All choked up on Paul Simon lyrics

Fluff post for the weekend.

If you’re going to get choked up on any song, it should be… a Paul Simon song at certain turning points in your life (well – next to: having to sing “Bayan Ko” to pacify a teargassed crowd). This amateur video of a rendition, the full clip of which was never shown on TV, illustrates what could happen to you, if you have to sing Paul Simon lyrics (“i have squandered my resistance….for a pocketful of mumbles….such are promises…”) at high points, or low points, of your life.

The beginning premise of course is that: no one should be allowed to remake a Paul Simon song. Certain songs cannot be re-made without committing sacrilege. The original is already the definitive version (no one can ever  remake Paul McCartney’s “Yesterday” without falling short or without being panned from head to foot; or Sting’s “Fragile”.)

This former paint store sales clerk, however, pulls it off. Albeit, faced all  of a sudden with stardom,  he was a little overwhelmed by certain realizations when he got back home. The thing about fighting off tears is, it constricts your throat and nasal passage….both of which you need….to make words as sounds come out of you!

This rough, hoarse, throat-gripping version however, just  in my non-expert opinion, is his best execution of the song: it is  storied, unexpected, unpredictable, and, however,notreplicable ever even by the same artist. (you can see his succeeding over-produced performances in Hollywood, they’re not quite the same). The context and emotional content of the rendition are the story and so, however, cannot ever be reproduced with the same result.

Blog admin’s transcript of the video:

“American Idol” Lee Dewyze: [strums and tunes his guitar, gets to the mike, appears to start, then stops. Looks at his side, away from the crowd, purses his lips, then sniffles (“suminghot nang konti,  haha”). Tunes his guitar again….)….

Lee Dewyze: (strums his guitar…finally starts; still overwhelmed, mixes his lyrics, no one notices) “When i left m…..”  — “i  am just a poor boy….(stops for one second) …(is able to pick up)…”though my story’s seldom told…(and recovers well) “…i have squandered my resistance….for a pocketful of mumbles….such are promises…”

Lee Dewyze: (smiles, nods at the crowd) “When i left my home…. and my family…” (stops, looks away, chokes up again)

(strums his guitar and takes one step back, strums for TWO WHOLE BARS without singing, looks down trying to fight off tears… looks up and breathes long, starts to recover again)

Lee Dewyze: [TAKES LONG SILENT BREATHS, STARTS ALL OVER AGAIN, AFTER LONG BREATHS. I told you, long breaths work (emergency pranayama in yoga if there’s such a thing).

He recovers and starts the song all over again)

“When i left my home and my family…i was no more than a boy….in the company of strangers….in the quiet of a (medyo nagmumble pa ulit dito, naiiyak) railway station….running scared….

“…Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters….where the ragged people go….Looking for the places….only they would know…”

“La-la-laiy…la-la-la-laiy….” (he recovers well and is up and about again)

Lee Dewyze: (strums his guitar, looks down, he had stopped his long breaths and so….looks sick in the stomach again, recovers and starts) ”…Asking only workman’s wages….i come looking for a job….but i get no offers…just a come-on from the girls (American Idol used the General Patronage version of the lyrics, Paul Simon used the “w_ _ _ _” word for this instead of “girls” )

“…on Seventh Avenue….i do declare….there were times…when i was so lonesome…i took some comfort there… ooh-la-la….

(steps back, smiles at crowd, strums his guitar away, shakes his head a little and says something) “Now i’m laying down my winter clothes…and wishin’ i was home…goin’ home….where the New York city winters aren’t bleeding me….leading me…to…going home…”

Lee Dewyze: (Finally! he gets to the last refrain!) “In the clearing…stands a boxer….and a fighter by his trade….and he carries the reminders…of every glove that laid him down….or cut him…till he cried out…in his anger and his shame….! i am leaving, i am (….THEN CHOKES UP AGAIN, BIG TIME!)…”leaving….(choking up, he gasps): “…but the fighter still remains…” (recovers) “La-la-lai…La-la-la-lai, la-la-lai….”

And survives and finishes the song.

In the other videos, it shows him in the end able to completely break down after the song. (i chose this video because the video-cam-mike captured less screaming from the audience)

Whew! In my non-expert opinion however, it is his best execution of the song, for its “rendition-content” (and because sometimes, i like imperfect; you don’t like flawless when it’s overproduced-Hollywood-slick.)

Happy weekend! (this is an amateur video  by a member of the audience, by “brookie8281”; there’s a lot of ambient noise, a lot of jostling and shaking, and the lens gets blocked off sometimes):