Paul Simon contemplates faith, death and the existence of God 

I met Paul Simon after a concert around 1971 in London. He was doing sweet. I wanted his autograph but didn't have a pen on me. He signed it with his own pen, and then gave me the pen. Which I still have. What a nice guy

In 1975, when I was 14 years old growing up in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, bullied by the girls at my new school, and problems at home, I retreated to my bedroom and listened to my first real album, (Partridge Family doesn't count) Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits, and played it over and over on my $30 record player. I felt such a connection with the music. I Am a Rock became my theme song. The harmonies, the lyrics, the everything about the genius that is Paul Simon brought me such comfort and space of belonging at such a difficult time. I have never stopped listening, and appreciating Simon and Garfunkel. Thank you for being there for me at such a difficult time, Paul Simon. Your music and voice is beyond sublime. You are truly a treasure.

No question. Paul is one of the greatest songwriters, musicians, entertainers of all time. He has enriched our lives with his beautiful music

Genius,one of the greatest singer songwriters of all time

So refreshing to see Tom give Paul Simon the space to actually answer his questions without interrupting. Also very rare these days.

One the greatest songwriters of all time; yet so humble and gentle. He’s a gift. ⭐️

A vision was planted in his brain, and still remains. ❤

Ever since hearing the opening lines "Hello darkness my old friend I've come to talk with you again" been totally gripped with the music of this brilliant singer/songwriter, always delivers

I am still crazy for his songs , after all these years

"The listener completes the song." Humility and grace. Always one of my very favorite musicians.

"and the words of the Prophets are written on the subway walls, tenement halls..." love Paul Simon always have... A treasure of Queens, NY 😊

Old men dream dreams...Keep listening Paul. God is talking directly to you and wants you to dig a little deeper! How wonderful and thank you for being so transparent.

Paul Simon is a thoughtful conversationalist and it takes him time to construct and shape his thoughts and responses verbally. Kudos to this interviewer for not rushing or interrupting him, or imposing a 'narrative' onto the exchange, and avoiding all the usual stuff Simon has been asked endlessly over the years. He just let the conversation breathe.

Considering Paul Simon is in the top 5 living American Songwriters he is still humble, decent, personable and honest. SO rare.

As a 78 year old man, I THANK YOU PAUL for all the joy you have given me starting from the 60's. You have enriched our lives with your songwriting. To say it's the background of our lives is an understatement. Those that THINK Jesus has not worked through you is a HIPPOCRITICAL FOOL ! Your legacy will live on forever . I thank you. 🙏💙👍

Thank you Tom for your authentic active listening. A breath of fresh air after watching many wannabe interviewers trying to be entertainers. You keep it real and natural. Love Paul Simon

Hi Paul, I am a singer/songwriter singing mainly Gospel for more than 50 years now. Two years ago I found out I had a large brain tumor. They removed the tumor after a 15.5 hour surgery. I lost all my hearing in my left ear. So last Dec. I performed my first 2 hour concert since the surgery. It was different but doable. Had fun and people loved it. So I thank God for sustaining me and allowing me to continue sharing my God given gift with people up here in Michigan. My US touring is probably never what it was before the surgery but I'm happy I can still perform and continue writing. So I'm 78 this year and still have the passion for life and music. I've found peace with my faith in Christ. I am blessed with children, grand children and a wonderful wife. So much more to my story. I just wanted to encourage you to keep blessing people with your extraordinary musical gifts.

My favorite line is from The Boxer. " A man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest."

“I was playing my guitar lying underneath the stars, just thanking the Lord for my fingers….for my fingers”. I truly think that Paul is searching for God as God is calling to him. What an artist

"I never get to say it perfectly but it's a pretty good try and I'll move on to the next line." This from one of the greatest lyricists of all time. It humbles and inspires us.

I'm a big fan of Paul Simon. But felt compelled to leave a comment on Tom Power. This is my first exposure to him. Loved his respect, empathy, presence, patience and attention. Nice complement to Paul's introverted nature.

