Sound of Silence: Paul Simon bows out with final concert in Queens

Simon performed at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, which he said was a 20-minute bicycle ride from where he grew up, ending the landmark night with his first big hit, The Sound of Silence.

The 76-year-old isn’t retiring and hasn’t ruled out occasional future performances. But he has said this is his last time out on the road. Among his peers, Elton John and Kiss are also doing goodbye tours.

Mayor Bill de Blasio introduced Simon, calling him “one of the greatest New York City artists of all time”. The return to New York raised memories of two famous shows in Central Park, in 1981 with former partner Art Garfunkel and in 1991 on his own.

Simon’s only guest this time was his wife, Edie Brickell, who came out to whistle the solo in Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard. But there were many references to familiar surroundings, like when he paused and beamed at an airplane descending over the park as he prepared to sing Homeward Bound.

“Welcome to New York,” he said.

When Simon finished singing Kodachrome, with its memorable line about “the crap I learned in high school”, he said: “Take that, Forest Hills High School.” But, he conceded, he “actually had a good time there”.

The crowd cheered when Simon sang about the queen of Corona in Me & Julio Down By the Schoolyard.

“How much fun is it to sing a song about Corona in Corona?” he said.

The former high school baseball player brought out a glove and a ball, saying he wanted to play catch. He twice threw the ball into the audience and the return throws sailed over his head. On the third, Simon caught a perfect strike.

His 26-song set spanned more than 50 years. His band contained guitarists from Nigeria and South Africa and a classical sextet. The only references to Garfunkel were a couple of fleeting pictures during a nostalgic montage on the video screen. As Simon prepared to sing Bridge Over Troubled Water, he said: “I’m going to reclaim my lost child.” He originally gave the giant hit to Garfunkel to sing.

An often dour performer, Simon has been animated and talkative during the final shows. He seems eager for the freedom that awaits him, said Robert Hilburn, who wrote the biography Paul Simon: A Life that was released this spring.

“The thing that strikes me is that he’s been happy, relieved,” Hilburn said. “There’s a burden off of him.”

In an earlier show in Portland, Oregon, Simon playfully “penalized” himself for flubbing the lyrics to a song by singing an old Simon & Garfunkel hit he confessed to hating: “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy).”

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