Simon & Garfunkel - My Little Town (Audio)

Music video by Simon & Garfunkel performing My Little Town. (C) 1975 Paul Simon
#SimonandGarfunkel #MyLittleTown #Vevo #FolkRock #OfficialAudio #PaulSimon #ArtGarfunkel

[@joeb6245]

This song can be interpreted in so many ways. Incredible how they can make such a happy sounding song so ominous. Hanging laundry in the dirty breeze. Nothing but my father’s son. Twitching like a finger on a trigger of a gun. Nothing but the dead of night. Insanely brilliant

[@maryl.5306]

It's nothing but the dead and dying back in my little town...

[@susanblackwell3457]

I have often wondered what the ppl who knew Paul as a child/teen thought of this song

[@eboyd53]

I could picture my grandmother hanging out the clothes to dry on the clothes line that was strung between two different apartment buildings and they would hang in the dirty breeze from the coal mines in the area.

[@TrpleAgnt2011]

I'm unpacking the "rainbow that " 1:31 ( it's not that it isn't there)...

[@leavingitblank9363]

@@TrpleAgnt2011 Your comment confused me. The lyrics are: "And after it rains, there's a rainbow, and all of the colors are black. It's not that the colors aren't there. It's just imagination they lack."

[@barbarianattheplate7209]

The chord changes are killer. And the horns and... the full fucking monty. Great.

[@naataliegoodman]

My all time favorite Simon & Garfunkel song.

[@mickeymisa9350]

And me, the epitome of my life cant stop playing this song.

[@farristolesome4419]

Must be mine as well because I listen to this song a lot more than the rest of their songs I like.

[@farristolesome4419]

@@mickeymisa9350👍😊🍻

[@TrpleAgnt2011]

​@@farristolesome4419 must be the poetry.

[@natmandu11]

The piano, the bassline and the rousing brass at the end are the counterpoint stars to the S&G vocals.

[@Robinsnest219]

I loved this song as a kid in a little town called Belle Vernon Pa. in the early 70s. I usded to sit on my bedroom windowsill listening to music as I'd watch my Mom hang the laundry out in the backyard. Dad would cook burgers and dogs on the grill. Watching everyone riding their bikes up and down the front yellow brick road we had on Market Street. It's paved over now and no kids riding bikes there, they're all inside on their electronic toys. Sad. This song brings back so many great memories.

[@BrokenneckYgor]

Where’s belle vernon?

[@leehuff2330]

​@@BrokenneckYgor It's a suburb of Pittsburgh, PA

[@leehuff2330]

Shout-out from Chester, WV

[@donniegaus6237]

Hello from Wheeling, WV. Same type of memories growing up.

[@johnlefevre9403]

Same memories. This is one of their best IMO

[@theacechip]

Paul Simon has got to be one of the greatest poets/song writers of all time. And he certainly didnt lack "imagination" while describing the rainbow in this song !!

[@stanleybacon929]

It almost describes the time in which Simon & Garfunkel met as kids😳

[@grokeffer6226]

Indeed. He's on a very short list of all-time best of American songwriters.

[@chriseldred782]

Icons. Both Simon and Garfunkel.

[@robynowens3541]

No kidding! One of the best. Or two of the best!

[@guillermogonzalez2518]

Se dice que la vivencia fue de Garfunkel

[@Shinramyun_notspicy]

3:32 'way less sad'-AJR

[@crupert23225]

Such a great instrumental arrangement. Cowbell, bass, horns, piano, everything is just perfect. What a song.

[@mickeymisa9350]

100% agree

[@Music-tk5oq]

Do u think AJR did a good job sampling all this 4 "Way Less Sad"? U wouldnt know them or that song anyway.

[@susanblackwell3457]

Such an ominous beginning to set the tone

[@MB400E]

Reminds me of my boyhood in the early 70’s. This song stimulates such strong emotions connected to my childhood memories. Definitely my favorite song in the reminisce category.

[@bradgillespie1383]

especially true if you came from a small town....very impactful....

[@keithorr6878]

I grew up in small town Western Canada and thought it was the center of the universe

[@jonathanbirch2022]

“Nothin but the dead and dying”

[@josephkendrigan684]

Ditto...I was a boy in the early seventies and it really captures that moment.

[@whorton4]

Well said. . my feeling exactly. . This song still tugs at strong emotional cords within me. All these years later. The Song reached #9 on the Billboard Chart on 13 DEC 1975.

[@jamesandersen5438]

This song is so good Heard it for the first time today…. And played it 30 times

[@TrpleAgnt2011]

It just emerged from memory for me, so put it on.

[@jeffcwatson]

American Tune - Paul Simon

[@garyjames627]

This is a brilliant song in every way ,underrated in my opinion ,poignant lyrics.

[@farristolesome4419]

@ gary james Spot on! I could not agree with you more!

[@keithorr6878]

When will everyone figure it out that there is no rating system.

[@paulconrad7649]

Another thing. What is so fucking brilliant about this song is how most of the chorus is backloaded at the end of the song. We get a little taste and tease of it a little past the middle, but they save most of it for that explosive finish. Absolute pure genius!

[@alvinrodgers934]

I agree. The chorus is for the escape. He left during the tease but came back. They add brass to the final chorus signifying his final exit. Brilliant

[@geraldobrien7323]

Paul Simon never liked to have the choruses done exactly the same throughout his songs. There was something always slightly different each time the chorus was done; usually it would be the same melody but with different chords, or like this song where it doesn’t go right into the chorus. There is an instrumental build up, and like you said, there was a bit of a tease. It didn’t go all out with the chorus until the end. Paul Simon really put time into his compositions. He wasn’t as prolific as, say, Paul McCartney, but I think everything he put out was just as good.