What a beautiful person, Paul is. Tom, you gave him the perfect amount of space balanced with your own input to let him shine perfectly. Thank you for this gift! 🙂

One of the best song 🎵 writers of our time.

Paul, you are a treasure. Paul, GOD does speak to us. And he apparently wants your attention. Listen Paul. HE IS REAL.

Paul, your moving towards the truth.♡♡

Great interview. I think what I notice about Tom's interviews is his ability to listen is as important as the questions he asks. Too many time you see the guest never has the opportunity to finish their sentence before being railroaded with a statement by the interviewer. You're world class Tom, keep it up! Mr. Simon, ain't so bad either!

“saturated with enough ambiguity that they would allow for more interpretations” “it’s just a song” “the listener completes the song”…. humility within brillance💕💕💕

I have always loved the songs of Simon and Garfunkel! The music they have given the world speaks to my heart . It seems to me that God is speaking to Paul through these dreams as his time draws nearer. Praying He with reach out and grasp the truth being offered Him. I have chosen Bridge Over Trouble Water as one of the songs I would like sung at my funeral. I think of Jesus as my Bridge over the troubles of this life. Really appreciated this interview. So sincere!

Paul Simon is a legend. No one can argue that. Tom does and outstanding job here. The perfect balance between knowledge, enthusiasm and space. There are not too many people that can interview someone at this level and not ruin it. This is gold. Well done.

Paul Simon is one deep soul!!! Seven Psalms seems to deserve a listen. Much respect to Paul Simon ... an honest, humble, talented, seeking human being.

Such a talented song writer. I feel priveleged to have grown up with his music.

Dear Paul Simon , I have listened to you since the sixties and you are like fine wine ❤God’s’ Blessings on you , God make his face to shine on you .

Kudos to Tom Power for an excellent interview with the great Paul Simon. Very respectfully done.

What an iconic song writer and performer. Hard to believe he is now 81 years old.

Truly impressive: With all his success he is able to still question himself as to his own truth, this gives me hope for us all.

Grown up and living in Germany, the music of Simon & Garfunkel was always like a bright light, delivering to me (71) the best sides of the U.S.A. Thank you.

This felt more like a conversation then a traditional interview. Paul Simon is able to relax and talk properly about his art and his beliefs. Great stuff. Paul Simon has been one of soundtracks to my life since I was eleven years old - I’m now in my sixties. Total genius. And kudos to Tom for wearing a Fairport Convention tee shirt.

The best interviewer is the one that knows that silence is golden. Tom allowed Paul , not the easiest interview, to open up and give us his impressions of his writing process. With minimal input from Tom, Paul helps us connect to his profound ideas that really echoes our own with his statements on mortality, human fragility and struggles with existence and its meaning. With his new album Paul doesn’t pretend to give us answers, but his impressions and his own unanswered questions, that perhaps are destined to remain unanswered. Anyway, short but meaningful interview with a genius whose work will continue to accompany this listener throughout the tribulations and triumphs of his life.

This popped up on my feed, and caught me off guard. Amazing interview. So incredibly honest. This is rare in today's world.

Paul , I pray God continues to call your heart !! It’s not about religion my friend …it’s about a relationship with the creator of ALL things …..even you and the music through you ♥️

Tom, you're one of the best interviewers I've seen in a long time. Way to give him the appropriate prompts, time to answer fully, and a sensitive heart to respond. Well done.

Without negating Paul's talent, "Losing love is like a window to your heart", is full of more meaning than any songwriter could intend or hope for. I pair this line with Leonard Cohen's, "There's a crack, a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in". Both are a profound gift to humanity from the very depths and mystery of life itself.

