Biography

“Getting Ready for Christmas Day”

[Paul] Simon’s Christmas single eschews the corny musical clichés of sleigh bells and choirs in favour of pursuing its own seasonal high spirit, riding on a shimmering bluesy acoustic guitar and foot stomping, hand clapping percussion.
Despite its very American musical milieu, its rough charm and spirit brings to mind the glory days of Simon’s South African dalliance on his classic Graceland album, along with the ragged charm of the Simon & Garfunkel gem ‘Cecelia’.
Loose, extemporised gospel interjections from what sounds suspiciously like a roomful of gnarly old bluesmen getting high on mulled wine adds a sense of family celebration. It’s like a Christmas campfire (or maybe log fire) singalong, with flowing lyrics that conjure up a workingman’s anticipation of holiday release, subtly underpinned with a contemporary political edge:
“I got a nephew in Iraq / Its his third time back / But its ending up the way it began / With the luck of a beginner / He’ll be eating turkey dinner / On some mountaintop in Pakistan”.
… Simon has waded into the most clichéd of musical genres and conjured up something unique and original that nonetheless captures the holiday mood.
And when it comes to songwriting, you don’t get much more inspirational than Paul Simon.
The Telegraph, www.telegraph.co.uk

“Getting Ready for Christmas Day” is from Paul Simon’s forthcoming CD, So Beautiful Or So What, to be released Spring 2011.