[@matthewmcguffin4341]

It’s like Lou Reed’s “Take a Walk On the Wild Side” in that regard.

[@kellywilson6023]

Reminds me of growing up in a small town,can still remember pledging allegiance to the wall in Kindergarten .

[@karlhelm875]

i was 5 or 6 when i heard this song. when i heard the words all of the colors are black, i thought they were talking about a box of crayons.

[@thomasparnell1025]

Remember this song so well, listening to it on the radio in the fall of 1975, I bought the 45 & played it over & over. The 70s music was the Best!!

[@stellarcatgirl911]

Love that the song was sampled in Way Less Sad by AJR because I have been a fan of Simon & Garfunkel since childhood.... and I love AJR's diversity in music influence.

[@ctggidoywbgfrvr]

i love how somebody is here because of AJR

[@ctggidoywbgfrvr]

because i am too

[@lukeshumway7274]

@@ctggidoywbgfrvr me three

[@timthaloff4363]

The whole melody of the song would not exist without their rip of the trumpets from My Little Town. So, that's not mere' "influence." It's lacking the talent to write an original song.

[@wes7189]

@@timthaloff4363 They wrote an original song, dumbass. All they did was take a sample from Simon and Garfunkel. By the way, Way Less Sad isn’t AJRs only song 😂 They’ve created plenty of their own melodies

[@JimcDJ1]

They did a lot of great songs together, but this is my absolute favorite!

[@Chamoro_J]

Lyrics In my little town I grew up believing God keeps his eye on us all And He used to lean upon me As I pledged allegiance to the wall Lord, I recall My little town Coming home after school Flying my bike past the gates Of the factories My mom doing the laundry Hanging our shirts In the dirty breeze And after it rains There’s a rainbow And all of the colors are black It’s not that the colors aren’t there It’s just imagination they lack Everything’s the same Back in my little town Nothing but the dead and dying Back in my little town Nothing but the dead and dying Back in my little town In my little town I never meant nothin’ I was just my father’s son Saving my money Dreaming of glory Twitching like a finger On the trigger of a gun Leaving nothing but the dead and dying Back in my little town Nothing but the dead and dying Back in my little town Nothing but the dead and dying Back in my little town

[@FMpimper]

Man why I always think it was "Nothing but the dead of night back in my little town"

[@ter521fad]

@@FMpimper I always thought it was “Nothing but the dead have died back in my little town.”

[@thomasparnell1025]

@@FMpimper so did I, until now!

[@Davidg1t1]

It’s dead of night.

[@keithjones6023]

Simon and Garfunkel two of America's national treasures!

[@pbrickley6247]

Few times has a song been so splendid yet probably not not been recognized as a classic. One of the best songs of the 20th century.

[@kenperk9854]

Just another of the musical gems from Muscle Shoals Sound in Sheffield, Al. The late Barry Beckett's piano playing is a priceless part of this classic. Soft and mellow at times and suddenly thunderous. He was one of the underrated musical geniuses from the late '60s through the '90s. Rest in peace "Bear."

[@paulisaac78]

Agreed!

[@The22on]

@@kenperk9854 I only recently learned of the genius assembled in Alabama in that little studio. Pete Carr on guitar is another of their 'go to' guys for memorable backing. From Aretha Franklin to Bob Seeger and everyone in between, those cats could play! They join The Wrecking Crew and the Funk Brothers as a consistent hit machine.

[@kenperk9854]

@@The22on Pete saved the day for Rod Stewart on Tonight's the Night. Seems the musicians in LA were struggling with the intricate intro. Pete flew into town , nailed it and played all the guitar parts in the song. He actually started out as a bass player.

[@The22on]

@@kenperk9854 I just listened to Tonight's the Night (Praise Zeus for KZbin). I grew up in that era and I swear that I never heard that intro. I'm a musician and arranger, so I pay attention to things like that. I guess radio stations cut out 'unnecessary" parts (everything but verses and hooks) and I never bought the album. In my opinion, the song needed an intro, but not that one. That particular intro should never have been in the song so it's no wonder that even great session men couldn't make it work. Musically, that intro has nothing to do with the song. In music school, we learn 'theme and variation' and 'unity'. Introducing a musical element that is unrelated to the main material is 'verboten'. But, hey - it's only rock and roll. lol. Anyway, thanks for telling me about Carr and this song. By the way, my fav Carr solo is on Make It Like A Memory. It's everything a blues solo should be, especially dynamics (loud and soft), which most players forget. Uou said Carr started as a bass player. Usually it's the other way around - e.g. McCartney, Kaye. I'm a guitarist and sometimes play bass. Bass requires a different way of thinking. The guitar is the icing on the cake, but the bass is part of the cake. My fav rock bass part is on Like A Prayer. When the chorus starts, the bass is like the cavalry coming in.

[@williamhilinsky1327]

Nobody, and I mean nobody did two-part harmony better than S&G. No duo can hold a candle to them, as great as Hall and Oates were/is, that duo is on the next level down. "Nothing but the dead and dying back in my little town" That song is perfect on so many levels, perfect chord structure, perfect simple but extremely effective lyrics, perfect harmony... Just perfect.

[@ronnieconner5908]

When I was in 8th grade, this was one of my favorite songs, great duo!!!

[@scarlettbandit2803]

I dunno, Layne Staley & Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains have some banger harmonizing.

[@williamhilinsky1327]

@Catcha Predator Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one, you say it's a crappy song, fine, I don't.

[@DaveJavuify]

Well yes, except for The Everly Brothers, who Paul and Art will happily accept as their main inspiration.

[@dianeonslow9736]

For some reason became an ear worm again, so glad it did. Also love The Boxer, poignant , excellent!

