Sunday Music Vid - PAUL SIMON

Published on Saturday, November 06 2010

Written by Katie Marzullo

The highlight of the night had to be toward the end, when Chris Rock and a be-wigged Tracy Morgan took the stage for a bizarre/hilarious rendition of the old '60s Simon & Garfunkel folk hit, "Scarborough Fair." They were joined onstage by Paul Simon himself, and the skit ended with the 69-year-old singer-songwriter busting out into Snoop Dogg's "Gin & Juice" -- possibly one of the Top 5 Greatest Things I Have Ever Seen. (Admittedly, I am easily entertained... but still, this was classic. If you missed it, you can watch it here.)

This performance fondly reminded me of Paul Simon's understated sense of humor, which was put on effective display in the music video for probably his most successful post-Garfunkel single, "You Can Call Me Al."

The year was 1986 -- Simon was experiencing a comeback into mainstream music after a hiatus in the late-'70s and some setbacks in the early-'80s. Meanwhile, in the film world, Chevy Chase was on fire; everything he touched seemed to turn into comedy gold. The two came together to film a little music video for Simon's catchy new single. In it, the two are seated next to each other in a sparse room. As soon as the lyrics start, Chevy takes over and begins to lip-sync as if it's his own song. Simon meekly concedes, bustling in and out of the room with various musical instruments.