So Beautiful or So What

by Paul Simon

So Beautiful or So What cover art
  • Type: Album
  • Released: 12 April 2011
  • Label: Hear Music
  • Country: United States
  • Length: 38:11
  • Community rating: 3.63/5 from 5 ratings

Album Notes & Community Reviews

Approaching his late 60s, Paul Simon largely abandoned the expansive collaborations of his previous work to produce an intimate, critically acclaimed twelfth solo album. Combining African rhythmic influences with traditional folk-pop, the record is a soft, melodic meditation on mortality and spiritual inquiry.

Genres

Descriptors: melodic, rhythmic, storytelling, literary, acoustic, male-vocals, guitars, personal

Tracklist

  1. Getting Ready for Christmas Day (4:06)
  2. The Afterlife (3:39)
  3. Dazzling Blue (4:32)
  4. Rewrite (3:49)
  5. Love and Hard Times (4:09)
  6. Love Is Eternal Sacred Light (4:02)
  7. Amulet (1:36)
  8. Question for the Angels (3:50)
  9. Love & Blessings (4:18)
  10. So Beautiful or so What (4:06)

Credits

  • Sven Geier - artwork, cover [image "dna mutation"], created by
  • Edie Brickell - backing vocals [background harmony]
  • Jim Oblon - drums, drums, guitar [slide baritone], drums, percussion, electric guitar [drop d], bass [danelectro], drums
  • Vincent Nguini - guitar [electric and acoustic rhythm], electric guitar, acoustic guitar
  • Rev. J. M. Gates And His Congregation - vocals [excerpts from sermon]
  • Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver - backing vocals
  • Josh Swift - dobro
  • Gabe Witcher - fiddle

More from Paul Simon: full discography