Write the Thing: Spinning in infinity
Welcome to Write the Thing, a regular feature wherein I share and analyze a favorite lyric or poem and dig into the reasons I love it. At the end of each week’s post, I also include a writing prompt for paid community members. My hope is that by sharing my WriterBrain analysis of these works, you might discover another layer of enjoyment in them for yourself!
Last week, I started this feature with Edna St. Vincent Millay and “The Concert.” This week I’d like to swap a poem for song lyrics.
During my songwriting workshop last month, my students and I spent a lot of time talking and thinking about the written lyric and how powerful word choice can be. Obviously, choosing the correct word or a more specific synonym for a concept is going to evoke a more vivid image (crimson instead of red, elated instead of happy), but with song lyrics, you also want to consider the inherent musicality of your words. Some words practically beg to be sung or rapped or repeated until you reach semantic satiation!
That said, today’s pick is one of my favorite examples of using language for fun, not just for meaning. “You Can Call Me Al” by Paul Simon is one of the most sing-along-able songs ever written, even though it has some complex lyrics and long verses. Why is that? Obviously, the composition of the music is fun and danceable - that bass riff! the polyrhythms! - but I think it’s also in large part because Simon is a master of letting the music in words shine through. Before we dig in, here are the lyrics (and I highly recommend listening to it while you read along!)
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedYOU CAN CALL ME AL, by Paul Simon
A man walks down the street
He says, "Why am I soft in the middle now?
Why am I soft in the middle?
The rest of my life is so hard
I need a photo-opportunity
I want a shot at redemption
Don't want to end up a cartoon
In a cartoon graveyard"
Bonedigger, Bonedigger
Dogs in the moonlight
Far away in my well-lit door
Mr. Beerbelly, Beerbelly
Get these mutts away from me
You know, I don't find this stuff amusing anymore
If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty, when you call me
You can call me Al
A man walks down the street
He says, "Why am I short of attention?
Got a short little span of attention
And whoa, my nights are so long
Where's my wife and family?
What if I die here?
Who'll be my role model?
Now that my role model is gone, gone"
He ducked back down the alley
With some roly-poly little bat-faced girl
All along, along
There were incidents and accidents
There were hints and allegations
If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty, when you call me
You can call me Al
Call me Al
A man walks down the street
It's a street in a strange world
Maybe it's the Third World
Maybe it's his first time around
He doesn't speak the language
He holds no currency
He is a foreign man
He is surrounded by the sound, sound
Cattle in the marketplace
Scatterings and orphanages
He looks around, around
He sees angels in the architecture
Spinning in infinity
He says, "Amen and Hallelujah!"
If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty, when you call me
You can call me Al
Call me
If you'll be my bodyguard
I can call you Betty
If you'll be my bodyguard
I can call you Betty
If you'll be my bodyguard
In an interview with Paul Zollo appearing in the book Songwriters on Songwriting, Simon describes the verses as opening like a joke, like “A man walks into a bar…” but “A man walks down the street”. I love that each verse is built like a setup for a punchline - we know we’re playing from the jump. Simon then proceeds to carry the listener through a stream-of-consciousness narrative where the speaker goes from experiencing very self-focused individual crisis to expanding his view outward and encompassing the world around him.
There’s a contrast between the complexity of the verse lyrics and the simple structure of the chorus. The chorus seems a bit non-sensical if you don’t know the story behind why Simon wrote it - but understanding exactly what it means isn’t necessary to enjoy the song. It also rhymes “Al” and “pal” neatly and the repetition there enables the listener to start singing along right away.
I also really enjoy the contrasting lyrics in the verses, as in “Why am I soft in the middle/the rest of my life is so hard” and “…short little span of attention/ whoa, my nights are so long”
Simon’s rhyme structure is mesmerizing. In the verses, he uses family rhymes and assonance over “perfect” rhymes, and often rhymes words in the middle of lines rather than strictly at the ends. His most effectively employed “rhyme” is actually repetition - from the more obvious “Bonedigger, Bonedigger/Beerbelly, Beerbelly” to the ones that almost feel like regular speech, ex. “Why am I short of attention/got a short little span of attention”. There is something Lewis Carroll-ish about the rhymes and repetition. If Simon started making nonsense words up whole cloth I’d go along with him, no problem.
The whole song feels very conversational even when the lyrics are outlandish (please try not to smile when you hear a description like “roly poly little bat-faced girl”. It’s ridiculous and wonderful). There’s a sense that you are at a party with this guy you’ve just met, and he’s telling you a story from his travels while he decimates the fruit and cheese display. “A man walks down the street…” The song manages to feel casual while being very intentional.
Above all, without even attempting to understand the meaning behind the lyrics, this song is fun to sing - the lyrics are fun to say. The offhand narrative, the circular storytelling and repetition, and the fascinating imagery (“dogs in the moonlight,” “cattle in the marketplace,” “angels in the architecture” … to say nothing of my beloved “bat-faced girl") all coalesce into one of the most memorable songs of the last few decades.
If you haven’t tuned into Graceland in a while, do yourself a favor and give the whole album a listen through. I find new things to love in it every time I hit play.
That’s it for this week. I hope you are well and drawing some delight from the last dregs of Summer.
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From very rainy central North Carolina,
call me Al Juliana.
