Lyr Req: Homeward Bound (Paul Simon)

Subject: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: Betsy
Date: 28 Sep 04 - 10:05 AM

I've read it somewhere - but can't remember where - maybe on one of the threads in Mudcat -
but "Homeward Bound" doesn't show up.
Which railway station was Paul Simon singing about - it was in the North of England - Im fairly sure about that.
In my discussions with my friends they've come up with Darlington ,Carnforth ,Preston, Crewe and Liverpool .
Anyone got the definite answer - with refererence source ?

Thanks in advance

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: Brian Hoskin
Date: 28 Sep 04 - 10:08 AM

Widnes

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: Brian Hoskin
Date: 28 Sep 04 - 10:15 AM

Sorry, I didn't include a reference source, but if you do an Internet source including the song title and Widnes you'll find plenty of references for instance here:

Paul Simon Pages

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: Peace
Date: 28 Sep 04 - 10:23 AM

www.medialab.chalmers.se/guitar/homeward.bound.html

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: GUEST
Date: 28 Sep 04 - 10:24 AM

waht was he diong in wides

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: Betsy
Date: 28 Sep 04 - 11:13 AM

Thankyou Brian , Brucie and Guest - sounds fairly convincing to me
Cheers

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: Leadfingers
Date: 28 Sep 04 - 11:22 AM

Paul Simon was living in London in the sixties -Did a few Gigs round the country -Bridge Over Troubled Water was inspired by a bit of countryside just outside Exeter I believe .
My local fok club wouldnt give him a booking for the following year , by which time he was working with Art Garfunkel and was a BIG name.
The clubs that HAD booked him made a serious killing financially .

Incidentally ,apart from the 'Canticle' bit which is his own , the arrangement for Scarborough Fair was stolen while he was in London - Some say it was Martin Carthy , some say Bert Jansch , who he got it from .

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: Steve-o
Date: 28 Sep 04 - 11:37 AM

Right, Lead- can't sing anybody's version of a FOLK SONG or you're "stealing"?? Soooo, either Martin or Bert had the "original" version, right? Ever heard of "oral tradition"?? Get over the "stolen" baloney.

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: Betsy
Date: 28 Sep 04 - 12:15 PM

Steve-O ,
" Stolen" was enough to cause a court case over it - I believe in the US .
The story is something like this, that, Paul Simon recorded the song believing it to be something like (say) Greensleeves - which is so old it has no copyright / is traditional.
Scarborough Fair became very popular not least for appearing repeatedly in the film the Graduate   
Martin had found a poem in a old book - he put the tune to the words and the arrangement of the words and song. This type of thing was part of the Revivalist movement in the 50's and 60's and an important step to getting the Folk music movement off it's knees.
The matter was settled out of court , the amounts and whether satisfaction was achieved is not for me to comment on only that   " baloney " is out of place when discusing this particular Song and matter.

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 28 Sep 04 - 12:16 PM

Paul Simon made use of Martin Carthy's arrangement of Scarborough Fair. It was his own idea to incorporate Canticle into it - and a very clever one too. Martin was, however, the first person on the revival to resurrect the song and so deserves credit as an arranger. Paul, however, has never collected a writer's royalty on it and therefore 'stole' nothing. The two artists have long since reached an understanding over the issue and I suggest you all let it drop - or at the very least refrain from perpetuating a malicious and damaging myth.

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: The Unicorn Man
Date: 28 Sep 04 - 01:20 PM

Hello I am 99.9% sure it was Darlington. Dudes

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 28 Sep 04 - 01:29 PM

There is (or used to be) a 'PS sat here' plaque on the platform at Widnes.

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: Sir Roger de Beverley
Date: 28 Sep 04 - 02:25 PM

Well, I dropped him off at Grimsby station very early one morning so that he could catch the train back to London after playing the Grimsby club the night before. What has Widnes got that Grimsby hasn't?

Roger

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: GUEST,Henryp
Date: 28 Sep 04 - 06:09 PM

The poular press and urban myth have settled upon Widnes. It may well have been a station in the north west, but conclusive proof is still awaited. The plaque at Widnes is evidence only of the myth. It's been purloined - by a plaque remover?

Subject: Lyr Add: HOMEWARD BOUND (Paul Simon)^^^
From: Joe Offer
Date: 29 Sep 04 - 01:48 AM

I think I'll post these lyrics, just because I like them, and they put this discussion in context. Brings back the days of my youth, you know. The song was recorded December 14, 1965, the same date as many of the songs on the Sounds of Silence LP (album released 16 Jan 66). As a single, it was released on 12 Feb 66 and reached #5 on the pop charts. It was on the Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme LP (album released 10 Oct 66).

Homeward Bound
(Music & Lyrics by Paul Simon)

I'm sitting in the railway station.
Got a ticket to my destination.
On a tour of one-night stands my suitcase and guitar in hand.
And ev'ry stop is neatly planned for a poet and a one-man band.
Homeward bound,
I wish I was,
Homeward bound,
Home where my thought's escaping,
Home where my music's playing,
Home where my love lies waiting
Silently for me.

