Late in the Evening

With a rhythmic salsa beat and distinctive horns, this song has become a fan favorite. It describes a dream sequence that Paul Simon had when he was a teenager of being a rock star (he's "under age in this funky bar"). It's late at night (evening) and he's hearing the radio as he falls asleep and the next then he knows he's dreaming about walking down the street and then playing lead guitar in a band. Smoking a "J" obviously refers to a joint (marijuana) which when he was a teen in the 1960s would be typical for a rock band.

Simon wrote this song for One-Trick Pony, a semi-autobiographical movie he wrote and starred in. The song plays at the beginning and end of the film.

When Simon & Garfunkel played a free concert in New York's Central Park on September 19, 1981, the throngs of fans kept cheering, even after the encore. To appease them, the duo returned to the stage and reprised "Late in the Evening," which they had played earlier in the show.