20
 
 smehan55 wrote:
Blech! Annoying cloying drivel. MUTE  Too precious for me.
 
pshhh. You go and try to stick 5 different major chords in a song and make it sound that easy. Then come back and repeat what you said.


a_genuine_find
(not me, Radio Paradise)
Posted: May 16, 2009 - 06:07
 
 macadavy wrote:
Its a mystery: just what were
"me & Julio down by the schoolyard"
doing, anyway?
"I'm gonna stick that boy in the
House of Detention!"
Sounds serious...
 
ala Wiki

Debate

Some believe the incident in the song refers to an arrest at an antiwar protest on a college campus (the "schoolyard"), with the "radical priest" (whom the singer claims will appear with him "on the cover of Newsweek") being either Philip or Daniel Berrigan, priests noteworthy for their antiwar activity during the Vietnam War. It has been said also that the "radical priest" could be the Rev. William Sloane Coffin, chaplain from Yale, upon whom the Scot Sloan character in Doonesbury was based.

In a July 20, 1972 interview for Rolling Stone, Jon Landau asked: "What is it that the mama saw? The whole world wants to know." Simon replied "I have no idea what it is... Something sexual is what I imagine, but when I say 'something', I never bothered to figure out what it was. Didn't make any difference to me." This has not stopped speculation: Truman Capote said that he believed the protagonist and Julio were involved in a homosexual relationship; other commentators have detected references to recreational drug use, and believe that the mother saw the boy buying drugs.




Dmitrii
(Sumy)
Posted: May 16, 2009 - 06:06
 
very funny!!! klass!

(former member)
(hotel in Las Vegas)
Posted: Apr 14, 2009 - 15:28
 


Classic!  Love it!



smehan55
(Beneath a Carolina blue sky)
Posted: Sep 05, 2008 - 13:23
 
Blech! Annoying cloying drivel. MUTE  Too precious for me.  {#Puke}

SantaFeGrace
(Santa Fe, NM)
Posted: Sep 05, 2008 - 13:19
 
 macadavy wrote:
Its a mystery: just what were
"me & Julio down by the schoolyard"
doing, anyway?
"I'm gonna stick that boy in the
House of Detention!"
Sounds serious...
 

"It was against the law
Oh what the mama saw
it was against the law"

I've been wondering too.... {#Think}

wferrier
(Johnson City, New York; Home of the Factory)
Posted: Sep 05, 2008 - 13:19
 
 

Hard evidence that this imposter had nothing to do with Simon & Garfunkel.



kayaksurf4fun
(Philippines)
Posted: Jun 02, 2008 - 19:47
 
thank you...i needed that after Liz Phair! very talented man...complex muscian. musically hard to play him.
thewiseking
(New York, New York)
Posted: May 02, 2008 - 09:28
 
just hit the King of Corona for some pistachio ice.
v. nice, still, after all these years.
enidualc
(Guyville)
Posted: May 02, 2008 - 09:27
 
oh f*ck yeah!!
MsJudi
(Houston, TX)
Posted: Mar 31, 2008 - 21:33
 

macadavy
(Cascadia's attic, eh? ;-))
Posted: Feb 29, 2008 - 09:13
 
Its a mystery: just what were
"me & Julio down by the schoolyard"
doing, anyway?
"I'm gonna stick that boy in the
House of Detention!"
Sounds serious...
Almo80
(Stuck inside of Kansas with the Mobile blues again.)
Posted: Feb 29, 2008 - 09:10
 
Thank you for playing this one! I was still depressed from that Bens Fold song!

robco1
(Chicago, IL)
Posted: Dec 28, 2007 - 12:39
 
Infectious classic. Definitely a mood change after Ben's "Brick."
sutcliff
(Saint Louis)
Posted: Aug 24, 2007 - 22:20
 
Anybody interested in grabbing a couple of burgers and hittin' the cemetery?
PattonFever
(wherever i go, there i am.)
Posted: Jan 12, 2006 - 21:44
 
reminds me of my best friend. :)