Ev'ry day's an endless stream
Of cigarettes and magazines.
And each town looks the same to me, the movies and the factories
And ev'ry stranger's face I see reminds me that I long to be,
Homeward bound,
I wish I was,
Homeward bound,
Home where my thought's escaping,
Home where my music's playing,
Home where my love lies waiting
Silently for me.

Tonight I'll sing my songs again,
I'll play the game and pretend.
But all my words come back to me in shades of mediocrity
Like emptiness in harmony, I need someone to comfort me.
Homeward bound,
I wish I was,
Homeward bound,
Home where my thought's escaping,
Home where my music's playing,
Home where my love lies waiting
Silently for me.
Silently for me.



transcribed from the CD

---

I see now that the lyrics are in the DT. Oh, well...

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: Ross
Date: 29 Sep 04 - 03:33 AM

When I first heard the song, I was about 10

I was sure he was in Poland or some dark and bleak post war communist hell hole

I was quite shocked to find out he was in England

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 29 Sep 04 - 03:55 AM

I thought it was Mornington Crescent.

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: GUEST,Mingulay
Date: 29 Sep 04 - 04:09 AM

Mark - you couldn't be sitting at Mornington Crescent with a ticket for your destination. Mornington Crescent is the destination. Ergo Paul Simon must have been somewhere else at the time.

Large wooden spoon for Leadfingers please. That man is stir crazy.

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 29 Sep 04 - 05:16 AM

In reality, it was probably Warrington where you have to change for London, not Widnes. Paul had played the local folk club and was dropped off at the station. The story he told at the time was that he missed the connection and had to spend the night on the platform and so passed the time by writing a song.

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 29 Sep 04 - 05:27 AM

Touché, Mingulay!

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: GUEST,Mingulay
Date: 29 Sep 04 - 06:55 AM

Thank you Mark. You write French so beautifully, almost like a native. A native of where I'm not sure.

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: greg stephens
Date: 29 Sep 04 - 07:03 AM

Apropos Leadfingers comment about not booking Paul Simon. We turned him down at the folk club in cambridge, too, because he was too expensive. As far as I recall he wanted £33, and we thought that was a bit steep.

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: Mr Red
Date: 29 Sep 04 - 07:35 AM

I once said (very knowledgably because I heard it on the Radio) that it was Wigan. The listener pointed-out that not only had Wigan station gone by then but he ran the folk club in Widnes and booked Paul Simon.

The Poet was either Roger McGough or Adrian Henry ( my failing memory) and the "One Man Band" was Don Partridge.

I was suitably humble after that - for about 5 minutes.

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: greg stephens
Date: 29 Sep 04 - 07:42 AM

Mr Red: Wigan station hasnt gone. It's very close to the building that says "Uncle Joe's Mint Balls" on the side.
We need a railway timetable here for the 60's, to check which stations had trains available that you could catch after a folk club was finished.

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 29 Sep 04 - 07:51 AM

It was the organiser at Widnes FC (whose name I have temprarily forgotton) who said he'd dropped Paul off at Widnes station. It was Paul who said he'd caught that one but missed the London connection.

Would the guard who was working at Warrington that night like to come forward and explain why he dildn't hold the train for the illustrious Mr Simon? The course of musical history could have been quite different...

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: breezy
Date: 29 Sep 04 - 08:12 AM

1964-5 ish maybe cos I did T P in 66

He played the Railway tavern Catford, S E london for a fee of £13 when the clubs limit was £12 so I am lead to believe from Tony and Dave.
I sat in the front row
It was shortly after the Watersons gig
I then went to hear him at les cousins a few times

While on teaching prac in Cleethorpes I managed to encourage all the students - well a few - to attend the local folk club and surprise surprise paul Simon was on and we knew all the words to 'songbook' an album which I gave away some years at a folk club raffle.

ya boo hiss and I bought him a tomato juice at the bar and he said Art was finishing his studies so wasnt with him.

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: Sir Roger de Beverley
Date: 29 Sep 04 - 08:32 AM

Breezy

It was after that gig (or maybe another since he played there twice and this was the second time)that he came back to our flat and stayed the night before we took him to the station to catch the train back to London. I recall that he wasn't very good at getting out of bed and he only just made the train.

This was very shortly before S&G took off big time as he was talking about the overdubbed single of sounds of silence "beginning to sell".

R

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: LesB
Date: 29 Sep 04 - 03:47 PM

Then there is the story of the late Tony Wilson turning down PS for a £10 gig at the Bothy. (40th anniversary next April)
Les

Subject: RE: Homeward Bound - Paul Simon
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 29 Sep 04 - 04:58 PM

Not only is Wigan station still there, Mr Red, there are two of 'em! Wallgate is the 'local'. High Level is the one on the high speed main line - They are only about 200 yards apart though and quite close to the famous Wigan pier:-)

DtG