Dear Paul Simon, Your music has touched my life deeply and I’d like to thank you for what you have given me. In high school in the seventies in South Africa, a substitute teacher brought in the lyrics of Sounds of Silence and we analyzed it as a poem. I was hooked. Forty years later, I was teaching English to foreign students at Syracuse University and I brought in America and used the song to help the students. A Greyhound is a bus, I explained. We also read Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken and my Chinese students could not grasp the concept of a “yellow wood”. Anyway, I invited them over for Thanksgiving and as we were driving to my farmhouse outside Syracuse, one student saw: “Ah, yellow wood,” at the same time another student saw a Greyhound passing on the other side of the highway. “Greyhorse,” she shouted. In Madrid in 1978, I bought a best of Paul Simon record. They assured me you were not going to be singing in Spanish even though the titles on the cover of the album were Spanish. Duncan was a song I played over and over when I returned home and my brother and I drove around South Africa together. I swear, the couple in the next room in the dump of a hotel we stayed in in Durban was bound to win a prize. When I went to live in the Netherlands in 1986, I had a job interview at WEA Records and they gave me a copy of Graceland. I broke up with my boyfriend in the Netherlands and had given up South African citizenship because of apartheid so I had to reapply to go home to SA (okay, still a privileged white with those diamonds on the soles of my shoes) but “Homeless,” was my broken heart driving to The Hague. David Kramer was another artist I loved. Before I moved to the US (1992) he told the audience about going to Cape Point with you and everyone asking for his autograph. I can assure you, I would have recognized you but I’m glad no one else did. For the past eight years my husband and I have been estranged from our adult daughters. We’re healing and about to visit them both in Portland, OR. I couldn’t listen to “Mother and Child Reunion” without crying. Now it’s a celebration. At our daughter’s wedding in February my husband and Emma danced to “Father and Daughter.” I led the wedding party in a dance I choreographed for all my South African family’s weddings “The Scatterlings of Africa,” by Johnny Clegg (you might know that one). When we lived in the UK as a family and our oldest daughter was backpacking across the US with her boyfriend, it was “Kathy’s Song,” I was drawn to (even though it was backwards for us). Now we’re in our sixties, my friends are “Bookends,” (how terribly strange to be [almost] seventy); when we drove to Austin, it was “We’re going to Graceland” as we drove through Memphis. And today, weirdly, I knew I had this album on my playlist somewhere but I haven’t heard it and as I was driving out of NYC to upstate NY, it was “Born in Puerto Rico” and remembering how many times I’ve “We came here wearing summer clothes in winter; Hearts of sunshine in the cold.” You were with me after 9/11 with “Wartime Prayers.” And when my friend had cancer, “Darling Lorraine.” And “Hearts and Bones” (I’m a quarter wandering Jew; contagious and outrageously Wishfully Drinking may Carrie Fisher RIP) … And yes, old lovers will say: “Still Crazy After All These Years.” You attended school meetings and had your hair-dyed with me with “Outrageous.” More estrangement with ”Another Galaxy” and then some reconciliation … my own mother, “a letter from home, The handwriting's fragile and strange, Something unstoppable set into motion, Nothing is different, but everything's changed’ Sometime this century, my sisters and brother and sixty-three first cousins and our families went to the Netherlands to celebrate what would have been our grandparents 100 wedding anniversary. We went to our old family graveyard. I was not in South Africa for my own parents’ funerals and this helped me find closure. The light through the stain glass was cobalt and red And the frayed cuffs and collars Were mended by halos of golden thread The choir sang, Once Upon a Time There Was an Ocean And all the old hymns and family names Came fluttering down leaves of emotion As nothing is different, but everything's changed. You have been with me through my life lived in five countries on three continents. You have given me smiles and laughter; tears and hope. I’m sorry you’ve been beaten up these past few years. I hope you recover quickly and fully. I’ve just downloaded Seven Psalms. We all need your voice in the zeitgeist. Thank you.

