Old Friends

I was twenty-one years when i wrote this song.
I'm twenty-two now but i won't be for long
Time hurries on.
And the leaves that are green turn to brown,
And they wither with the wind,
And they crumble in your hand.

Once my heart was filled with the love of a girl.
I held her close, but she faded in the night
Like a poem i meant to write.
And the leaves that are green turn to brown,
And they wither with the wind,
And they crumble in your hand.

I threw a pebble in a brook
And watched the ripples run away
And they never made a sound.
And the leaves that are green turned to brown,
And they wither with the wind,
And they crumble in your hand.

Hello, hello, hello, good-bye,
Good-bye, good-bye, good-bye,
That's all there is.
And the leaves that are green turned to brown,
And they wither with the wind,
And they crumble in your hand.

Words & music by paul simon 1975

In my little town
I grew up believ--ing
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 imagin-ation 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 fathers 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
Repeat and fade:
Nothing but the dead and dying
Back in my little town

I should have known you'd bid me farewell.
There's a lesson to be learned from this
And i learned it very well

Now i know you're not
The only starfish in the sea.
If i never hear your name again
It's all the same to me.

And i think it's gonna be all right.
Yeah, the worst is over,
Now the morning sun is shining like a red rubber ball.

You never cared for secrets i'd confide.
For you i'm just an ornament,
Something for your pride.

Always running, never caring,
That's the life you live.
Stolen minutes of your time
Were all you had to give.

And i think it's gonna be all right.
Yeah, the worst is over,
Now the morning sun is shining like a red rubber ball.

The story's in the past with nothing to recall.
I've got my life to live and i
Don't need you at all.
The roller coaster ride we took is
Nearly at an end.
I bought my ticket with my tears,
That's all i'm gonna spend.

And i think it's gonna be all right.
Yeah, the worst is over,
Now the morning sun is shining like a red rubber ball.

feuilles oh, sauve' la vie moi, dans mes yeux mouilles oh.
Feuilles oh, sauve' la vie moi, dans mes yeux mouilles oh.
Pitie moi malade, mon coeur caille gang-gang, si me l'eau.
Pitie moi malade, mon coeur caille gang-gang, si lu bon gang-gang,
Sauve' la vie moi, dans mes yeux mouilles oh.

English translation:
Oh leaves, save my life, in my tear-filled eyes.
Pity sick me, my heart is frozen, like the water.

Why don't you write me
I'm out in the jungle
I'm hungry to hear you.
Send me a card,
I am waiting so hard
To be near you.
(la, la, la)
Why don't you write?
Something is wrong
And i know i got to be there.
Maybe i'm lost,
But i can't make the cost
Of the airfare.
Tell me why
Why
Why
Tell me why
Why
Why

Why don't you write me,
A letter would brighten
My loneliest evening.
Mail it today
If it's only to say
That you're leaving me.
(la, la, la)

Monday morning, sitting in the sun
Hoping and wishing for the mail to come.
Tuesday, never got a word,
Wednesday, thursday, ain't no sign,
Drank a half a bottle of iodine.
Friday, woe is me
Gonna hang my body from the highest tree.
Why don't you write me?

Hey, schoolgirl in the second row
The teacher's lookin' over
So i got to whisper way down low
To say, "who-bop-a-loo-chi-bop, let's meet
After school at three."

1. she said, "hey, babe, but there is one thing more
My school is over at half past four
Maybe when we're older then we can date
O - oh, let's wait!"

Hey, schoolgirl in the second row
The teacher's lookin' over
So i got to whisper way down low
To say, "who-bop-a-loo-chi-bop, let's meet
After school at three."

2. she said, "hey, babe, i gotta lot to do,
It takes me hours till my homework's thru,
Someday we'll go steady, so don't you fret.
O - oh, not yet!"

Hey, schoolgirl in the second row
The teacher's lookin' over
So i got to whisper way down low
To say, "who-bop-a-loo-chi-bop, let's meet
After school at three."

3. then she turned around to me
With that gleam in her eye
She said, "i'm sorry if i passed you by,
I'm gonna skip my homework
Gonna cut my class,
Bug out of here real fast."

Hey, schoolgirl in the second row
Now we're going steady,
Hear the words that i want you to know
Well it's "who-bop-a-loo-chi-bop, you're mine,
I knew it all the time."
Who-bop-a-loo-chi-bop, hah, you're mine

Why don't we stop fooling ourselves?
The game is over,
Over,
Over.

No good times, no bad times,
There's no times at all,
Just the new york times,
Sitting on the windowsill
Near the flowers.

We might as well be apart.
It hardly matters,
We sleep separately.

And drop a smile passing in the hall
But there's no laughs left
'cause we laughed them all.
And we laughed them all
In a very short time.

