Paul Simon
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The Boy In The Bubble
It was a slow day
And the sun was beating
On the
soldiers by the side of the road
There was a bright light
A shattering of
shopwindows
The bomb in the baby carriage
Was wired to the radio
These are the days of miracle and wonder
This is the
long-distance call
The way the camera follows us in slo-mo
The way we look
to us all
The way we look to a distant constellation
That’s dying in a
corner of the sky
These are the days of miracle and wonder
And don’t cry
baby don’t cry
Don’t cry
It was a dry wind
And it swept across the desert
And it
curled into the circle of birth
And the dead sand
Falling on the children
The mothers and the fathers
And the automatic earth
These are the days of miracle and wonder
This is the
long-distance call
The way the camera follows us in slo-mo
The way we look
to us all
The way we look to a distant constellation
That’s dying in the
corner of the sky
These are the days of miracle and wonder
And don’t cry
baby don’t cry
Don’t cry
It’s a turnaround jump shot
It’s everybody jumpstart
It’s every generation throws a hero up the pop charts
Medicine is magical and
magical is art
Thinking of the Boy in the Bubble
And the baby with the
baboon heart
And I believe
These are the days of lasers in the jungle
Lasers in the jungle somewhere
Staccato signals of constant information
a
loose affiliation of millionaires
And billionaires, and baby
These are the days of miracle and wonder
This is the
long-distance call
The way the camera follows us in slo-mo
The way we look
to us all, oh yeah
The way we look to a distant constellation
That’s dying
in a corner of the sky
These are the days of miracle and wonder
And don’t
cry baby don’t cry
Don’t cry, don’t cry
Under African Skies
Joseph’s face was black as night
The pale yellow moon shown
in his eyes
His path was marked
By the stars in the Southern Hemisphere
And he walked his days
Under African Skies
This is the story of how we begin to remember
This is the
powerful pulsing of love in the vein
After the dream of falling and calling
your name out
These are the roots of rhythm
And the roots of rhythm remain
In early memory
Mission music
Was ringing ‘round my
nursery door
I said, “Take this child, Lord
From Tucson, Arizona
Give
her the wings to fly through harmony
And she won’t bother you no more”
This is the story of how we begin to remember
This is the
powerful pulsing of love in the vein
After the dream of falling and calling
your name out
These are the roots of rhythm
And the roots of rhythm remain
Joseph’s face was black as night
The pale yellow moon shown
in his eyes
His path was marked
By the stars in the Southern Hemisphere
And he walked the length of his days
Under African Skies
Homeless
Emaweni webaba
Silale maweni
Webaba silale maweni
Webaba silale maweni
Webaba silale maweni
Webaba silale
maweni
Webaba silale maweni
Webaba silale maweni
Webaba silale
maweni
Webaba silale maweni
Webaba silale maweni
Homeless, homeless
Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake
Homeless, homeless
Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake
And we are homeless, we are homeless
The moonlight sleeping
on a midnight lake
And we are homeless, we are homeless
The moonlight
sleeping on a midnight lake
Zio yami, Zio yami, nhliziyo yami
Nhliziyo yami amakhaza
asengi bulele
Nhliziyo yami, Nhliziyo yami
Nhliziyo yami, angibulele
amakhaza
Nhliziyo yami, Nhliziyo yami
Nhliziyo yami somandla angibulele
mama
Zio yami, Nhliziyo yami
Nhliziyo yami, Nhliziyo yami
Too loo loo, too loo loo
Too loo loo loo loo loo loo loo
loo loo
Too loo loo, too loo loo
Too loo loo loo loo loo loo loo loo loo
Strong wind destroy our home
Many dead, tonight it could be
you
Strong wind, strong wind
Many dead, tonight it could be you
And we are homeless, homeless
Moonlight sleeping on a
midnight lake
And we are homeless, homeless
Moonlight sleeping on a
midnight lake
Homeless, homeless
Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake
Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih
Somebody sing hello, hello,
hello
Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih
Somebody cry why, why why?
Somebody
say ih hih ih hih ih
Somebody sing hello, hello, hello
Somebody say ih hih
ih hih ih
Somebody cry why, why why?
Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih
Yitho omanqoba (ih hih ih hih ih) yitho omanqoba
Esanqoba
lonke ilizwe
(ih hih ih hih ih) Yitho omanqoba (ih hih ih hih ih)
Esanqoba
phakathi e England
Yitho omanqoba
Esanqoba phakathi e London
Yitho omanqoba
Esanqoba phakathi e England
Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih
Somebody sing hello, hello,
hello
Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih
Somebody cry why, why why?
Somebody
say ih hih ih hih ih
Somebody sing hello, hello, hello
Somebody say ih hih
ih hih ih
Somebody cry why, why why?
Kulumani
Kulumani, Kulumani sizwe
Singenze njani
Baya
jabula abasi thanda yo
Ho
Loves Me Like A Rock
When I was a little boy
And the Devil would call my name
I’d say, “Now who do . . .