[@pastelwasteland1204]

Was listening to Way Less Sad and my dad said “hey that’s a sample from in my little town!” And I was just like “meh maybe they just sound similar” but then I FREAKED when they got to 3:33

[@win10mc]

Yep ajr added a layer of trumpets on top then stuck it right in

[@GeorgeVreelandHill]

One of their best songs. Really, a classic.

[@usmc-veteran73-77]

Love this song. I had just finished 13 months on Okinawa with the United States Marine Corps. My little town, Charleston, West Virginia USA ✌🇺🇸

[@jewelfish2001]

This is one of angriest songs I know about hating your childhood, dressed up in beautiful harmonies and a killer brass section.

[@hotajax]

You nailed it. Game, set, and match.

[@mikegalvin9801]

You're right. It's such a pretty song but very sad that someone should have unhappy memories of childhood home. I lived in boring white bread suburbia but (in my memories at least) it was a beautiful Wonder Years episode lasting 18 years

[@joeyfourpaws5594]

"I was just my father's son" You're right.

[@victoriawalker7792]

Hmm I don't think this fully captures the full feeling. I think it captures the paradoxical push and pull people feel about their hometowns. On the one hand, there's little there and spreading ones wings is very tough in that sort of environment. However there is also this wont after the simplicity and security of that life. The wont to be back, but knowing you'd hate it while you're there.

[@actionsub]

@@victoriawalker7792 Agreed. It seems more like the story of a town built around one factory or industry like a railroad or coal mine, and young men growing up there knew that in staying there, their options were limited to that factory or business, or maybe finding a path out of town in the military, which most of the time would simply kick the can of going into the local industry down the road a few years after their tour of duty was up.. Meanwhile a young man coming into manhood who had ambitions beyond the boundaries of that place would have to fight against the expectations of the locals to make those dreams reality.

[@katfishjak1948]

THis song has it all. Tonal modulation, complex harmonies, and interesting rythm. They change the key in this song about 5 times. Many in th emiddle of lyric lines. Very complex song that is really simple to listen too. That is how music is written. THis song is fluid while still being complex. Not an easy marriage. Now look at the music for this piece:WOW

[@Meema733]

Though I appreciate your knowledge of music theory but geez.......it's just a damn good song and have loved it since it first came out!

[@roiranen5950]

You're absolutely right

[@garethbeare7319]

Now this is somebody who can fluently write English and indeed knows what the fuck they're writing it about.

[@themanlyboythemanlyboy4051]

@@garethbeare7319 must " fuck" be in your comment? So utterly low class

[@432bass]

Thanks for the great comment!!!

[@patkcorcoran]

This song will never be dead and dying.

[@GS-gq5is]

For years I thought the line was, "Nothing but the dead of night in my little town." Wrong and yet somehow right for my own little town.

[@blessedwilliams5531]

Ok I thought it was that till I read this comment… google straightened me out, thanks!

[@patrickbuglass973]

Me too and I think it is a better lyric...funny.

[@actionsub]

Wow. I'd thought the same thing all these years.

[@paulconrad7649]

The second half of this song is the most powerful finish of a song in the history of recorded music!

[@grahampatersongrahampaters1755]

This is one of my favourite songs of all time. I remember this song when it came out in 1975 and hearing it on the radio as a 9 year old and loving it. "My Little Town", Poignant, brilliant . Simon and Garfunkel at there best. The harmonies and Paul Simon's genius as a poet/song writer. It is underrated in my opinion. Personally it is stands as my second favourite , ( this is close ), to "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" in the Simon and Garfunkel greatest songs.It is simply beautiful.

[@usmc-veteran73-77]

Great memories of late 1975, when this was a hit. I'd finished 13 months on Okinawa as a 19/20 yr old Marine. I still had 2 more yrs in the Marine Corps. By this time I was feed up with the Military. I almost went AWOL and said screw it I QUIT. But I didn't, I stuck with it for 2 more years and actually made E5/Sergeant six months before I got out. But this song reminds of just being homesick for my little town, Charleston, West Virginia

[@orangeandblackattack]

i remember it on WLS Chicago. I was 8. I bought the 45..but literally hadnt heard it since then. Now, nearly 50 years later, i had a dream tonight and this song came on the radio in my dream. Very creepy but i had to pull it up and listen to it after all these years. such a great song. I am still trying to figure out why subconscience sprang it on me. Last year same thing happened with Fading Fast by the Go Gos-hadmt heard it since 1981..then there it is in a dream 41 years later

[@heloise772]

i'm a 15 years old french girl so sorry for my english which is not perfect. Simon and Garfunkel are my favorite singers, I know them thanks to my father who is an english teacher at university. they are the best!!!!!

[@gregorydiatchenko8464]

i think it wonderful that young people can appreciate this great music.

[@thomastimlin1724]

I was music teacher. I can tell you have good taste. Back in the 1960's and 70's, we would have called you cool or "groovy" which means good! Hahahahaha

[@usmc-veteran73-77]

Héloïse CLERC yes they were great. This song use to make me so homesick. I was 20 yrs when this was a hit. I was in the Marine Corps and spent a year on Okinawa, and I wanted to get back to my little town in the USA, Charleston, West Virginia. Im 62 yrs old now and when I hear this song I remember how homesick I use to get. Thanks for listening to this old man.

