Paul Simon: You Can Call Me Al Meaning
Song Released: 1986
You Can Call Me Al Lyrics
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...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:I think there may be another layer of meaning added here that I haven't seen mentioned - and that is the allusion to Dante's "The Divine Comedy" that is loosely woven throughout the song. "Al" may very well be Dante Alighieri and "Betty" his ideal woman Beatrice who orchestrates a pilgrimage for Dante to Heaven through three books - Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. In the first two books Dante is led through Hell and Purgatory by the Roman poet Virgil, who early on rescues him in the woods when he is attacked by various beasts including wolves and throws sand in Cerberus'(Hell's watchdog) face in order to gain entry to Hell. "Dogs in the moonlight...Get these mutts away from me". Because Virgil is not a Christian, he cannot lead Dante into Paradise. Virgil had a profound influence on Dante, even being called in the "Inferno" his "master and mentor". In the second stanza of the song (representing Purgatory) – he is looking for "Who will be my role model, now that my role model is gone?" In steps Beatrice as his "Bodyguard" and she guides him through Heaven. The song ends with “…Angels in the Architecture, spinning in infinity / He says Amen and Hallelujah” From the end of Paradiso: “But already my desire and my will were being turned like a wheel, all at one speed, by the Love which moves the sun and the other stars” The Divine Comedy as a whole can be seen to be an allegory on redemption, as Dante struggles with the knowledge of his sins and failings until he finds salvation at the end. These themes also seem apparent in the song. I think this interpretation can be added on top of some of the other insights, adding an additional layer of complexity and meaning to the song.
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2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:Does anyone else think this song from a Broadway musical influenced Paul Simon when he wrote, "You can call me Al"?
"Brother, Can You Spare a Dime," lyrics by Yip Harburg, music by Jay Gorney (1931)
They used to tell me I was building a dream, and so I followed the mob,
When there was earth to plow, or guns to bear, I was always there right on the job.
They used to tell me I was building a dream, with peace and glory ahead,
Why should I be standing in line, just waiting for bread?
Once I built a railroad, I made it run, made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad; now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once I built a tower, up to the sun, brick, and rivet, and lime;
Once I built a tower, now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell,
Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum,
Half a million boots went slogging through Hell,
And I was the kid with the drum!
Say, don't you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time.
Why don't you remember, I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime?
Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell,
Full of that Yankee Doodly Dum,
Half a million boots went slogging through Hell,
And I was the kid with the drum!
Say, don't you remember, they called me Al; it was Al all the time.
Say, don't you remember, I'm your pal? Buddy, can you spare a dime? -
3TOP RATED
#3 top rated interpretation:During the ramp-up for the 2004 remastered re-release from Warner Records, Simon granted a rare interview, excerpts of which were supposed to be included in the liner notes of the album. (Unfortunately, the publishers decided to drop the liner notes and the interview excerpts from the production package just before pressing, as the shipping-case would have to be expanded to hold all the paper note pages.)
Paul said he got the idea for the stanzas' opening line "a man walks down the street . . ." as a reference to the bad jokes that always seemed to start with "a man walks into a bar . . ."--he was trying to say that this whole thing was really just a bad joke, the man trying to find himself.
It seems that Paul was, indeed, referencing a middle-age drunk, unhappy with his current life situation. The first stanza introduces us to the man, bemoaning his fate and foolishly wishing for his "photo opportunity" and "shot at redemption". He has realized that his alcoholism ("Mr. Beerbelly, Beerbelly") and his problems (the "mutts") are quickly doing him in, and that he's "soft in the middle"; he doesn't have the self-will to get out of the situation himself. Also, no one seems to take him seriously "cartoon in a cartoon graveyard", and that his problems (again referenced by the "dogs in the moonlight") will be his ultimate undoing if he doesn't change his ways.
The second stanza takes the man to the far-off land ("far away from my well-lit door", which also could symbolize the poverty and/or crime, of this new land he's now in), but he can't seem to find what he's looking for--he's rushing things, trying to find an answer ("short little attention span"), but worrying all night if he's done the right thing ("wo my nights are so long") by leaving his "wife and family" ("what if I die here?"). What he realizes he really needs is a new "role model", now that his old life is gone. However, instead of doing the *right* thing, he instead "ducks back down the alley" of alcoholism, making the same mistakes again--even falling into hiring prostitiutes (referenced by the "roly-poly little bat-faced girl") to try to assuage his fears and doubts. Many other "incidents and accidents, hints and allegations" follow, worsening his already-dire situation.
The third (and last) stanza finds him in a "strange world". It's completely different than anything he's ever experienced, and he's disconcerted by what he sees: people speaking a language that he can't understand, the sound (and, no doubt, smell) of livestock ("cattle") in the marketplace, and the "scatterlings" of orphan children. Ironically, though, it's in this simplistic setting that he finally seems to find himself, seeing the "angels in the architecture" (a possible double-entendre, with "architecture" referencing both the physical fresco he's looking at and the metephorical *architecture* of his life), causing him to shout "Amen! And Hallelujuh!"
Though not directly, Simon seemed to confirmed that "Betty" and "Al" used in the chorus are both references to alcoholism. "Betty" may represent the Betty Ford Clinic, a well-known alcoholism clinic in the US made famous for its treatment of some well-known celebrities. Betty becomes Al's savior (his "bodygaurd"), and "Al" (a play on the world alcoholic) becomes Betty's long-lost pal (perhaps referencing that this isn't the *first* time this situation has occured to "Al").
Many have speculated that "Betty" and "Al" were actually misnomers given to him and his wife (of the time) Carrie Fisher from a diplomatic party they both attended. Simon confirmed this, saying it started the process for creating the song: The "accidental" names that are sometimes given to us that we don't want. "Al" doesn't want to be seen as an alcoholic, that's why he enlists "Betty's" help, in the first place.
