Hearts and Bones

Simon wrote this about his relationship with the actress Carrie Fisher, whom he married a few months before the album was released. The nuptials were clearly on his mind: Two people were married The act was outrageous The bride was contagious Simon and Fisher each became wildly famous in their early 20s, he in the mid-'60s with Simon & Garfunkel, and she in the late '70s as Princess Leia (Fisher was born into stardom: she was but the daughter of Hollywood stars Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher). Their union was passionate and tumultuous, as both were very strong-willed creative types. "Hearts And Bones" finds Simon putting this crazy love affair into song: Their hearts and their bones And they won't come undone The couple did come undone in 1984, but they later reconciled even after their divorce, and spent a few more years together. Other songs Simon wrote dealing with his relationship with Fisher include "Allergies" and "She Moves On."

Paul Simon is Jewish, Carrie is half Jewish, hence the line, "One and a half wandering Jews." When asked if he made a conscious effort to put religious overtones in the song, Simon replied: "No, it wasn't conscious. In fact, I thought it was actually funny. One and one-half anything is funny."

Simon holds this song in high esteem. Speaking with Bruce Pollock, in 1986, he compared it to one of his more famous compositions. "I wrote 'The Sound of Silence' when I was 21 and 'Hearts and Bones' is, I think, a better song. But 'Sounds of Silence' was a big hit and it's in the culture. When you talk about a popular art, as the writing gets more complex and more layered, it's harder to have a lot of people who really like it. It is easier to have a smaller group of people who are more intensely devoted to you. It's natural that this should happen in my development. I was a rock star at one point. I had many years of being a rock star. I don't want to be a rock star anymore."