Hearts and Bones

For the BBC TV Series, see Hearts and Bones (TV series).
Hearts and Bones
Studio album by Paul Simon
Released November 4, 1983
Genre Rock
Length 40:30
Label Warner Bros.
Producer Roy Halee
Paul Simon
Russ Titelman
Lenny Waronker
Paul Simon chronology

One-Trick Pony
(1980)		 Hearts and Bones
(1983)		 Graceland
(1986)

Hearts and Bones is the sixth solo album by Paul Simon. It was released in 1983.

The album was originally intended to be called Think Too Much, however Mo Ostin, president of Warner Bros. Records, persuaded Simon to change it to Hearts and Bones.[1] The album was written and recorded following the Simon and Garfunkel Concert in Central Park in 1981, and the world tour of 1982 - 1983. Some of the songs intended for Think Too Much were previewed on the tour, and Garfunkel worked on some of the songs with Simon in the studio,[2] with an intention that the finished product would be a Simon and Garfunkel album.[3] Ultimately, Garfunkel left the project early on, and none of his contributions were included in the final mix.

Composition

The title track is about Simon and his then girlfriend, Carrie Fisher. (It is often wrongly assumed that Fisher was his wife at the time of this composition - However, the song is copyrighted 1982 and the couple did not actually marry until August 1983), as they travel through New Mexico ("one and one-half wandering Jews"), and also about love in general. The album also contains one of the few songs about numbers (and love) — "When Numbers Get Serious", which evokes the beginnings of the Information Age. Also unusual is "Think Too Much", actually two different songs with the same title and chorus line, dealing generally with thinking (and love).

The eighth track, René and Georgette Magritte with their Dog after the War, is a surreal song about the surrealist artist René Magritte and his wife Georgette, and fancifully suggests that they secretly admired the music of such doo-wop artists as The Penguins, The Moonglows, The Orioles, and The Five Satins. The title derives from a caption to a photograph of the Magrittes, "Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog During the War". Simon changed "During" to "After" as it scanned better for the song lyric.

The last track, The Late Great Johnny Ace, is Simon's homage to John Lennon, who had been murdered shortly before Simon wrote it. The song and its title also wistfully hark back to Johnny Ace, an early rock and roller who died from an accidental self-inflicted gunshot to the face. Simon had actually premiered the song during Simon and Garfunkel's reunion concert in Central Park; near the end of the song a fan ran onto the stage, which can be seen in the DVD of the concert. The man was dragged offstage by Simon's personnel. The man can be heard speaking to Simon, "I have to talk to you". The attack was possibly in response to Simon mentioning John Lennon in the lyrics. The closing music of this track (an instrumental section using strings, clarinet and flute) was written by composer Philip Glass.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [4]
Robert Christgau B+[5]
Rolling Stone [6]

Although, in 1983, the album was considered a commercial failure and signaled a low point in Simon's career, the passage of time has been kind to the album. It's been re-examined and considered to be one of Simon's more important records and a lyrically strong one.[4]

Singles

There were two songs from this album released as singles. The first single with "Allergies" as the A-side and "Think Too Much (b)" as the B-side peaked at #44 in the US Hot 100. The second single failed to chart, this being "Think Too Much (a)" (A-side) and "Song About the Moon" (B-Side). (Also, the title track was released as the flipside to "Graceland" in the U.S. in 1986, and as the B-side of "The Boy in the Bubble" elsewhere in the world.)

Track listing

All songs written by Paul Simon, with one-minute coda on Track 10 written by Philip Glass.

  1. "Allergies" – 4:37
  2. "Hearts and Bones" – 5:37
  3. "When Numbers Get Serious" – 3:25
  4. "Think Too Much (b)" – 2:44
  5. "Song About the Moon" – 4:07
  6. "Think Too Much (a)" – 3:05
  7. "Train in the Distance" – 5:11
  8. "Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog After the War" – 3:44
  9. "Cars Are Cars" – 3:15
  10. "The Late Great Johnny Ace" – 4:45
Bonus tracks
  1. "Shelter of Your Arms" (Unreleased Work-In-Progress) – 3:11
  2. "Train in the Distance" (Original Acoustic Demo) – 3:13
  3. "Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog After the War" (Original Acoustic Demo) – 3:47
  4. "The Late Great Johnny Ace" (Original Acoustic Demo) – 3:22

11-14 are bonus tracks on the remastered Rhino Records CD-release (July 2004):

Personnel

Chart positions

Chart (1983) Position
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[7] 3
Swedish Albums Chart[8] 11
Dutch Mega Albums Chart[9] 14
French SNEP Albums Chart [10] 19
Swiss Albums Chart[11] 25
Spanish Albums Chart[12] 27
Japanese Oricon Albums Chart[13] 30
UK Albums Chart[14] 34
United States Billboard Pop Albums[15] 35
Canadian Albums Chart[16] 50
German Media Control Albums Chart[17] 51
Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart[18] 99

References

  1. ↑ Marc Eliot (18 Oct 2010). Paul Simon: A Life. John Wiley & Sons. p. 181. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  2. ↑ Jeffrey Perlah (30 May 1998). "Billboard review". Billboard. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  3. ↑ Don Shewey (24 Nov 24 1983). "Paul Simon: Hearts And Bones : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 10 September 2012. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Allmusic review
  5. ↑ Christgau, Robert (January 24, 1984). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice (New York). Retrieved April 29, 2013.
  6. ↑ Rolling Stone review
  7. ↑ "norwegiancharts.com Paul Simon - Hearts And Bones". Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  8. ↑ "swedishcharts.com Paul Simon - Hearts And Bones". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  9. ↑ "dutchcharts.nl Paul Simon - Hearts And Bones". dutchcharts.nl. MegaCharts. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  10. ↑ "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste : Paul Simon". infodisc.fr. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  11. ↑ "Paul Simon - Hearts And Bones - hitparade.ch". Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  12. ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  13. ↑ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  14. ↑ "Chart Stats - Paul Simon - Hearts And Bones". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  15. ↑ Allmusic - Hearts and Bones > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums
  16. ↑ http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.4379a&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=lo0152od4caliufjkgh3mkphk6
  17. ↑ "Album Search: Paul Simon" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
  18. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

External links