Paul Simon is dealing with a waste of time that’s totally expected at his age. In the 81-year-old singer/songwriter’s case, however, it poses an occupational hazard that could seriously affect how he records and performs in the future. In a recent interview, Simon told the British paper many times that he experienced loss of hearing in his left ear while recording a recently released song cycle, seven hymns,
“All of a sudden, I lost most of the hearing in my left ear, and nobody has an explanation for it,” he said. “Then everything became more difficult.” And while he described being frustrated and angry at first, Simon said he didn’t get angry because, “I thought it would pass … It would repair itself.”
The quintessential New Yorker – who now lives on a ranch in wife Edie Brickell’s home state of Texas – said his hearing has yet to return, meaning he may be unable to tour again. The only upside, according to the two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, is that he may be spared playing songs from his catalog that he’s grown tired of.
“My songs that I don’t want to sing live, I don’t sing them. Sometimes there are songs that I like and then at a certain point in the tour, I’ll say, ‘What are you doing, Paul?'” he told the paper. “Often he would come during [1986 hit] ‘You can call me Al.’ I would think, ‘What are you doing? You’re like a Paul Simon cover band. You should get out of the way, go home.'”
Simon releases 33-minute, seven-movement full-acoustic collection seven hymns The follow-up to their 2018 rarities collection, out May 19 in blue light, The album, which is intended to be heard as an extended piece, is performed primarily by Simon on unplugged instruments and features British vocal ensemble VOCES8 as well as Brickell.