[@leehowarth3860]

Héloïse CLERC great English

[@markraymondcourterier8458]

I'm 63 and grew up to the music and sound of this legendary duo of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. peuple have asked me: " So Mark, what's your favorite Simon & Garfunkel song. And I must admit, I stare at them with this incredulously of a look, as if they'd just grew Martian antennae right out the top of their heads, standing directly in front of me! haha! But seriously, that's impossible. I don't think there's any such thing as being able for choosing a favorite Simon & Garfunkel, individual to a singles of a song. But this one! 'My Little Town' invokes such memories of melancholic wistfulness in my thoughts and thinking. And it's as though a wave washes over me, bringing back memories...taking me back...into a time gone away. Memories of Yesterday's, seems so clear to me at times. And not all memories we think about, are always these warm fuzzies of those, as though being transported of to those certain scenes from yours past of 'It's a Wonderful Life.' But we should neither expecting, nor wanting simply for only those memories as are in only those, alone... For, it's the sums parte of those pieces of the all, cobbled together in something's a mosaic's. And where, perhaps, at first glances you might furrow your brow, or to for is slightly wincing. Not repulsed by what you're looking at. No. But it more like as it is a curiosity's of sorts. Uncertainties of for yours is unsure, even if you may or might having trying deciding whether it somehow, you'd have to the it's of managed, to for actually appreciating, even liking, something within those things, to be in of their are cobbled together for the pieces that is the makeups in of this for is a mosaic's sculptures. We realize that there are many of those are severally within its pieces for parts in which we're uncertain if we care for liking them? Or, perhaps, of those as are not at all! But the entities of the mosaic's sculpture, pieced together is utterly captivating, despite having doubts about some of their parts for makeups within its form. And isn't this really what ALL of our own individual lives are made to be from, in similarities components of are made up by the very of these are for there's a composites of variousness and other's is also included part's? For, which and then, in this of those are the having been theirs is which the exactingly are thing's, they requisites composites, therefore part of its so needful as necessarily required, to being and in as tofore the so including. After all, aren't we each of all, for of it is these compenents contents, in which every single one of ourselves but rather being an eclecticism-inclusionary of for are in this ways it's comprising? And of so many differing is it are these thing's thusly of aggregates, but rather and of course, helping ultimately in as well so a person's ablest in of them being an integrals necessarily reflections on the whole of PRECISELY JUST FORASMUCH THIS PERSON WHOM IN OF THERE FOR WHICH HAVING DID BECOMING, FOR ONLY THROUGH THE ENTIRETIES TO FOR ABLEST OF EMERGING IN DID SO, ONLY THROUGHOUT THE EXPERIENCES OF THE ALL ITS NECESSITY'S HAD TO BE FOR THEM. AND OF WHOM THEY HAVING OF MANAGES, DID AND SO DO. AND FOR YOU, EQUALLY THE IT WELL, IN OF THIS WAY'S OF HAVING HAS YOU ARE, TOO. BECAUSE IT IS ONLY THROUGH OF THIS VERY PROCEDURALLY TAKEN WAY THROUGHOUT LIFE, YOU AS ARE KNOWN, THEN BECAME! For we should not-would not-could not-being is if it's possible, and the forasmuch remotest, NOT to being so for even if capable of it, whatsoever. Nor, anything about this for so could've and of a causatives of ourselves occurred. Nor, if as much for well but it being, in the which our missing so much for a solitaires are a singles pieces for a part of this allowed. Because, in the creations of every part of these compenents things, making of this is it for a ourselves within it's sums part's, was made into sculpting this profoundness a mosaic's of ourselves; of our very own individualities, into a oneness. This, having but was in taking from out of those experiences, in this very ways to so. This of which ones finding, lies within, inside of the each a pieces of the all is are the variously variations. And notwithstanding, the well and their's requisites of are these thing's, and theirs and also are of as which being, equally as the well, to in is and also are a summary part's.

[@paulisaac78]

I once heard a movie critic say that Woody Allen is a treasure of American Cinema, and I think Paul Simon is a treasure of American Music!

[@phillecompte3438]

I'm Canadian and I'm proud of him .He is an American icon and musical genius .

[@PeanutSpring3]

Best American composers are Brian Wilson, Frank Zappa, and Paul Simon

[@Classicrocker6119]

One of the most underrated duets of all time. Outstanding track!

[@joejoe9435]

AGREED

[@brgreg8725]

Such a strong track to reunite to

[@ptflats]

They received huge critical acclaim and commercial success. You’re listening to 50 year old music that is still relevant

[@renatopaulino5242]

They arent underrated!

[@ciaranflynn1397]

@@renatopaulino5242 Think they mean the song, not S&G

[@walterpewen7903]

This song is always to me the sad goodbye of the duo. It was really hard for them to split up, when they did it it was a gift to their fans-one last great duet. Beautiful, complex, sophisticated song. This type of music mostly disappeared as the 1980's wore on. The era of singer/songwriter ended, much to the loss of the music community.

[@dianemelnyk62]

It is sad, I agree.

[@KOSMICKEN09]

Ugh that isn't really true-maybe in the mainstream top 40 charts but there's plenty of cool music out there.

[@kendixon6731]

they had already been broken up 5 years before they reunited for this song

[@williampowell6067]

Sadly yes...a bygone era.

[@leeseburger2937]

Music will eventually become great to listen to again

[@paradoxperformance9070]

Bayonne. 1968. Long gone. Would never trade it.

[@SimonGarfunkelbyBookends]

This is a really challenging song but is great and was well worth the effort we put in order to be able to play it in our show. Our show celebrates the music of this incredible duo. Always been a massive fan!!

[@usmc-veteran73-77]

Beautiful song. Memories of hearing this when I returned from a 13 month deployment on Okinawa. During April 1975, 1/9th Marines helped with the Evacuation of Saigon and lost 2 Embassy Marines during a firefight at Tan Son Nhut AFB outside of Saigon. In May 1975, 2/9th Marines lost close to 25 Marines during the Mayaguez Recovery Operation on Koh Tang Island, Cambodia. It was a sad time for the 9th Marine Regiment on Okinawa. Semper Fi

[@flynbike]

Indeed it is, from the standpoint of music composition it is right up with Joni Mitchell, or the best and most sophisticated performer/songwriters you can think of. The chord changes are incredibly creative.

