Paul Simon

What first strikes you when listening to a Paul Simon song is that blend of rhythmic precision and melodies that seem to come from another place. It’s not just the folk everyone knows: in his chords, there are echoes of gospel, reggae, or African rhythms intertwining effortlessly. When you listen to "The Sound of Silence," for example, you’re not hearing a pure acoustic piece, but rather a construction where the guitar and vocal arrangements hold up in a balance that rarely falters. The same holds true for "The Boxer," where the bass and harmonies create a foundation that seems to breathe on its own. Simon doesn’t seek to embellish: it sounds as if every note was already there, waiting to be discovered.

His rise to fame came when he was barely a teenager. In 1956, alongside Art Garfunkel, he formed a duo that would define an era. Both came from Queens, that New York where folk and rock collided on radio stations. "Mrs. Robinson" and "America" weren’t just hits: they became anthems people hummed without thinking about their origin. But the moment that changed everything was Bridge over Troubled Water in 1970. Recorded in three weeks with borrowed equipment, the album sold over 25 million copies and seeped into the lives of millions as the soundtrack of a generation. Then came the duo’s split, and Simon stood alone before the microphone, ready to try things no one expected.