Also, and in a more subtle fashion, the character's names reference the apartheid that was practiced at the time in South Africa, where Simon sojourned for the 3-months that he and Ladysmith Black Mombazo recorded some of the songs.
"Al" (supposedly a white man) needs a "bodyguard", a "role model" in this land he's in. His savior, "Betty" (a black man), is that person. Since it's apartheid South Africa, if anyone asks why they're together, Betty's supposed to say that Al's just a "long lost pal". It was Simon's low-key way criticizing apartheid by highlighting the ridiculous ruse the two men had to fabricate, just so they could sit together, most likely. -
This song has caused confusion in millions of people for decades. Once you understand the entertainment industry and especially the music industry you come to see that nearly all songs are written using something called "witch language" which is done to cast spells upon you unknowingly. That is why so many songs have lyrics that are not written in every day normal English but a strange coded type of wording most don't understand.
Elton John said he never sang a song that wasn't written in witch language. (Search youtube "John Todd on the music industry") to learn more about this.
I simply chalk most of the strange lyrics up to that as it's got to be one of the strangest songs I've ever heard and most annoying as far as the lyrics go.
I remember everyone I knew thinking he must have been in drugs when he wrote this song because it just made no sense at all. How does "dogs in the moonlight" mean someone's problems and how the heck is anyone supposed to even remotely know what that is supposed to mean? It's certainly no common English language phrase that I've ever heard before.
The only thing that makes this song listenable is the MUSIC ITSELF with it's solid beat, overall cord progression, bass riff, flute and bongos -
Wow, lots of interesting thoughts here.
To me it's simple, the song is about longing,regret and the promise of redemption.
The rest is just Paul Simon and his way of melding what he's seen and heard into lyrics that fit into the music he writes. He has a very interesting take on the world he inhabits and an even more interesting way of taking those little fragments that happen to all of us, like the bungling of his name, and showing us that they're not really little fragments at all, they're what we are. -
In Response to Eure22:
"I actually saw an interview many years ago with Paul Simon where he was asked where he got the lyrics for this song.
Paul Simon and his wife at the time Carrie Fisher were throwing a party (or attending a party I can't remember). There was an aquaintance at the party that kept calling Paul - Al and Carrie - Betty. At least that is how I remember the story. " ...so Betty when you call me...""
This is true. And interestingly enough, the man who was mangling Paul and Carrie's names was none other than the prolific French Conductor and Composer, Pierre Boulez (who was clearly a bit out of touch with the American pop music world.) -
I'd just like to point out that in the second verse, the lines "He ducked back down the alley / With some roly-poly little bat-faced girl" are talking about the narrator's former ROLE MODEL, not the narrator himself. Whether the "role model" is actually a person, or just a metaphor for old habits or old values or cultural expectations, etc., etc., the gist of the second verse is that the narrator is throwing off corrupt influences. And he realizes he should have done so long ago ("All along along / There were incidents and accidents / There were hints and allegations").
The result is that in the second verse he is in transition, unnervingly ungrounded. ("Who will be my role model, now that my role model is gone?") In the third verse he finds grounding again, in a new environment that he finds completely authentic. -
I really want to tell someone who commented before thqt it wasnt Carrie whp was called Betty by somepne: it was Peggy. Obviously. How is "Carrie" similar to "Betty"?
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Is it possible that the chorus is a comical, nonsensical reference to Chevy Chase's Caddyshack dealings with Al Czervik (Rodney Dangerfield) and Danny Noonen, to whom Chevy says, "I like you Betty." Or was his comical turn in the video mere coincidence?
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I'm here because I heard earlier today when I listened that Paul's vocal track drops out completely between amen and hallelujah, and I have a theory that it was originally "amen, fuckin' hallelujah" and he edited it out for airplay. I did not hear the word "and," but maybe that's what made me imagine the "in'".
Gotta go listen in headphones. -
Watch Carrie Fisher's one woman show (it is currently on HBO, if you have "on demand").
Then listen to this song. I dare you not to find their marriage as both a tonic and poison to him.
The poetry has multitudes of interpretation (as well as more than a single point of inspiration) but don't forget that the poet cannot divorce HIMSELF from his WORK. -
I always understood this song as SEMIautobiographical. (It's art after all. You can't analyse it too closely) Paul had just had his first real flop (One-Trick Pony) and was feeling at loose ends, probably not as bad off as Al in the first two verses but you get the mood. Then on a personal, noncommercial whim, he heads off to southern Africa (Third World at least for the Bantu population) and hooks up with this vibrant music scene that gets him going again.
As usual with almost every Paul Simon songs there are references in spades. "Amen and Hallelujah" probably refers back to Ladysmith Black Mambazo who are, still, primarily a Gospel group in the local Zulu/Xhosa tradition of Solomon Linda and his Evening Birds. "Al" could well have reference to "Brother Can You Spare a Dime" as that was a "folk" standard at the hootenannies when Paul was in high school and had been recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary and others. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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The short little span of attention is a penis joke, I recall hearing an interview with paul yrs ago where he addressed this.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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Paul Simon is a genius. Any and all interpretations of this song are, I'm sure, not far off base.
That said: I was stunned just now, listening to "brother can you spare a dime".
There is no way that can be coincidence.
Maybe it's the current economic situation, banks closing, etc... but wow... -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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Al and Betty, while may have a double meaning as a reference to alcoholism, are derived from a party attended by Paul and his then wife Peggy (not Carrie Fisher). The host mistook their names for Al and Betty, and ended up "calling Paul Al".
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