Paul Simon was and still is one of the singers that I look upon. His style of music is very calming yet there are several songs that contradict his style of music. Unlike some notable songs such as “The Sound of Silence” and “The Boxer,” one of the songs that I had listened to when I was young was “Kodachrome.” This piece of music really arouses in me nostalgic sentiments. Until recently, I have been digging back into my old playlist of music from the 60s or the 70s. During the process of my musical journey back to the good old days, I serendipitously found songs by Paul Simon, and it caught my ears. The melody had an uptake filled with optimism. All parts of the song are in major, and the song itself sounds very bright and cheerful just as the title of the song “Kodachrome” suggests.

“Kodachrome” features a variety of instruments that all go along in harmony. This was one of the reasons why the song was outstanding compared to other musics I have listened to within my playlist. The instruments include three different types of guitars, three different types of pianos, horns, and double-tracked drums. Despite the variety of the instrument, they all swung in rhythm.

Although I have talked mostly about the musical aspects of the song, I later realized that there was much more meaning in the lyrics of the song. Now that I understand English better than ten years ago, the lyrics of the song meant more to me than other musical aspects of the piece. Yes, I was attracted to the superficial elements of the song. But as I listened more and more to the song, I could feel that I was drawn more to the words being sung. The more I unspool the knots of hidden meanings from the lyrics of the song, the better I could see that the song “Kodachrome” alludes to Paul Simon’s true identity. In other words, his identity was seamlessly dissolved into the song.

The song opens by saying: “When I think back on all the crap I’ve learned in high school.” As a high schooler, I was captured by this lyric and developed interest because it had personal relevance to me. To be honest, I once thought what I was learning at high school was also “crap” in a sense (even though I really appreciate and try to be responsible for my education). But this lyric hit me with a revelation that he might have felt the same way as I did. I once thought that the information I learn from school will be useless in the future. Paul Simon seemed to reveal the same thing as he wrote the lyrics. And as a matter of fact, he did consider his high school education to be less essential than what he was passionate about–music. It’s later revealed by his biographers that he struggled with high school algebra and chemistry. Not only that, he didn’t excel in other areas of study than English and music. Who would ever know if I could peek into fragments of his life? If it were not for his personal lyrics, I might not have been drawn to the song this intensely, nor would I have been able to discover the similarity of thoughts between Paul Simon and me. Once I saw the lyrics as a conduit of meaningful message that is both personal and revealing, I could enjoy the music and sympathize with the artist.

Additionally, the lyrics, “nice bright colors and greens of summers,” greatly shows his optimistic worldview and his great passion in photography. The lyrics are as said “I got a Nikon camera, I love to take a photograph, so mama don’t take my Kodachrome away.” As shown above, Paul Simon really cherishes his Nikon Kodachrome greater than anything else. He shows strong affinity towards the object to the point where he begs his parents not to take the object away from him, as if the object was as valuable as himself. I also had a strong attachment to an object. Recently, my parents bought me a gaming laptop that is capable of launching any program whatsoever. However, due to my addiction to games and procrastination, I was given a curfew by my parents. As time passed on, I suffered from harsher restrictions and I was told to refrain from using my one and only precious object. This was why I could easily sympathize with the lyrics. The more I sympathized with the lyrics, the more I could understand how Paul Simon might have felt when he was composing this piece of music. This taught me how artists express themselves through the lyrics of their songs.

“Kodachrome” has really opened my eyes to see and understand a bigger message that a song is trying to convey to me. Now I know the lyrics of the song may have a strong bond with the artist, his life, and his identity which allows for me to understand and sympathize with the feelings of an artist much more thoroughly. To me, there is no wonder why Paul Simon won three Grammy Awards; his deftness in communicating his identity and his life with the listeners of his songs is utterly unparalleled.