As a 13 years old, this video was my first taste of Paul Simon's music. I thought that Chevy Chase was Paul Simon, and the short guy was a comic sidekick.
Chevy's an amazing singer. He does a great job on this song, I never knew how close his vocal was to Paul's. Kinda sad that Paul just does backing vocals and a few instruments though, wish he was in it more.
Billy Hicks Clearly he's joking. Deadpan humor is sometimes difficult to convey on the Internet. I've had my sure of problems getting my intention across when I've attempted jokes online.
MrRichot It's lip synching to the music. Paul Simon is friends with Lorne Michaels from SNL. And he wanted Paul to do the song on SNL and he couldn't because of scheduling conflicts. And Lorne helped put this video together and suggested an old SNL alumni, Chevy Chase, to help with it. Chevy Chase has perfect pitch when it comes to music. Notes and lyrics, meaning he only has to hear it or read it one time and he can duplicate it perfectly. Plus he was in a band too, before he made it big. So Chevy having perfect pitch in music was a great choice to do this for what they wanted to do in the video. Not being smart, just telling the story behind the video.
Remember the days when popular music was written, actually written, by musicians and played by musicians? Now, we have rap and Taylor Swift. 100 steps backwards.
And they're juvenile at best . Nothing of actual musical substance. Using the same old 4 chords over and over doesn't constitute a musician, just a poet that considers the music an afterthought. But hey, that's pop for ya.
When I was a kid, I loved Chevy Chase. I used to think this was his song and watch the video incessantly. You can only imagine how crushed I was when I was old enough to realize it was "that little guy's" song.... lol. Still holds up after all these years, though. Love it.... and Paul Simon, too! :)
A) you mean "Still Crazy After All These Years". Ya I just did that. And B) Paul Simon is definitely one of the greatest American songwriters in popular music history. Alphabetically, gotta be a top 5 of Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Brian Wilson and Stevie Wonder.
It came out when I was a true freshman in college. Now that I returned to NIU and joined the Pep Band on bass (Spring 2016); what a thrill to do some shredding and turn some heads. Yeah, kiddies. This is how you lay down a groove! LOL
The funny thing was that I had to hold back so that the piccolos could be heard. Ummm....Paul Simon's bassist didn't back off. Tell them to play louder! lol
The ones we did the most were Basket Case (Green Day), Final Countdown (Europe), Eye of the Tiger (Survivor) and Rocky...which I performed with Maynard Ferguson in '86 as a true freshman. lol. The entire band really didn't play much outside of the school fight song. There were about 50 songs in the folio, but for the women's basketball games I always requested that we do this one. The team...how shall I say it...really grooved to it during warm ups. :)
+jacky pattersont I was thinking the same thing as I watched the video. I've been listening to this song to prepare me for the day for weeks, but only just now saw the video. i especially love how it makes fun of that self pitying attitude people tend to fall into while all the while being so uplifting and leaving the listener hopeful with the last verse.
My daughter just bought this album yesterday. It's timeless. We were remarking that if it was recorded today, it would still be a hit. Absolutely classic, brilliant stuff.
@@2maxmax1max Before Paul Simon became famous as a solo artist, he was part of the duo Simon and Garfunkel. That's how most people came to know. The poster thought he was watching Simon and Garfunkel. Not Simon and Chase.
this is too funny......these guys did a great job entertaining me. Both classic, brilliant artists of many varieties. Adorable men. Thank you, boys & whoever posted this. Wonderful.
Graceland is one of the best albums of all time. Paul's songwriting is as brilliant as the stuff he did with Art. The baseline in this song is just fantastic!
I could watch this video *all day long!* It's funny and the rapport between Paul and Chevy Chase is awesome! They really look like they're having fun and Chevy's "stealing" of the lyrics and the look on Paul's face is *priceless!* *Thumbs up* all the way!
So many young 'pups' don't get this very self-effacing video. By getting Chevy Chase to be his 'Stand-in', Paul Simon pulls off a brilliant stunt. Very clever and it works, 100%. Genius.
was an IT Crowd reference, but theres pretty good musicians nowadays, the thing is they aren't so well know because of all the commercial crap with tons of marketing campaigns, but today with the internet its more easy to escape those evasive commercial craps :)
I played this song in high school for marching band. We did a Paul Simon show. It was absolutely amazing. I still get goose bumps when I hear this song because it was such a joy to play & perform. Such a great song! Also I did have to do that solo because I played flute. It was NOT easy. & we also did that dance at the end. haha
I play this every morning it start's my day with a smile and put's me back at that time when we were young,everyone on SNL and all the band's the artist's we were all about the same age,those were the best of time's, I feel lucky to have been there and lived every moment,we were all young and beautiful
One of the best vids ever made!!! Chevy and Paul pull it off perfectly!! Simple and yet so entertaining we are drawn to it like a magnet. I don't think many viewers can not watch it entirely start to finish!! Its a classic!!
from songfacts..............."So where did "Al" and "Betty" in this song come from? That stems from a 1970 party that Simon hosted with his wife, Peggy Harper. Simon's friend, the composer Stanley Silverman, brought along another composer named Pierre Boulez, and when he made his exit, Boulez called Simon "Al" and his wife "Betty." Boulez was French, and he wasn't being rude - it was just his interpretation of what he heard - Paul=Al Peggy=Betty."
Love this to pieces! I have it in my favourites and always get a laugh watching it. Brilliant. I know just how Paul feels. Wrestled with an overbearing choir member just like this. Funny to see it so well portrayed. Really puts the whole drama in perspective.
My sister just had me a brand new, beautiful, totally perfect nephew today. She named him Alvie Brock...yea I know ALVIE!!! but it is for our grandfather....anywho I have sung him this song all day. I have loved this song ever since it first came out when I was a little girl. I developed the BIGGEST crush ever on Chevy Chase and had to watch every movie he acted.
WHEN WE LIVED IN THOSE DAYS I THOUGHT THEY WOULD NEVER END EVERY DAY WAS JUST SOMETHING BEING IN THE U. S. WAS SO SPECIAL JUST AS THE 50 S WERE IF GOD CAN HEAR ME ILL TAKE THE 80S AND 90 S ONCE MORE PLEASE AND ONLY IN CHICAGO OR LA
I called it 'town centre' because it sounds better than 'city centre'. Poetic licence, and all that. Besides, where I come from, we spell it 'centre' ;)
I never cared for this song when it came out, but the lyrics were strangely prescient considering they were in 1986! Listening from a different perspective now...
A little interesting fact, I just listened to this backwards by putting it through my Voice changer app on my mobile, the bass guitar bit at the end of the song is the same forwards and backwards.
James Tidd - The song features a bass run performed by Bakithi Kumalo; the solo is palindromic as only the first half was recorded, and was then played backwards for the second half. The penny whistle solo was performed by jazz musician Morris Goldberg.
As I watch and listen to this vid I cant help but notice the classic sign bottom right. What a classic this was-as far as classics go- this is certainly my no 1
Look on the bright side; At least you don't have to wait for ages for the good shit to be released like those of us who grew up in, or near, the era had to endure. Believe you me there was plenty of shit being released back then too, lol.
Joe Blow Yeah, every age has its shit. The nice thing about living in the internet age is you can call up the music of all ages, instantly and for free.
@@jeramycarroll2769 thank you💖 from the bottom of my heart thank you, time goes on& people move on, it feels like they forget I know they don’t but that’s how it feels so that means more than you know😊
I remember when I was a kid and this came out and I would gnash my teeth and curse God and wonder at a world that would force me to listen to this nonsense. 30 years later, I love this song!
