Me and Julio Down By the School Yard
Peter R. McCormack
Does anyone know the story behaind this tune? 1971 wasn't it. So what did
his mother see that was "against the law"
--
Peter
mcc...@nbnet.nb.ca
350 Liverpool
450/12
Jordan D. Barker
I wondered about this, too. I had always thought it was something
relatively minor. A youth with marijuana, perhaps. A friend of mine heard
it once and concluded that it was statutory rape. He slept with someone
below the legal age. It makes sense to me in the context of the song. It
explains the anger (comically described.) I could see why the papa began to
shout and why her mother would spit on the ground every time his named gets
mentioned. Her mama walked in on them having sex.
What do you think?
Peter R. McCormack wrote in message <6b5a4h$dqg$1...@agate.nbnet.nb.ca>...
SherTeyWms
>. So what did
>his mother see that was "against the law"
In an interview with Rolling Stone when the song was a hit, Paul said that he
didn't "know" what the mama saw but his quote was that it was "something
sexual, I suppose." (This is a paraphrase- I don't have the article in front
of me.)
Sherrie
BKawalec
>Does anyone know the story behaind this tune? 1971 wasn't it. So what did
>his mother see that was "against the law"
The big bright green pleasure machine.
GergoB
>The big bright green pleasure machine.
Is this becoming some kind of obsession for you?
Batman
Peter R. McCormack wrote:
>
> Does anyone know the story behaind this tune? 1971 wasn't it. So what did
> his mother see that was "against the law"
>
anything at all..)
MHohulin
>>The big bright green pleasure machine.
>
>Is this becoming some kind of obsession for you?
>
>
it's called humor....
alt.newsgroupspaul-simon
hsmo...@earthlink.net
Corona (Queens, NYC) is a neighborhood close to the Kew Garden Hills area
where Paul Simon grew up.
BKawalec
>>The big bright green pleasure machine.
>
>Is this becoming some kind of obsession for you?
Apparently I am for you. Do you have a sense fo humor??
BKawalec
>it's called humor....
Apparently lost on some here..........
Brian William
Jordan D. Barker (jdb...@is4.nyu.edu) wrote:
: I wondered about this, too. I had always thought it was something
: relatively minor. A youth with marijuana, perhaps. A friend of mine heard
: it once and concluded that it was statutory rape. He slept with someone
: below the legal age. It makes sense to me in the context of the song. It
: explains the anger (comically described.) I could see why the papa began to
: shout and why her mother would spit on the ground every time his named gets
: mentioned. Her mama walked in on them having sex.
It apparently was enough to get them in jail (since a priest released
them) and to get them on the cover of Newsweek -- so I doubt it was weed
or sex. You'd have to ask "the momma" I guess! :>
*Brian
: What do you think?
: Peter R. McCormack wrote in message <6b5a4h$dqg$1...@agate.nbnet.nb.ca>...
: >Does anyone know the story behaind this tune? 1971 wasn't it. So what did
: >
: >
Batman
hsmo...@earthlink.net wrote:
>
> In article <34D6F2...@netvigator.com>, cmn...@netvigator.com wrote:
> >Peter R. McCormack wrote:
> >>
> >> his mother see that was "against the law"
> >>
> >> --
> >> Peter
> >> mcc...@nbnet.nb.ca
> >> 350 Liverpool
> >> 450/12
> >anything at all..)
>
> Corona (Queens, NYC) is a neighborhood close to the Kew Garden Hills area
> where Paul Simon grew up.
I thought corona was a dance at first...haha
Harvey Morris
To add just a bit more, Corona had a reputation for "being across the tracks"
(not a very good neighborhood). Most of the kids we grew up with were Jewish.
In fact when we were in Forest Hills High School in the late 1950s, probably
95% of the students were Jewish, and the remainder were Italian. For us
middle-class Jewish kids, Corona had an exotic (and erotic) quality to it.
Girls from Corona were, well..., you know.
Michael Aidulis
Harvey Morris <hsmo...@earthlink.net> wrote in article
<6b9r0i$r...@chile.earthlink.net>...
> middle-class Jewish kids, Corona had an exotic (and erotic) quality to
it.
> Girls from Corona were, well..., you know.
Go on, complete the sentence ;-)
Michael Aidulis
Sandra J Olsen
Harvey Morris wrote in message <6b9r0i$r...@chile.earthlink.net>...
