Music Love: "Kathy's Song" by Simon & Garfunkel

Recently, a friend adopted a new dog & was soliciting name recommendations, because she didn't like the name the dog came with (the name is associated with an annoying ear worm). Did we have any suggestions, she asked, perhaps based on a song? That got me thinking about my favorite songs that feature a woman's name, which thus reminded me of my love for Simon & Garfunkel.

Nowadays, I wouldn't say they get a lot of rotation on my playlist. I still listen to them; there's just so much new stuff to discover, I don't listen to older stuff as much. Back when I was in college, however, a roommate and I used to listen to them all the time. We even had a nickname for them: Petey & Arty. It took us YEARS after college to realize we referred to Paul Simon as "Petey." I don't know why we did; it was a simple brain fart.

Anyway, while there are many songs of theirs I love, "Kathy's Song" was always a favorite. I love Paul Simon's voice here. He's an amazingly talented songwriter; with simple language, he sets the scene of this song in such a way that you can picture it perfectly. His love and admiration for Kathy* shine through: "The only truth I know is you"; "There before the grace of you go I." It speaks to such a wistful, romantic, all-encompassing view of love.

However, I think Kathy is a terrible name for a dog.


*Unfortunately, in reading up about this song, I discovered that Kathy was 16 to Paul's 22 when they met. I know those were different times, but ick. Sometimes I think it's better to enjoy things without researching them, haha.