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Rating: Paul Simon's third solo studio album, and the fourth if we also include Live Rhymin’ from 1974, opens with the soft and sleepy notes of an electric piano.
“I met my old lover on the street last night; she seemed so glad to see me, I just smiled…”, he sings in the title track, (“I met my old love on the street last night; she seemed so happy to see me, and I smiled at her…”).
It's an album of reflection and introspection, a bittersweet journey into the private story of a marital separation, but it's also an album of stylistic change, and it won't be the only one in a highly esteemed career.
The solo debut in 1972 seemed to want to wipe out the artistic peaks of Bridge Over Troubled Water (an unsurpassable apotheosis of pop, impeccably made from every point of view), and start from scratch, with bare arrangements reduced almost to the bone.
There Goes Rhymin’ Simon pleasantly nodded to various influences, giving yet another proof of Simon's almost obsessive care for his work: an artist who enlists the Muscle Shoals Sound Rhythm Section for a track tinged with gospel and soul like One Man’s Ceiling Is Another Man’s Floor, but thinks well of traveling to Europe for the orchestration of American Tune, inspired by the musical theme of The Passion According to St. Matthew by J.S. Bach.
Still Crazy is a new surprise: here the atmosphere is sober and homogeneous, it is an album rich with jazz nuances, with rather unusual harmonies, as in the delicate I Do It For Your Love, or in the winking and oblique groove of Have A Good Time. Moreover, there are powerful melodic openings, as in Some Folks Lives Roll Easy, or in the poignant My Little Town, which sees him for the first time returning to share the recording studio with Art Garfunkel.
But what perhaps is most enjoyable about this somewhat melancholic version of Simon, is the subtle, irresistible sense of humor that permeates the lyrics: 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover remains in the memory of many, not only for a famous drum pattern by Steve Gadd, but also for the strength of its witty proposition, and the same can be said for the title track. As Philip Glass observed, Paul Simon's verses and titles have the ability to assert themselves in the collective imagination with the force and significance of certain idiomatic expressions.
Another gem of this album is Gone At Last, in which the more "black" streak of some of the songwriter's writing finds perfect embodiment in the vocal performance of Phoebe Snow.
In short, an album that at first listen seems to simply flow pleasantly, but that reveals many merits upon a more in-depth listen and can be appreciated for a long time.
Reissued in a remastered edition in 2004 with two bonus tracks.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Still Crazy After All These Years (03:26)
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
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
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
Still crazy
Still crazy
Still crazy after all these years
04 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover (03:37)
The problem is all inside your head
She said to me
The answer is easy if you
Take it logically
I'd like to help you in your struggle
To be free
There must be fifty ways
To leave your lover
She said it's really not my habit
To intrude
Furthermore, I hope my meaning
Won't be lost or misconstrued
But I'll repeat myself
At the risk of being crude
There must be fifty ways
To leave your lover
Fifty ways to leave your lover
CHORUS:
You just slip out the back, Jack
Make a new plan, Stan
You don't need to be coy, Roy
Just get yourself free
Hop on the bus, Gus
You don't need to discuss much
Just drop off the key, Lee
And get yourself free
She said it grieves me so
To see you in such pain
I wish there was something I could do
To make you smile again
I said I appreciate that
And would you please explain
About the fifty ways
She said why don't we both
Just sleep on it tonight
And I believe in the morning
You'll begin to see the light
And then she kissed me
And I realized she probably was right
There must be fifty ways
To leave your lover
Fifty ways to leave your lover
CHORUS
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