"the listener completes the song" ...I burst into tears when he said that. I have only heard Simon play live once - so memorable - his Graceland tour. He came on stage for an encore with his acoustic guitar. He must have played for almost an hour. He is not only an astonishing song writer and musician - he is a true bard, a legend. What a fantastic interview, thank you Tom Power and the Q team. Blessings Paul Simon!!!

Mr. Simon, my father is your age and I grew up on your music. My father played it on the weekends while doing projects around our house. The era of Singer/Songwriters was the music of my childhood. Thank you for creating such wonderful and singable songs. You have given scores of us musical memories for our entire life. Thank you. Simply thank you.

Paul and Tom might like to know that when Sounds of Silence was percolating beneath the surface of the pop charts in the mid-Sixties, a DJ named Bob Resch (sp?) at Penn State was playing it every chance he could get, telling his audience that this was on its way to becoming a BIG hit. I would guess the same thing was happening at many college campuses around the country. Even at 80 yrs., I have a clear memory of how profoundly the lyrics,arrangement and performance affected me and so many other young listeners. GREAT interview!

He is a gem. The human person in him really shines through. Heartwarming to see.

Paul Simon has become monumental in my mind over all these years. The poetry of his songs is really total genius on a mystical level. No wonder Nobel Lauriate Derek Walcott befriended him. Paul its your soul so beauteous.

This man is full of confidence when you look at what he has accomplished, it has nothing to do with luck.

Paul Simon has given the world a lot. He's been an enduring feature of the soundtrack of my life. Paul is one of the top 10 songwriters of the past 60 years. He's an underrated acoustic guitarist, as well. Thanks for this really excellent interview, Tom.

I absolutely love this man. He's always been so open about how songwriting happens...

I didn’t know Tim Power before coming here and I’m a fan now. So refreshing to see an interviewer who knows his subject like that and is able to have an actual conversation with his guest.

Tom, you’re a top-notch interviewer. Thank you.🙏

Paul Simon is one of the best singer/songwriter/guitarist/musicians of all time in my opinion! He is so gracious to his audience and always humble. Thank you for the interview!

Wonderful interview. I saw Simon and Garfunkel at Parade Stadium in 1983 while in High School. There were moments from that show that are among the apex of best live sounds I have ever heard and I have seen many many live sets over the decades. Thank you for this interview. I'm writing this to you as my wife is going through vision loss, she sees grays now and mirages and I use different words to talk with her, she is having to stop driving and working and yet her spiritual vision is simultaneously soaring ( not hyperbole ). The Father of Lights is shaking out everything right now. Abba will do these things, wake us up because we receive something in a vision, such as "7 psalms" and then lift ( temporarily ) or change our 5 senses and propel us to think, 'maybe Im not thinking about this correctly'. Father is waking up many, many people right now (often 3 am or so) All creation is groaning, perilous times are upon us whether we would have it be so or not. My testimony is that *Love* has a name, and that this love laid down His life, died, was buried and rose again to pay in full the penalty for our sins. Paul is hearing this knocking from The Door. Jesus is alive forevermore. Please pray Jesus is known and received by Paul and many more. There is yet a great harvest. Jesus love, peace and joy are tangible, we all have experienced them in moments, seasons and starts. When one is found by Jesus they amplify and *remain* within you as rivers of living water, Jesus is calling. He says you are either for Him or against Him. He is faithful and true, closer than your clothing, with love that is higher, wider, deeper, and of greater breadth than all the poets, shamans, truck drivers, artists, preachers and dreamers...His thoughts toward us greater than the sand. Dont wait today is the day of salvation, newness of life and life more abundantly. - Bryan

I have watched lots of interviews with Paul Simon over the years, this was probably the best interview so far, really enjoyed it. Lots of information which I don't think has come out before.

The way Tom connects with artists, makes me feel connected and included. When Paul said the listener completes his song, I feel the same as a listener of Tom's interview. A different kind of song. Thank you

Paul Simon is a national treasure. God Bless him. I hope and pray that he will be ok with his hearing. Can anyone out there imagine this world without Paul Simon. I absolutely can’t imagine waking up everyday without Paul Simon being with us. What a scary thought….