Time
Is tapping on my forehead,
Hanging from my mirror,
Rattling the teacups,
And i wonder,
How long can i delay?
We're just a habit
Like saccharin.

And i'm habitually feelin' kinda blue.

But each time i try on
The thought of leaving you,
I stop...
I stop and think it over

Someone told me
It's all happening at the zoo.

I do believe it,
I do believe it's true.

It's a light and tumble journey
From the east side to the park;
Just a fine and fancy ramble
To the zoo.

But you can take the crosstown bus
If it's raining or it's cold,
And the animals will love it
If you do.

Somethin' tells me
It's all happening at the zoo.

The monkeys stand for honesty,
Giraffes are insincere,
And the elephants are kindly but
They're dumb.
Orangutans are skeptical
Of changes in their cages,
And the zookeeper is very fond of rum.

Zebras are reactionaries,
Antelopes are missionaries,
Pigeons plot in secrecy,
And hamsters turn on frequently.
What a gas! you gotta come and see
At the zoo.

Old friends, old friends,
Sat on their parkbench like bookends
A newspaper blown through the grass
Falls on the round toes
Of the high shoes of the old friends

Old friends, winter companions, the old men
Lost in their overcoats, waiting for the sunset
The sounds of the city sifting through trees
Settles like dust on the shoulders of the old friends

Can you imagine us years from today,
Sharing a parkbench quietly
How terribly strange to be seventy

Old friends, memory brushes the same years,
Silently sharing the same fears

Hello darkness, my old friend,
I've come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while i was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.

In restless dreams i walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
'neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of
A neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.

And in the naked light i saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one deared
Disturb the sound of silence.

"fools" said i,"you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that i might teach you,
Take my arms that i might reach you."
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the signs said, the words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls.
And whisper'd in the sounds of silence.

Bad news, bad news!
I heard you're packing to leave!
I come arunning right over;
I just couldn't believe it,
I just couldn't believe it.

Oh, baby, baby
You must be out of your mind.
Do you know what you're kicking away?
We've got a groovy thing goin', baby,
We've got a groovy thing.

I never done you no wrong,
I never hit you when you're down,
I always gave you good loving,
I never ran around,
I never ran around.

Oh, baby, baby
You must be out of your mind.
Do you know what you're kicking away?
We've got a groovy thing goin', baby,
We've got a groovy thing.

There's something you ought to know
If you're fixing to go,
I can't make it without you;
No no no no, no, no, no, no,
No no no no, no, no, no.

Oh, baby, baby
You must be out of your mind.
Do you know what you're kicking away?
We've got a groovy thing goin', baby,
We've got a groovy thing.

We've got a groovy thing goin', baby,
We've got a groovy thing.

celia, you're breaking my heart
You're shaking my confidence daily
Oh, cecilia, i'm down on my knees
I'm begging you please to come home

Celia, you're breaking my heart
You're shaking my confidence daily
Oh, cecilia, i'm down on my knees
I'm begging you please to come home
Come on home

Making love in the afternoon with cecilia
Up in my bedroom (making love)
I got up to wash my face
When i come back to bed
Someone's taken my place

Celia, you're breaking my heart
You're shaking my confidence daily
Oh, cecilia, i'm down on my knees
I'm begging you please to come home
Come on home

Jubilation, she loves me again,
I fall on the floor and i laughing,
Jubilation, she loves me again,
I fall on the floor and i laughing

When she goes, she's gone.
If she stays, she stays here.
The girl does what she wants to do.
She knows what she wants to do.
And i know i'm fakin' it,
I'm not really makin' it.

I'm such a dubious soul,
And a walk in the garden
Wears me down.
Tangled in the fallen vines,
Pickin' up the punch lines,
I've just been fakin' it,
Not really makin' it.

Is there any danger?
No, no, not really.
Just lean on me.
Takin' time to treat
Your friendly neighbors honestly.
I've just been fakin' it,
I'm not really makin' it.
This feeling of fakin' it--
I still haven't shaken it.

Prior to this lifetime
I surely was a tailor.
("good morning, mr. leitch.
Have you had a busy day?")
I own the tailor's face and hands.
I am the tailor's face and hands and
I know i'm fakin' it,
I'm not really makin' it.
This feeling of fakin' it--
I still haven't shaken it.

are you going to scarborough fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
Remember me to one who lives there.
She once was a true love of mine.

Tell her to make me a cambric shirt,
(a hill in the deep forest green)
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme;
(tracing of sparrow on snow-crested brown)
Without no seams nor needle work,
(blankets and bedclothes the child of the mountain)
Then she'll be a true love of mine.
(sleeps unaware of the clarion call)

Tell her to find me an acre of land,
(on the side of a hill a sprinkling of leaves)
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme;
(washes the grave with silvery tears)
Between the salt water and the sea strand,
(a soldier cleans and polishes a gun)
Then she'll be a true love of mine.
(sleeps unaware of the clarion call)

Tell her to reap it with a sickle of leather,
(war bellows blazing in scarlet battalions)
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme;
(general order their soldiers to kill)
And gather it all in a bunch of heather,
(and to fight for a cause they've long ago forgotten)
Then she'll be a true love of mine.

