Nobody. That little moment in the bridge is indeed gorgeous. But then I'd like this track more if it was a vignette, because nothing too interesting happens in the rest of the song. It's not bad. Just plain.
Perhaps on paper, but the music gives me a different impression. This is why lyrics are so distinctly different than poetry! The emotive change from the melancholic flavour of "nobody, nobody" to the soaring "nobody but YOU" is like sunshine breaking through the clouds. Same reason one can drop the final preposition from "yearns for" and still be understood... the music implies it, without needing to speak everything. Keep in mind folks this is a movie musical, not just a regular fictional film. You have license to do more with a song than any monologue can! What one does with that license, well, we still have to get to Capeman eventually, don't we... Leaving that to one side, I think "Nobody" stands on its feet outside the film too. It's not a classic but it's nicely done, 3/5
Nobody: I'd never heard this before. It's quite lovely, especially the words. The moment where 'nobody' turns into 'nobody but you' is indeed important - as others have pointed out here. 4/5
"Nobody" shares enough thematic and structural similarities to Dylan's 1973 "Nobody 'Cept You" to make one wonder if the latter served as an inspiration. Except Dylan's song wasn't released until a decade after "One Trick Pony". Perhaps Simon was in the audience for one of Dylan's handful of 1974 live performances ... diligently taking notes.
Having just watched the film last week, it is absolutely not a movie musical. The only characters that are shown singing in the film are Paul Simon and his band members singing into microphones during performing/rehearsing/recording scenes. Musicals are characterized by characters bursting into song to express their emotions and/or advance the plot at times when folks would not normally sing. When music is used to advance or deepen the plot during non- performance/rehearsal/recording sequences here, nobody is shows lip synching to the track on screen. It is a film about a singer, with songs about his life appearing on the soundtrack. It is not a musical.
"Nobody" is another song I wasn't familiar with, and given the little I know about the movie and Simon's character in it, I can only assume this is intended as conscious parody of seventies-era introspective singer-songwriters. I really can't believe it's anything else. So I'm going to give it a 3/5 on the assumption that the whole thing is meant ironically, as it works pretty well as subtle satire of that whole Jackson Brown/James Taylor/etc. gaggle of songwriters. If it's meant to be taken unironically... well, I prefer not to think about that possibility.
I had written something up, but seeing some of you actually like this, I have nothing to add to the conversation except what says it all: "Nobody" - 1.7/5. I will leave the room humming James Taylor's "Nobody But You" (1972).
"Nobody" Most of this albums shuffles along in a pleasant and low key kind of way. This is a smooth tune for a lazy Sunday afternoon. It was also reminding me of something. I couldn't place it, but I think you nailed it. The beginning really does sound like it could be part of the last Dylan album with its languid style. It's like bathing in honey. I can also imagine Van Morrison singing it. 3.5/5
You mean that this is something to which you feel obliged to respond. But don't worry, you're still someone I can look up to. Queen Camilla probably says that to King Charles every day.
"Nobody" - it's another laid back tune that sort of hints to the '50's rock with the coral "ahhs". It's a fine tune that makes One Trick Pony a one trick. 3/5
For me Still Crazy is the point where the A-holery of what's being expressed overwhelms the craft of expressing it. An intimate portrait of a guy I'd rather not be in the same room with. The polish just brings this into sharper relief. I can hardly believe the online comments from folks thinking My Little Town fits their nostalgia for theirs or that I Do It For Your Love would make a good wedding song. Not that I'd probably want to spend much time with Bob either. But I do kind of like this instrumental of 50 Ways:
Glad you liked it, I saw Lonnie around that time playing much of the material from that album including this one, good stuff. Something about Mr. Simon rubs me the wrong way and it's only gotten worse over the years. But I do get that the man has massive skills and I am kind of perversely fascinated by him. But Best Album of 1975? Blood on the Tracks, Blow by Blow, Red Headed Stranger, Tail Spinnin', The Basement Tapes, Born to Run, EC was Here, Art Pepper's Living Legend, Northern Lights/Southern Cross, Hissing of Summer Lawns, Muddy Water's Woodstock Album, all had far more impact on me and still today seem much stronger. Who knows what the Grammy voters were thinking.
