Tonight, my wife and I will be going to see former-Yankee-great-turned-musician BERNIE WILLIAMS in concert very near us!! And, NEXT Saturday night, I'll be going to see legendary singer-songwriter PAUL SIMON way up in Newark, the city of his (and my) birth. Those who know me well will not be surprised that the Providential proximity of these two concerts have led to a lot of thought about how Paul and Bernie are alike, and how they DIFFER....hence this blog.
First, how Bernie and Paul are ALIKE. Well, obviously, I think enough of both of them to pay money to see them perform live. Beyond that, both musicians have a keen affinity for Latin rhythms in their music (Bernie, however, plays his guitar almost exclusively to Instrumentals, while Paul plays and sings to brilliant lyrics that he writes.) As a poet myself, Paul's lyrics have ALWAYS intrigued me....he and Bernie Taupin are the closest thing present-day lyricists come to being true POETS.
That's where the similarities end, however. You see, 50 years ago, Simon wrote his iconic line about a famous Yankees centerfielder "Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?"....but Bernie was ACTUALLY a famous centerfielder for the New York Yankees. And years later, Paul wrote a song "I WAS BORN IN PUERTO RICO" as a third person (as I said earlier, he was REALLY born in Newark, NJ.) Bernie, on the other hand, was really born in Puerto Rico (San Juan).
Paul Simon has won Grammy awards for his albums, but Bernie was "only" Grammy nominated. And Bernie, (who will be 50 in a few days, BTW), though he may have been old for a baseball player when he transitioned to music full-time about 15 years ago, is still YOUNG (like Bruce Springsteen said) as a MUSICIAN. Paul Simon is 76, quitting music, and on his Farewell Tour.
The BIGGEST difference between Paul and Bernie is that Bernie is a fellow Christian, and that's why I paid extra so that we can Meet and Greet him after tonight's show (see tickets below.)
Bernie signs all of his autographs with the letters "SDG," standing for "Solo a Dios la Gloria" which means "ONLY TO GOD BE THE GLORY." For that reason (AND the fact that he was my wife's all-time favorite Yankee, Lol), we are doing a Meet and Greet with Bernie but wouldn't be interested in doing that with PAUL if there even was one!!
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