paul simon playboy interview

paul simon – 1984 playboy interview small black beetles: the overkill
left CBS, it became company policy there to make life as
difficult as possible for me. And that began a terrible
personal battle between me and Walter Yetnikoff, the
president of the company. It ended only when I threatened
to subpoena people to testify that he had told them he was
going to ruin my career.
Playboy: Did you tell all that to your psychiatrist? What did
he say?
Simon: When I finished, he said, "I find what you say very
interesting and I'd like you to come back and talk some
more." Then he asked if I'd noticed the guitar in the corner
of his living room. I said I had and he said, " Would you like
to borrow it and take it with you to your hotel?" So I said,
"Yes, sure." And he said, "Maybe you'd like to write about
what you've said today." I thought, That's an interesting ploy
psychologically; so I said, "All right."
Playboy: And that did it for you?
Simon: No, the first night, I never even opened the guitar
case. The next day, he asked what had happened, and I
said, "You don't understand. It takes me months to write
songs." He said, "I only expected you to begin to write a
song." I went back to the hotel and I wrote on a piece of
paper, "Allergies, maladies / Allergies to dust and grain /
Allergies, remedies / Still these allergies remain." Just that,
with a melody. Went back the next day really excited
about it. But that didn't make me feel the problem was
solved. So we just kept talking about writing. And I said,
"My problem is that I really don't see what difference it
makes if I write or don't write." He said "Do you want to
make a difference?" And I said I did. He asked if I
thought Uncle Tom's cabin made a difference to people. I
said yes, and he agreed. Then he said, "I think Bridge Over
Troubled Water made a difference to people. I'm interested
in working with you, because I think that you can write
things that people feel make a difference. That's the
reason I want you writing again."
Playboy: Practical fellow. But what he said doesn't seem
particularly profound.
Simon: He was able to penetrate someone whose
defenses were seemingly impenetrable. He was able to
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