Who do you think you’re fooling?”
I’m a concentrated boy
Singer in a Sunday choir
Oh, my
mama loves me, she loves me
She get down on her knees and hug me
Oh, she
loves me like a rock
She rock me like the rock of ages
And she loves me
She love me, love me, love me, love me
When I was grown to be a man
And the Devil would call my
name
I’d say “now who do . . .
Who do you think you’re fooling?”
I’m a consummated man
I can snatch a little purity
My
mama loves me, she loves me
She get down on her knees and hug me
Oh, she
loves me like a rock
She rock me like the rock of ages
And loves me
She
love me, love me, love me, love me
If I was President
And the Congress called my name
I’d
say “now who do . . .
Who do you think you’re fooling?”
I’ve got the presidential seal
I’m up on the presidential
podium
My mama loves me, she loves me
She get down on her knees and hug me
And she loves me like a rock
She rock me like the rock of ages
And love me
She love me, love me, love me, love me
She love me, love me, love me, love me
She love me, love me, love me, love me
Still Crazy After All These Years
I met my old lover
On the street last night
She seemed
so glad to see me
I just smiled
And we talked about some old times
And
we drank ourselves some beers
Still crazy after all these years
Oh, still
crazy after all these years
I’m not the kind of man
Who tends to socialize
I seem to
lean on old familiar ways
And I ain’t no fool for love songs
That whisper
in my ears
Still crazy after all these years
Oh, still crazy after all
these years
Four in the morning
Crapped out
Yawning
Longing my
life away
I’ll never worry
Why should I?
It’s all gonna fade
Now I sit by my window
And I watch the cars
I fear I’ll
do some damage
One fine day
But I would not be convicted
By a jury of
my peers
Oh, still Crazy
Still Crazy
Still Crazy after all these years
Late In The Evening
First thing I remember
I was lying in my bed
Couldn’t’ve
been no more
Than one or two
I remember there’s a radio
Comin’ from the
room next door
And my mother laughed
The way some ladies do
When it’s
late in the evening
And the music’s seeping through
The next thing I remember
I am walking down the street
I’m feeling all right
I’m with my boys
I’m with my troops, yeah
And
down along the avenue
Some guys were shootin’ pool
And I heard the sound
of a cappella groups, yeah
Singing late in the evening
And all the girls
out on the stoops, yeah
Then I learned to play some lead guitar
I was underage in
this funky bar
And I stepped outside to smoke myself a “J”
And when I came
back to the room
Everybody just seemed to move
And I turned my amp up loud
and began to play
And it was late in the evening
And I blew that room away
First thing I remember
When you came into my life
I
said, “I’m gonna get that girl
No matter what I do”
Well, I guess I’d been
in love before
And once or twiceI’d been on the floor
But I never loved no
one
The way I loved you
And it was late in the evening
And all the
music seeping through
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 notice
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 sees 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, in Graceland, in Graceland
In Graceland,
I’m going
to Graceland
Hurricane Eye
Tell us all a story
About how it used to be
Make it up
and then write it down
Just like history
About Goldilocks and the three
bears
Nature in the crosshairs
And how we all ascended
From the deep
green sea
When it’s not too hot
Not too cold
Not too meek
Not too
bold
Where it’s just right and you have sunlight
Then we’re home
Finally home
Home in the land of the homeless
Finally home
Oh, what are we going to do?
I never did a thing to you
Time peaceful as a hurricane eye
Peaceful as a hurricane eye
A history of whispers
A shadow of a horse
Faces painted
black in sorrow and remorse
White cloud, black crow
Crucifix and arrow
The oldest silence speaks the loudest
Under the deep green sea
When speech becomes a crime
Silence leads the spirit
Over the bridge of time
Over the bridge of time
I’m walking with my family
And
the road begins to climb
And then it’s, oh, Lord, how we going to pray
With crazy angel voices
All night
Until it’s a new day
Peaceful as a
hurricane
Peaceful as a hurricane
Peaceful as a hurricane eye
Peaceful
as a hurricane
Peaceful as a hurricane
Peaceful as a hurricane eye
Peaceful as a hurricane eye
You want to be leader?
You want to change the game?
Turn
your back on money
Walk away from fame
You want to be a missionary?
You
got that missionary zeal?
Let a stranger change your life
How’s that make
you feel?
You want to be a writer
But you don’t know how or when
Find a
quiet place
Use a humble pen
You want to talk, talk, talk about it
All night squawk
about
The ocean and the atmosphere
Well, I’ve been away for a long time
And it looks like a mess around here
And I’ll be away for a long time
So
here’s how the story goes
There was an old woman
Who lived in a shoe
She was baking a cinnamon pie
She fell asleep in a washing machine
Woke up
in a hurricane eye
copyright ©
László Zoltán 2012
e-mail: Literatura.hu