His old music has wisdom messages. I think this is one of the attractions of is music.

I can't begin to express how much love, respect and affection I have for Paul - what an exemplary human being, This interviewer is awesome too!!

That was the best interview of Paul Simon I have ever seen! You are remarkable Tom! Every other interviewer, over decades, lit Paul up the way you did, and you do it so naturally it feels like I'm sitting by a campfire listening to magic. I'm glad you're young. I'm not. So I can listen to you for the rest of my life :) Thanks Tom

16:40 - “You’re offering to the world what you think, so you’re very vulnerable then….” This guy took it on his shoulders big time!! My own teenage years were fashioned by his insights and poetry… one of the inspirations for me to become a songwriter….

Paul, I’m almost 80 and love your music. Sound of Silence is my favorite and still listen to this a lot. Your songs meant a lot to my generation. I’m glad you’re still writing them, and plan to listen to the Five Psalms you mentioned. God bless you and your talent. Glad you didn’t become a lawyer!

We are all getting older every day. Graceland will always be the greatest album ever for me. I am now 52 years old...and I can still remember singing Diamonds with my best friend back in the day. Thank you Simon for everything you did to make my childhood a wonderful time for me.

This is probably one of the best-hosted interviews I've ever seen. 🦋

This great yet humble man is a master of making himself smaller than what he is trying to express and what he produces. I love his statement: "The listener completes the song."

The memories Paul shared were very special, and Mr. Power's incredible knowledge made the interview extra-impressive. 👏

This is a fascinating and wonderful experience. I am a believer. Paul Simon is the most authentic and beautiful poet. Thank you.💐

Paul is my childhood, and my adulthood. I hope for all the best to a legend.

I believe that Paul Simon's mind and soul are inter-connected with all the minds and souls of poetry and music geniuses of all time. So there's no wonder that genius lyrics and music pour out of him, even when he sleeps. He's just too humble to acknowledge that.

This interview is so deep, it really makes me cry. Thank you Paul and Tom!

Paul, you are a real poet..I’ve grown listening “Sound of Silence”. Thanks much

Amazing insight into the mind and soul of a brilliant musician. Proof his talent is God given. Psalms are songs written to God. Praying that he finds the truth.

Beautiful interview of the greatest songwriter/poet of our time… coming from a true fan that followed Paul’s music faithfully for over 55 years firsts from India and then her in the US…for a fan of the Beatles and Clapton, Dylan an James Taylor…😊😊 wish I could simply send a message to Paul and thank him for enriching my life so immensely…❤️❤️❤️

Thank you Tom for the sensitive listening and keeping Paul comfortable to share so willingly. Now I want to listen to the record.

Wonderful interview. It really resonated with my own feelings about god. Even as an atheist, my favorite poem is the 23rd Psalm. The lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, He leadeth me beside the still waters, He restoreth my soul. To me the lord is the very universe calling me to rest and heal in nature. Wishing all blessings to Mr. Simon

Paul seems comfortable and just being himself here - he seems like a guarded person from what I’ve heard (understandably), so, nice to see him at ease and sharing this fascinating info with us fans and musicians

I would choose Bridge over troubled Water as one of the best songs ever written. Hauntingly beautiful and timeless

He breaks all barriers of what is considered gifted or genius. Just in a completely different realm of talent!!! ❤❤

Still crazy after all these years. What a lovely interview with a lovely gentleman who happens to be Paul Simon!

I never regret watching a Paul Simon interview. It’s always way more than I ever expected.

There's something mystical about his gifts and how he receives these lyrics in his dreams during the witching hour! Sometimes I wake up suddenly in the night with these deep profound words or feelings and messages 🙌✨ he has an absolute gift!