[@user-kf5mt7km1n]

This was ...1975........they were still going strong.

[@patrickwalker3568]

This is a great, complicated sounding song. My fave S & G song!!!!! Great harmony & melody!!!!!!

[@jhmorgan72753]

Paul Simon is brilliant, his songs are works of art and guitar playing expressive and beautiful !! not to mention harmonies !!!

[@joedecker8096]

Art isn't a slouch either, magic when they were together.

[@stevehackett2678]

@@joedecker8096 It’s so sad they ended up hating each other. 2 egos just jealous of each other’s talents.

[@tonypierson6613]

Sadly they are both talented as individuals…but they are legends as a team. And denying that is denying us more new music.

[@buyerofsorts]

This song is beautifully haunting.

[@Meema733]

very well put

[@griffinpeoples7197]

"YES". . . . .!!! "TOTALLY AWESOME".!!!

[@griffinpeoples7197]

@@Meema733 "YES"!

[@griffinpeoples7197]

'This is a "CLASSIC" SONG "PIECE" IT IS ALSO "PURE @ PERFECT" POETRY. . . . .!!!'

[@griffinpeoples7197]

Yes, Once Again, It Is.! " THE "ALL"..!!!"

[@ratnfested]

I lost track of this song for about 50 years. But occasionally it would pop into my head and one day I made it a mission to find the name, I knew it was Paul and Art but could not remember enough of the words to get the name right. Finally found it and I actually have the vinyl. So been playing it non stop for 3 weeks to make up lost time.

[@LICHBKLYN1]

This song so reminds me of when I became an American Red Cross, Youth Hospital Volunteer. I was 14, in one of the worst neighborhoods in Brooklyn, NY. That's where I met, who became my BFF, and her wonderful family. 46 years later, we're still connected. She now live's in WV, me, CA. When we speak on the phone, it's as if we saw each other yesterday. We last saw each other in 1986. We are planning a reunion.

[@Tommyache]

3:33 is the sample used in AJR’s “Way Less Sad”

[@joelarocca8183]

was looking for this!!!

[@Tommyache]

@@joelarocca8183 glad I could help!

[@paulwalker1443]

But if you listen very carefully, they also sample the S&G tunes earlier notes.

[@lizhogue7176]

The irony is that this riff is actually what I love most about Way Less Sad. I think it’s genius. Love that they used it and credited S&G.

[@lylarasco1498]

Lol thank you

[@moekitsune]

Came from AJR, and I'm glad they introduced me to this song

[@rickrandall3174]

Paul Simon is a musical genius. I think about the little town *I* grew up in when I hear these lyrics., probably like thousands of other fans. My father worked in a factory ("riding my bike past the gates of the factories..."), and I felt at the age of 18 "I never met nothing, I was just my father's son..." Fantastic lyrics, beautiful haunting song.

[@bettertvreceptionwithfoilf7100]

You can see the imagery. That's why i like it so much, because everyone's mom hung laundry, but no one wrote about it. The clean laundry in the dirty breeze invokes sensory responses.. so cool.

[@FuturePassed67]

... one of Paul Simon's best songs ... guitars, horns, piano, harmonies, and oh that bassline ... I went to the same high school as S&G in Forest Hills, but i graduated many years later .. they were stars even when they were 17.

[@OverForthINC]

Song of the 2023 for me and I'm only 22. This song is amazing in every aspect

[@hollywoods8057]

The crescendo and their harmonizing at the end make this song. I don't care too much who wrote it, just that these two sing it beautifully.

[@kenperk9854]

Barry Beckett's piano is delicate and suddenly overwhelming!

[@lisalu910]

The piano is brilliant, too.

[@rman52]

The two Paul's of pop were the best song writers of their generation. And always proud of my alum.

[@TishaHayes]

I too had lived in a similar town in my childhood and in my early adult years I moved on to different places that expanded my horizons. Many of my friends and classmates remained back there and had their own families and gradually repeated the same cycle with their children. Every few years I have a friend who asks me why I do not move back. Having experienced so much and seen so many places and people I just could not curl up back inside of those boundaries. It is not hatred of the place I was from, just a realization that I had grown beyond it. I feel just a little sad for those who remain there and who will never see the fullness of the world or of the other experiences that they are now incapable of understanding. When I go back and visit I find myself thinking "was I this limited as everyone here?" and the answer is yes, I was. It is not that it is bad that they remain behind, just that it is different than the road I took.

[@ArgyleGroove]

Left home for 10 years. Came back and the same people were doing the exact same things a decade later. I on the other had left, had experiences, tried new things, met new people and saw new places. Only stayed about a year before I left again.

[@maddywendall2980]

So succinctly stated! I also identify with this song and your experience of growing up in a small town, couldn't wait to get out and experience the world and everyone who never left actually are the same they were since High School, sad and pathetic. SO Glad I got out. 🙄

[@billpressler5319]

I think this is a very typical response. I know people who are intelligent, well-read, and yes, well-travelled, who choose to live in my small hometown for its nice people, small-town charm and geographic beauty. I'm aware of a Pittsburgh commercial airline pilot who chooses to live there, and it's over an hour north.

[@thegopodude7000]

Every once in a while, a reread this comment - It explains so perfectly the feeling that I have towards my home town and how this song reminds me of that. Amazing comment!

