In 1972, Paul Simon scored his first #1 solo album with his self-titled release, from whence we get the top 5 hit, "Me & Julio Down by the Schoolyard". To this day, I still can't quite get the lyrics. Simon was, perhaps intentionally, vague about the circumstances behind the crime supposedly committed at the start of the song.
Fast forward 16 years, and Simon, in support of his greatest hits CD, "Negotiations & Love Songs", shoots a video for "Me & Julio", with guests Big Daddy Kane & Biz Markie laying down a beat before the song starts, and a trio of guest stars from the sports world: Yankee icon Mickey Mantle, NBA star Anthony "Spud" Webb, then with Atlanta, and former Oakland Raiders coach-turned broadcaster John Madden, who gets the Rodney Dangerfield treatment from a group of kids he calls into a huddle at the end of the clip. Well, what didja expect? He was a football coach, not a basketball coach. Big diff!
From Simon's VEVO channel:
I always liked this song. The sound was so memorable and unique.
ReplyDeleteI always theorized Julio and his friend killed someone and had to get out of town fast. No other crime would require a quick exit and leaving behind Rosie, the Queen of Corona!
The Wikipedia account insinuates drugs might've had something to do with it, too. Simon's the only one who knows, and so far, more than 40 years after recording it, he ain't willing to give us the straight scoop.
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