While I'm not too familiar with Tom Power, I must say he is an exceptional interviewer. For one thing, he does his homework and you can see how appreciative the artist is by their opening up to him. The other reason is Tom doesn't steal the limelight and make it all about HIM, as soooo many other interviewers do. Others are opportunists trying to make a name for themselves, whereas Tom just let's the experience unfold because he knows his place and is comfortable taking a backseat in order to get the most from his guest. Great work Tom! I look forward to enjoying more of your efforts. Peace

Paul Simon. You understand that you're channeling the divine. You are a treasure. I love you.

I saw him play live with the Philadelphia orchestra in 2011 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the academy of music. One of the best nights of my life. Everyone was dressed in formal attire and my friend who invited me (his dad plays the percussions ) we’re both b wearing jeans. We were seated up high and looking down I saw little Paul and the orchestra play. I relate to Paul simons lyrics so much. Right now especially “an island never cries.” His music heals the lonely soul.

"I stand alone without beliefs...the only truth i know is you" i heard this beautifull song at age 14, i understood these words 50 years later. A true Poet, thank you Paul for a lifetime of profoundly inspiring songs! ❤

The thoughts on his latest work are very interesting to hear. Especially that he had absolutely no idea as to where the dreams were coming from to begin with. I remember being led through the 60's by the songs of this man. I feel very fortunate to have the experience of knowing his music in my youth. Also, to hear that he cannot play live anymore is startling. The listener is the one who finishes the song. Well said and very wise.

I could listen to paul talk for hours. Im a huge fan from the uk. Absolutely love it when paul talks about how he first came to england during the mid 60's. There's certainly something magical about it. Parsley sage rosemary & thyme got me totally hooked to all of the simon & garfunkel albums. In fact it was these guys and donovan who turned me on to folk music and i am forever glad they did that for me. This inspired me to listen to so many of their contemporaries. Incredible sensational times.

An absolute genius - "and the moon rose over an open field" - kills me every time.

This is an excellent interview of an artist who has influenced my life, since I was a teenager living in L.A. up until today. Dear Mr. Simon, Thank you for your beautiful music combined with poetic lyrics that can penetrate your soul. It's nice to see that behind the exceptional artist lies a decent, honest and humble human being.

This wonderful humble musician and entertainer is also 'a warm hearted conduit between heaven and earth.' The music and lyrics that 'have come through' Paul, inspired multi millions of people and his later offerings brought deep insight into my life. There are muse's that he connects with? Thank you, brother.

Just thinking about this man's songs can make me cry at the sheer beauty of his gift of words and melody.

I think this is the second time I've had the pleasure of watching Tom Power talk with somebody we've loved for years. This is no simple, every day common Q and A. Mr. Power's curiosity, intellect and pure interest in his guests shines. It feels as if I am sitting in my favorite chair in the living room, sipping a glass of wine while being privy to a conversation of a couple of guys visiting my home.

I have been praying for Paul and Art since I got saved in the 70's as I have been struck how deeply God has placed a call on them.

It's strange to hear his voice at this age, because his voice has become iconic and now he sounds right for this age, but different from the familiar version of his voice. He's very thoughtful and articulate. I'm glad that he shares these thoughts with us, along with his wonderful musical contributions.

What a mensch. The wisdom of the elders. Love his work, grateful to know it comes from a place of deep thought and consideration. You can't help but wish him happiness and joy. He has brought so much to my quiet hours, esp. "There Goes Rhyming Simon" - has a special place in my heart. Love him...immensely.

This is what an interview should be like.

Paul Simon became one of my very favorite artists in about 1969. My friend who played guitar played and sang a bridge over troubled water and sounds of silence and I was hooked on Paul Simon’s music and still am.

I used to listen to Paul’s stuff and loved it for so long. Somehow I got busy and forgot about it for a long time, but recently I’m falling back in love with it. His work is so beautiful. Thanks for this interview, Tom.

I’m so admire Paul Simon … kind, intelligent, gentle, humble, & so gifted. 🎉