TS: "Once in a Lifetime" (the lyrics) vs. "You Can Call Me Al" (the lyrics)

Vaguely related musically, closely related, lyrically. Watching Paul Simon break the latter down in the "Graceland" classic albums DVD made me respect the words more. The former, I understand, was saved by Eno, who contributed the chorus. Anyway, both sort of cosmic mid-life crisis lyrics.

Once in a Lifetime

And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful
Wife
And you may ask yourself-well...how did I get here?

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the moneys gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

And you may ask yourself
How do I work
this?
And you may ask yourself
Where is that large automobile?
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful house!
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful wife!

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the moneys gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

Same as it ever was...same as it ever was...same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...same as it ever was...same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...same as it ever was...

Water dissolving...and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean
Carry the water at the bottom of the ocean
Remove the water at the bottom of the ocean!

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/in the silent water
Under the rocks and stones/there is water underground.

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the moneys gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

And you may ask yourself
What is that beautiful house?
And you may ask yourself
Where does that highway go?
And you may ask yourself
Am I right? ...am I wrong?
And you may tell yourself
My god!...what have I done?

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/in the silent water
Under the rocks and stones/there is water underground.

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the moneys gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

Same as it ever was...same as it ever was...same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...same as it ever was...same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...same as it ever was...

You Can Call Me Al

A man walks down the street
He says why am I soft in the middle now
Why am I soft in the middle
The rest of my life is so hard
I need a photo-opportunity
I want a shot at redemption
Don't want to end up a cartoon
In a cartoon graveyard
Bonedigger Bonedigger
Dogs in the moonlight
Far away my well-lit door
Mr. Beerbelly Beerbelly
Get these mutts away from me
You know I don't find this stuff amusing anymore
If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty when you call me
You can call me Al

A man walks down the street
He says why am I short of attention
Got a short little span of attention
And wo my nights are so long
Where's my wife and family
What if I die here
Who'll be my role-model
Now that my role-model is
Gone Gone
He ducked back down the alley
With some roly-poly little bat-faced girl
All along along
There were incidents and accidents
There were hints and allegations

If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty when you call me
You can call me Al
Call me Al

A man walks down the street
It's a street in a strange world
Maybe it's the Third World
Maybe it's his first time around
He doesn't speak the language
He holds no currency
He is a foreign man
He is surrounded by the sound
The sound
Cattle in the marketplace
Scatterlings and orphanages
He looks around, around
He sees angels in the architecture
Spinning in infinity
He says Amen! and Hallelujah!

If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty when you call me
You can call me Al
Call me Al

both brilliant, but i'm gonna go with the 'Heads as a default.

yeah i don't think i can choose

They both even end with a spiritual epiphany!

Once in a Lifetime is better related to teh Myth of FIngerprints

Except I think "Myth" isn't a) as anthemic or b)first person mid-life crisis or c) as profound as either.

i think it's possibly more profound than either, but a and b are right, and i might be wrong, on second thought - but the thing is i'm not sure once in a lifetime is really 'first person mid-life crisis', despite the text.

"Once In A Lifetime" is a second-person mid-life crisis.

if byrnes interviews are anything to go by it's a preacher *describing* someone elses impending midlife crisis (unless of course they find jesus) and therefore not actually first person

however i agree both songs are awesome, and yes treading somewhat similar ground. though really "lifetime" takes it a step or two beyond awesome into, say, transcendent or perhaps sublime. especially when the twister kicks in

x-post Whoops, you're right. But I always heard it as a sort of rhetorical second person. I mean, I guess "Al" is second person, too - "a man walks down the street" - but since Simon has said it's about himself I think of it as first person. Both remind me of the guy who goes to the doctor and begins coyly "I have this friend ..."

Third person, crap.

ok, so it's an individual's midlife crisis, and probly best compared to Al, tho the preacher does raise the stakes a little. fingerprints is much bigger-picture.

I guess Simon's zydeco slight of hand throws me off on "Myth" - too much misdirection!

Both are goofy, thrilling, and transcendent. If forced to choose, I'll take "Once in a Lifetime" because of the awesome live versions I've seen. When I saw Simon on the Born in the Right Time tour in 1990, he did something I've never seen before or since: after playing "Al," he told the audience, "That was pretty great. Let's do it again." And the band played it again.

It is interesting, esp. in the context of "Remain In Light," how not-menacing, even goofy, "Once in a Lifetime" is.

Both songs are goofy in that middle-aged male way; it's like they're stepping out.

Though lots of "Graceland" is more or less upbeat, despite the lyrical content. That's less true with "Remain In Light," which makes "Once in a Lifetime" more conspicuous (other than the massive hit-ness of "Al").

"al" definitely is pretty much insanely catchy and upbeat, which is nice sometimes. i'm glad this isn't a poll!

Both cases of "It doesn't matter if we have way too many syllables if the lyrics are good" :)

breakthrough!