[@OldBillOverHill]

Me too and I tried to go back home after a long and successful career. One of my brothers stayed and many of my high school friends did too. By and large they were employed in the hard rock mine until its staff was drastically reduced. The entire county was devastated and when a lifeline in the form of limited stacks gambling was thrown them they tossed it back. I lasted less than two years. It was still as depressing as ever and I was still seen only as my father's son and the brother of his eldest son. Decades of traveling the country as a union rep was discounted. NO one was interested in my story, including my brother. We left looking for greener pastures in retirement. Like you I still love and respect my brother and old friends who stay there and raised their kids just to see them leave and never look back. They same corrupt city government and abusive police dept, nothing had really changed. Now the encroaching city to the east will soon transform the place into just another suburban bedroom community. I listen to this song from time to time to remind myself of my roots. Substituting the mean streets of Denver for those of New York (where our eldest son landed on his feet) and my lonely nights in the poor side of town living in a travel trailer while training in the trade school that launched my career. Where would I have been without real human kindest of the "lowlifes" that befriended me? Back in my little town working in that mine.

[@lisalu910]

Beautiful piano accompaniment by Barry Beckett, perfectly harmonized vocals, complex melody and haunting lyrics. All around outstanding song!

[@ronnyeoff407]

It’s a simple song but the vocal arrangement and musical arrangement it great and it’s builds up so good..I love this song!!🙌👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻❤️💙🎼💜

[@SteveJBD]

I remember this song as a kid and just rediscovered it. Amazing on so many levels. I've said all my life Paul Simon is a musical genius and Art Garfunkel has one of the purest and most powerful singing voices out there.

[@lisalu910]

I remember first hearing this song when I was about 13 or 14 and still LIVING in "my little town." Even then, several years before I'd move away and never live there again, I felt an aching nostalgia when I heard it. Now - OMG, it almost rips my heart out. "Nothing but the dead and dying" describes my little town perfectly today.

[@jeanjohnson2911]

This is one of the most brilliant songs in history...on so many levels...

[@bethroesch2156]

This song describes my little town perfectly. It's just a beautiful song and stirs up a lot of memories

[@usmc-veteran73-77]

Yes it does Beth. When this was a hit, the Fall of 1975, I'd returned from Okinawa after a 13 month deployment back to my Little town South Charleston, West Virginia. Then on to Camp LeJeune for 2 more years in the United States Marine Corps. Semper Fidelis... Always Faithful

[@jg495]

@@usmc-veteran73-77 Yes, and that little town and neighboring towns in Kanawha County no longer have the factories. ...Just the dead and dying drug addicts with needles riddled on the ground in those little towns

[@usmc-veteran73-77]

@J G some factories are still up and going in the Kanawha Valley. Coal mines are still producing too.

[@tanyachavis2578]

I haven’t heard this song in years. Coronavirus suddenly reminded me of how great my life is, and has been. I live in the small town of Asheville NC. I’m in the mountains of western NC at my very beautiful and peaceful home outside, just taking it all in. I can remember in the 80’s when it seemed everyone wanted to flock to big cities and make it big. I did too. I’m so glad now I settled in a beautiful small town. I wish all well. Stay safe. Thank you Simon & Garfunkel for yet another great song! And even now when I’m somewhat of a local celebrity, all that matters is my little town.

[@jabrother]

Asheville is a pretty town and is not what I think of when I hear this song. More like my hometown of terre haute IN or many other small midwestern cities that struggled to survive the economic turmoil and shifts during the 80s

[@allenpriest8985]

I don't think you really followed the song. Thus is not about some sort of small town glory. Rather it is the empty sameness of the dying small town.

[@joshallen1134]

AJR represent!

[@ge10good]

so glad to know the younger generation are listening. Please pass this on to your children, so it may live on

[@happyzombiikitti]

ge10good Im 25 and grew up on nothing but classic rock and music from this time. I own these vinyls as well and amidst a world of flat screens and information overload, I sit on my bedroom floor, reading the lyrics from the cover.

[@zeke_squareroot]

Im only here from AJR's Way Less Sad

[@mrsuns10]

@@zeke_squareroot well I hope you listen to their other songs too

[@usmc-veteran73-77]

Fall of 1975, this reminds me of the US Marine Corps. So homesick for home. Being gone 13 months, then off to Camp Lejeune. Missing "My Little Town" Charleston, West Virginia.

[@dcuthbertson5778]

Damn. Same year I was born... And my town too. Still love that place.

[@argelbargel7680]

@@dcuthbertson5778 My little town= Moundsville WV

[@khappy1286]

Thank you! For serving your country. Means the world to us Amercans, literally

[@usmc-veteran73-77]

@@khappy1286 thank you. Being in the Marine Corps resulted in being gone a lot from home. My time on Okinawa Aug74-Sep75, had some trying times. Around January 1975, the North Vietnamese invaded South Vietnam. I thought for sure being stationed on Okinawa, we could be used to defend or evacuate Americans. By April 1975, Saigon was Evacuated and South Vietnam fell to the North Vietnamese. We lost 2 Marines from the Embassy were killed in a firefight at Tan Son Nhut AFB outside of Saigon. A sad time in the Marine Corps. Thank you again, it was an honor, even though we lost South Vietnam to the NV Army. Semper Fi

[@usmc-veteran73-77]

@@argelbargel7680 greetings from South Charleston, West Virginia. ( I-64 West, Montrose Exit)

[@robbbarnett4978]

My favorite of theirs. It encapsulates so much, figuratively and literally. The orchestra Gives me goosebumps as I reminisce.

[@JaimeGarcia-pe7bj]

My dirty little town from which I hail from is why I was in the Navy for 22 years.

[@raquelfernandez6808]

I remember this song, I (over)listened to it when I was in NYC lonely and homesick!!! Burst into tears everytime I listen to it again, life is an unpredictable gift

[@juliestrom412]

As I pledged allegiance to the wall. We do love our country though. Kids are so precious!