Are you going to scarborough fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
Remember me to one who lives there.
She once was a true love of mine.

The night sets softly
With the hush of falling leaves,
Casting shivering shadows
On the houses through the trees,
And the light from a street lamp
Paints a pattern on my wall,
Like the pieces of a puzzle
Or a child's uneven scrawl.

Up a narrow flight of stairs
In a narrow little room,
As i lie upon my bed
In the early evening gloom.
Impaled on my wall
My eyes can dimly see
The pattern of my life
And the puzzle that is me.

From the moment of my birth
To the instant of my death,
There are patterns i must follow
Just as i must breathe each breath.
Like a rat in a maze
The path before me lies,
And the pattern never alters
Until the rat dies.

And the pattern still remains
On the wall where darkness fell,
And it's fitting that it should,
For in darkness i must dwell.
Like the color of my skin,
Or the day that i grow old,
My life is made of patterns
That can scarcely be controlled.

What i dream i had:
Pressed in organdy;
Clothed in crinoline of smoky burgundy;
Softer than the rain.
I wandered empty streets
Down past the shop displays.
I heard cathedral bells
Tripping down the alley ways,
As i walked on.

And when you ran to me
Your cheeks flushed with the night.
We walked on frosted fields of juniper and lamplight,
I held your hand.
And when i awoke and felt you warm and near,
I kissed your honey hair with my grateful tears.
Oh i love you, girl.
Oh, i love you.

Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit.
Blessed is the lamb whose blood flows.
Blessed are the sat upon, spat upon, ratted on,
O lord, why have you forsaken me?
I got no place to go,
I've walked around soho for the last night or so.
Ah, but it doesn't matter, no.

Blessed is the land and the kingdom.
Blessed is the man whose soul belongs to.
Blessed are the meth drinkers, pot sellers, illusion dwellers.
O lord, why have you forsaken me?
My words trickle down, like a wound
That i have no intention to heal.

Blessed are the stained glass, window pane glass.
Blessed is the church service makes me nervous
Blessed are the penny rookers, cheap hookers, groovy lookers.
O lord, why have you forsaken me?
I have tended my own garden
Much too long.

Cloudy
The sky is gray and white and cloudy,
Sometimes i think it's hanging down on me.
And it's a hitchhike a hundred miles.
I'm a rag-a-muffin child.
Pointed finger-painted smile.
I left my shadow waiting down the road for me a while.

Cloudy
My thoughts are scattered and they're cloudy,
They have no borders, no boundaries.
They echo and they swell
From tolstoy to tinker bell.
Down from berkeley to carmel.
Got some pictures in my pocket and a lot of time to kill.

Hey sunshine
I haven't seen you in a long time.
Why don't you show your face and bend my mind?
These clouds stick to the sky
Like floating questions, why?
And they linger there to die.
They don't know where they are going, and, my friend, neither do i.

Cloudy,
Cloudy.

You don't know that you love me
You don't know but i know that you do
You may think that you're above me, yeah
What you think isn't always true

Don't try to debate me,
You should know that i'm womanly wise
Still you try to manipulate me
You don't know where your interest lies

No, you don't know where your interest lies
You don't begin to comprehend

You're just a game i like to play
You may think that we're friends all right
But i won't let friendship get in my way,
No, i won't let friendship get in my way,

Indications indicate running the same riff will turn you around
Obviously you're going to blow it,
But you don't know it

You don't know that you love me
You don't know but i know that you do
You may think that you're above me, yeah
What you think isn't always true

Don't try to debate me,
You should know that i'm womanly wise
Still you try to manipulate me
You don't know where your interest lies

No, you don't know where your interest

And here's to you, mrs. robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know (wo, wo, wo)
God bless you please, mrs. robinson
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
(hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey)

We'd like to know a little bit about you for our files
We'd like to help you learn to help yourself
Look around you, all you see are sympathetic eyes
Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home

And here's to you, mrs. robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know (wo, wo, wo)
God bless you please, mrs. robinson
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
(hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey)

Hide it in a hiding place where no one ever goes
Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes
It's a little secret, just the robinsons' affair
Most of all, you've got to hide it from the kids

Coo, coo, ca-choo, mrs robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know (wo, wo, wo)
God bless you please, mrs. robinson
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
(hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey)

Sitting on a sofa on a sunday afternoon
Going to the candidates debate
Laugh about it, shout about it
When you've got to choose
Ev'ry way you look at it, you lose

Where have you gone, joe dimaggio
A nation turns its lonely eyes to you (woo, woo, woo)
What's that you say, mrs. robinson
Joltin' joe has left and gone away
(hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey)

The last train is nearly due,
The underground is closing soon,
And in the dark deserted station,
Restless in anticipation,
A man waits in the shadows.

