Paul Simon and Stephen Colbert sure seem to get along. Last year, Simon went on Stephen Colbert's Late Show and named his favorite Paul Simon songs, as well as one that he loathes. Since that time, Simon has gone back out on the road. Simon finished a farewell tour in 2018, and he's recently been dealing with serious hearing loss. Also, he's 83 years old. Nevertheless, he's playing a series of intimate shows right now. As you might imagine, that presents some challenges. Last night, Simon was back on Colbert, and he talked about it a little bit.
On last night's Late Show, Paul Simon sat down for a long, pleasant interview with Stephen Colbert. Did you know that Stephen Colbert is deaf in one ear? I didn't know that. It comes up in the conversation, since Simon now has to have the sound of his live show piped into one ear. Colbert, it turns out, uses a similar technique for his interviews. Simon also tells Colbert that he's written just two new songs since he finished his 2023 mini-album Seven Psalms: "The sound of the guitar, it's not the same." He also told a fun story about "The Sound Of Silence," the oldest song that's still in his setlist. When asked about writing it, Simon shrugs: "complete mystery to me."
The last time that he was on Colbert, Simon performed a lovely solo-acoustic version of "Your Forgiveness," a track from Seven Psalms. Last night, he performed "The Sacred Harp," another of those psalms. This time, he was joined by his touring band, which includes his wife Edie Brickell singing backup. It's a real treat to see the two of them singing together. Watch the interview and the performance below.