[@juliestrom412]

Thanks Simon and Garfunkel. Hope You make amends!

[@susanblackwell3457]

Am I mistaken: I thought it was an anti-war line: " pledge allegiance to the war"? As if, all true Americans must agree with whichever war we are fighting

[@paulwalsh2458]

Simon is from Newark & NYC, no little town. Fortunately little towns aren't so dark, dank & dirty nor lacking in imagination. Those who leave little towns for big cities often lack in imagination. Today folk are escaping NYC en masse proving the point. That being said I always loved this song ever since I was a child growing up in my little town. Paul Simon is a genius song writer.

[@atomicflash1753]

I thought he was from Forest Hills Queens

[@atomicflash1753]

The boy grew up in Queens, New York City, and attended Forest Hills High School alongside Art Garfunkel. The friends together sang Paul's first song, "The Girls for Me," when they were both 15.

[@paulwalsh2458]

@@atomicflash1753 Are you a homosexual Mr. Flash?

[@atomicflash1753]

@@paulwalsh2458 , no just Chet Atkins

[@scarletskull9082]

Im only 14 years old, but I used to be obsessed with this song when I was about 6-7. I randomly remembered this song a few weeks ago and I cant stop listening to it now. It brings back so many great memories like how we always used to get laffy taffy sticks at the nearby gas station or how I used to carry around my moms college backpack thinking I was so strong. I love this song and I always will.

[@johnbacile9495]

Oddly, same

[@herbporter9480]

I was 20 years old and headed back to my third year of college when this song came out. I’ll never forget driving away from my little town in NJ and headed back to Philadelphia. The song tore my guts out then as it does today, all these years later. Thank you Paul, for your sheer genius in writing such an evocative, wonderful song.

[@usmc-veteran73-77]

Herb, yes it brings back memories, I too was 20 yrs old. I was driving to Camp LeJeune, North Carolina and leaving my little town of South Charleston, West Virginia. I was finishing up 10 days leave after being gone 13 months on Okinawa. At this point I had 2 years in the Marine Corps and 2 more years to go. I was ready to quit and go AWOL. But knew I could not do that. It would have embarrassed my Dad who was a Korean War veteran. To this day, when I hear this song I get that same feeling I had when I was a 20 year old Corporal in the Marine Corps. Semper Fi and stay safe.

[@monkeytennis7477]

AJR brought me here! I love this song! I remember that Paul and Art included this song on each of their separate solo albums that year, 1975 or so, but they were mixed just slightly differently, if you listen to both you can hear the difference.

[@patrickbuglass973]

the masters of melancholy, in a good way.

[@marypianka3078]

Paul Simon - My Little Town Lyrics In my little town I grew up believing God keeps his eye on us all And he used to lean upon me As I pledged allegiance to the wall Lord I recall my little town Coming home after school Riding my bike past the gates of the factories My mom doing the laundry Hanging out shirts in the dirty breeze And after it rains there's a rainbow And all of the colors are black It's not that the colors aren't there It's just imagination they lack Everything's the same back in my little town In my little town I never meant nothing I was just my father's son Saving my money Dreamin of glory Twitching like a finger on a trigger of a gun Nothing but the dead and dying back in my little town Nothing but the dead and dying back in my little town Nothing but the dead and dying back in my little town Songwriters: SIMON, PAUL My Little Town lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

[@jeannellewhite3914]

Song Plagerized!!!

[@marypianka3078]

Plagiarised? you mean Paul Simon plagiarised? where from?

[@marypianka3078]

The song references the lines of a Ted Hughes poem (quoted in liner notes to Paul Simon's release of the song: "To hatch a crow, a black rainbow/Bent in emptiness/over emptiness/But flying"), the song relates the town's sameness suggesting even the colors of the rainbow there are black.

[@jeannellewhite3914]

It all came from Joseph J. Fonceca. No-one else !!!

[@jeannellewhite3914]

Joseph Fonceca has proof and is backed up by many musicians and family and friends and others!!! Joseph Fonceca wrote, composed, orchestrated and sings this song and he was the one that did it all first!!!

[@samuelgriffin9364]

Simon and Garfunkel reunited together with this comeback song from 1975

[@borissala1389]

I love simon and garfunkel, my parents raised me with this music, i am 19 years

[@billbrowne5655]

Your parents are very wise, and have great taste in music. And you must be very open minded to listen to music of all decades. Hats off to your parents.

[@borissala1389]

Thanks Bill.

[@DylanMac95]

Bill Brown me as well too. Love this music. Also 20 in a month. Dad and mom raised me well. Mostly my dad lol. Got to see Paul Simon up close. no seats just standing. Got really close and Paul pointed at my vinyl as he sang "Still crazy After All These Years"

[@QuackDragon]

Me too! except I'm a year younger but same generation of parents

[@cromerbeach]

Boris Sala and you're lucky they did because their music is fabulous

[@michaeldistefano7027]

Any remember when you could turn on the radio and hear THIS LEVEL of talent????

[@oldschool5539]

..................... 1975....................... one UNFORGETTABLE YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@robertbelair5041]

Nothing but the dead and dying back in my little town.

[@carolgladfelder272]

Robert Belair Me too Robert.

[@sh230968]

Nothing but today and I'm back in my little town. This is what "I grew up believing" the lyrics of the song went.

[@AlondaHall]

Don't you love it don't you love it?

[@brauliomora8714]

No i'm not happy yet, but i'm way less sad

[@EpitomeEpic]

@@brauliomora8714 the line is happy yet not happier

[@brauliomora8714]

@@EpitomeEpic thanks

[@BrokenneckYgor]

Ought to be official anthem of Middle West USA

[@johnbacile9495]

Now all we gotta do is fix these town

[@allenpriest8985]

No fixing it. All the colors are black.