His restless eyes leap and scratch,
At all that they can touch or catch,
And hidden deep within his pocket,
Safe within its silent socket,
He holds a colored crayon.

Now from the tunnel's stony womb,
The carriage rides to meet the groom,
And opens wide and welcome doors,
But he hesitates, then withdraws
Deeper in the shadows.

And the train is gone suddenly
On wheels clicking silently
Like a gently tapping litany,
And he holds his crayon rosary
Tighter in his hand.

Now from his pocket quick he flashes,
The crayon on the wall he slashes,
Deep upon the advertising,
A single worded poem comprised
Of four letters.

And his heart is laughing, screaming, pounding
The poem across the tracks rebounding
Shadowed by the exit light
His legs take their ascending flight
To seek the breast of darkness and be suckled by the night.

When you're weary, feeling small,
When tears are in your eyes, i will dry them all;
I'm on your side. when times get rough
And friends just can't be found,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

When you're down and out,
When you're on the street,
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you.
I'll take your part.
When darkness comes
And pains is all around,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

Sail on silvergirl,
Sail on by.
Your time has come to shine.
All your dreams are on their way.
See how they shine.
If you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.

Fog's rollin' in off the east river bank
Like a shroud it covers bleeker street
Fills the alleys where men sleep
Hides the shepherd from the sheep

Voices leaking from a sad cafe
Smiling faces try to understand
I saw a shadow touch a shadow's hand
On bleeker street

A poet reads his crooked rhyme
Holy, holy is his sacrament
Thirty dollars pays your rent
On bleeker street

I head a church bell softly chime
In a melody sustainin'
It's a long road to caanan
On bleeker street
Bleeker street

catch a boat to england, baby,
Maybe to spain
Wherever i have gone,
Wherever i've been and gone
Wherever i have gone
The blues run the game

Send out for whiskey, baby,
Send out for gin
Me and room service, honey
Me and room service, babe
Me and room service, whoa
Living life a sin

When i ain't drinking, baby
You are on my mind
When i ain't sleeping, honey
When i ain't sleeping, momma
When i ain't sleeping, whoa
You know you'll find me crying

Catch a boat to england, baby,
Maybe to spain
Wherever i have gone,
Wherever i've been and gone
Wherever i have gone
The blues run the game

Living is a gamble, baby
Loving's much the same
Wherever i have played
Wherever i throw those dice
Wherever i have played
The blues run the game

Maybe when i'm older, baby
Someplace down the line
I'll wake up older
So much older, momma
Wake up older
And i'll just stop all my trying

Catch a boat to england, baby,
Maybe to spain
Wherever i have gone,
Wherever i've been and gone
Wherever i have gone
The blues are all the same

As we marched down to faneri-o
As we marched down to faneri-o
Our captain fell n love with a lady like a dove
And they called her name, pretty peggy-o
Come a runnin' down the stairs, pretty peggy-o
Come a runnin' down the stairs, pretty peggy-o
Come a runnin' down the stairs, combin' back
Your yellow hair
You're the prettiest little girl i've ever seen-o

In a carriage you will ride, pretty peggy-o
In a carriage you will ride, pretty peggy-o
In a carriage you will ride, with your true love by
Your side
As far as any maiden in the ar-e-o
What will your mother say, pretry peggy-o?
What will your mother say, pretty peggy-o?
What will your mother say, when she finds you've
Gone away
To places far and strange to faneri-o?

If ever i return, pretty peggy-o
If ever i return, pretty peggy-o
If ever i return, all your cities i will burn
Destroying all the ladies in the ar-e-o
Destroying all the ladies in the ar-e-o

The sun is burning in the sky
Strands of clouds go slowly drifting by
In the park the lazy breeze
Are joining in the flowers, among the trees
And the sun burns in the sky

Now the sun is in the west
Little kids go home to take their rest
And the couples in the park
Are holdin' hands and waitin' for the dark
And the sun is in the west

Now the sun is sinking low
Children playin' know it's time to go
High above a spot appears
A little blossom blooms and then draws near
And the sun is sinking low

Now the sun has come to earth
Shrouded in a mushroom cloud of death
Death comes in a blinding flash
Of hellish heat and leaves a smear of ash
And the sun has come to earth

Now the sun has disappeared
All is darkness, anger, pain and fear
Twisted, sightless wrecks of men
Go groping on their knees and cry in pain
And the sun has disappeared