[@alisvolatpropriis4898]

Thank you. That’s where I grew up. How are you, Art? My Mum used to walk over to your house for tea and gossip. I still remember her saying, “Oy vay! Her son’s only a singer. Can’t he get a real job?” 😂

[@tylerm_13]

I'm like 99.99999... % sure that's a horn playing at 1:54 through 2:04 It sounds soo good. Wish I knew the notes.

[@paulisaac78]

Another one of my favorites of theirs. “America”, “Fakin it”, “The dangling conversation” , “The Boxer”, and “My Little Town” are my all-star Line-up of theirs!

[@francesmena5927]

My favorite Simon & Garfunkel song.

[@janicewhibley6675]

One of my favourite songs.

[@jefflevel]

I love the backing vocals on this. So eerie.

[@toopoable]

Wow. Seemed minor at the time. Sounds brilliant and beautiful in 2014.

[@poparoddy]

and even better in 2017

[@juliocesarpereira4325]

Well, it immediately became of my favorite songs when I first listen to it back in 1975.

[@majewda]

I first heard it about 10 years back but "my little town" has a severe opiate and meth epidemic at the moment. Really hits home.

[@jimklipper6022]

toopoable 2019.

[@paulwalker1443]

Barely reached the Top10 in late '75, but I agree one of their all-time bests.

[@tonycrowuk1yahoo.co.uwilly992]

I had the joy of seeing these two in Hyde Park London in 2004 Mt wife was 8 months pregnant with our first daughter so she even heard them. Paul Simon has always been my songwriting hero. We are blessed as humans to have these two in our lives thankyou Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel

[@artharris2537]

First live act I saw. Royal Albert Hall in 1967 when I was a 15. Had liked them from when I first heard Homeward Bound and told anyone who would listen that they would be massive one day.

[@hoozerob]

My memories of this song, and I have heard this many times, are when I was young and had my little AM radio tuned to WABC, listening to the songs like this as I played quietly in my room with my LEGO's and Matchbox cars. I felt safe and taken care of back then. Not a care in my world back then, except for dealing with bullies in school and a difficult go at schoolwork. But this was about the time when this song just came out.

[@whitecrowntainer]

Great post, I feel the same way!!

[@rhondaatkins1776]

Vue U There's nothing like feeling safe and taken care of.

[@TheEurokrafts]

🥲

[@duane663]

One of my favorite forgotten songs.

[@cyanorturquoise5989]

Don’t you love it? Don’t you love it?

[@chip-toons]

no i aint happy yet!

[@EpitomeEpic]

@@chip-toons BUT IM WAY LESS SAD

[@euclidofalexandria3786]

No more warring, try to keep forgiveness and compassion... the more spirits there are properly tuned with the drive towards the unification of the old frameheaven and the new frame heaven... keep those formless and coherent, the machine can do this, and so can the organics Gods field, adyshanti said it truly is a world of Spirit.

[@gantzdevries5321]

Whoa man.......that chorus is something is else !!!!....

[@beingstill242]

Was having a dream the other morning.And this song started playing.When I woke up.I got on KZbin and found it and all the memories .

[@jeffmuenster5131]

To Julie Hayes: "killer brass section" , as you put it, is right! Did you know that brass section was recorded in a cave, to get just the right acoustics for that track?

[@juliocesarpereira4325]

Though they were no longer together, this is my favorite song of this duo. The funny thing about this song is that it was inlcluded as a track on both Garfunkel's 'Breakaway' and Simon's 'Still Crazy After All These Years' solo albuns.

[@usmc-veteran73-77]

Memories of late fall 1975, driving back from my little town Charleston WV to Camp LeJeune after being deployed to Okinawa. Semper Fi from an old Leatherneck.

[@kenperk9854]

I didn't think Barry Beckett could top his work on Bob Seger songs like We've Got Tonight, Famous Final Scene, Main Street, etc but I think he may have on this classic by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. Paul had recorded in Sheffield, Al a couple of times earlier which produced songs like Loves Me Like A Rock and Kodachrome. A great decision to use the Swampers once again on this classic. I can't imagine this song without Barry's unique style. A royal effort for the Gods here.

[@cece3194]

Wow, I'd forgotten this golden oldie, almost! It use to always make me cry. I won't let it now.

[@usmc-veteran73-77]

Memories of my little town Charleston West Virginia, as I returned from a 13 month deployment on Okinawa. So glad to be home.

[@LEXICOGRAFFER]

First heard this crossing the USA in an old Dodge van with my best friend......still gives me chills even now......for me this is the most powerful song S&G ever recorded.

[@gazooie1958]

This song reminds me of cruising late at night in the cold winter in my older brothers car. Me and all three of my brothers. doing things that young partying dudes do. Alas they are all gone now but I have the memories.

[@gymnastjew3000]

this song's about the neighborhood I grew up in and it's so surreal to hear

[@joeoconnor8106]

Beautiful song

[@musiccollector]

I have always loved this gem.

[@michelevilla7624]

These 2 had some amazing classic tunes(great memories)

[@musiccollector]

Thanks for the amazing memories from an amazing duo in an amazing year! Released on October 4, 1975, reaching # 9 on December 13.

[@usmc-veteran73-77]

Remember it well. Just back from a 13 month tour on Okinawa with the US Marine Corps. Headed to Camp Lejeune NC, so homesick, I did not want to return to the USMC. I thought about going AWOL, I'd had enough of being gone 13 months. But I did not go AWOL, finished my 4 yr tour in the Corps, made Sgt.

[@mdmarko]

Stationed in Texas at the time, getting ready to go to Korea the next year. A great song, a fun time. I could live 1975 on a loop forever, I think.