>In article <34D833...@netvigator.com>, cmn...@netvigator.com wrote:
>>hsmo...@earthlink.net wrote:
>>>
>To add just a bit more, Corona had a reputation for "being across the
tracks"
>(not a very good neighborhood). Most of the kids we grew up with were
Jewish.
> In fact when we were in Forest Hills High School in the late 1950s,
probably
>95% of the students were Jewish, and the remainder were Italian. For us
>middle-class Jewish kids, Corona had an exotic (and erotic) quality to it.
>Girls from Corona were, well..., you know.
You went to Forest Hills High School? In the late 1950s? Did you happen to
know Paul Simon? If so, please tell us about him as a teenager.
Batman
Batman wrote:
>
> Michael Aidulis wrote:
> >
> > Harvey Morris <hsmo...@earthlink.net> wrote in article
> > <6b9r0i$r...@chile.earthlink.net>...
> >
> > it.
> > > Girls from Corona were, well..., you know.
> >
> >
> > Michael Aidulis
So this song talks about two fagots right?
Batman
Ulrich Windl
> Does anyone know the story behaind this tune? 1971 wasn't it. So what did
> his mother see that was "against the law"
Maybe the three persons (he, Julio, and Rosie) "discovering each other"?
To me it always sounded a bit like racism (from the parent's point of view),
while it couldn't be too seroius...
Michael Aidulis
Batman <cmn...@netvigator.com> wrote in article
<34D991...@netvigator.com>...
> So this song talks about two fagots right?
You forget about Rosie the queen of Corona. (That would make it two fagots
and their girlfriend.)
Michael Aidulis
Batman
Brian William
: Michael Aidulis
Don't know how long the term has been popular, but she certainly might
have been a drag "queen"!
*Brian
chapman
You should not forget, Mr. Aidulis, that they do say goodbye to Rosie.
However, it is unlikely that this song refers to homosexual activity. The
song is about a criminal, rather than moral (not that I consider
homosexuality to be immoral, but the parents in the song probably would) ,
offence. It seems likely to me that the song refers to an act of juvenile
delinquency such as spray painting obscene language on the schoolyard wall.
( I apologise for this rather pedestrian analysis of one of Paul Simon's
funkiest songs.)
Rebecca Kavanagh
I would agree except that when Paul Simon was asked what it was that the
mama saw he said he wasn't sure but "probably something sexual". he
then went on to categorically deny that it referred to homosexuality
which makes me think that the earlier answer regrding statutory rape is
probably more in line with what Simon was thinking.
Rebecca
PZ
In article <01bd3579$41c84200$633261cb@hkyxztrz>, "chapman"
<chap...@clear.net.nz> wrote:
> ( I apologise for this rather pedestrian analysis of one of Paul Simon's
> funkiest songs.)
But Paul himself provided perhaps the most pedestrian explanation of all:
"I just wanted to write a song with the name Julio in it."
PZ
remove the "NoSpa" to send email.
hsmo...@earthlink.net
In article <6bappd$a...@bgtnsc02.worldnet.att.net>, "Sandra J Olsen" <sols...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>
>Harvey Morris wrote in message <6b9r0i$r...@chile.earthlink.net>...
>>In article <34D833...@netvigator.com>, cmn...@netvigator.com wrote:
>>>hsmo...@earthlink.net wrote:
>>>>
>>To add just a bit more, Corona had a reputation for "being across the
>tracks"
>>(not a very good neighborhood). Most of the kids we grew up with were
>Jewish.
>> In fact when we were in Forest Hills High School in the late 1950s,
>probably
>>95% of the students were Jewish, and the remainder were Italian. For us
>>Girls from Corona were, well..., you know.
>
Yes.
>In the late 1950s?
Yes.
>Did you happen to know Paul Simon?
Yes.
> If so, please tell us about him as a teenager.
Sorry. No. My recollections of Paul (and Artie) forty years ago have little
to do with who they are today. Rather, my recollections have a lot to do with
who I am, and I doubt that the readers of this newgroup have any interest in
that.
mmes...@mindspring.com
hsmo...@earthlink.net wrote:
>
> In article <6bappd$a...@bgtnsc02.worldnet.att.net>, "Sandra J Olsen" <sols...@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
<snip>
> >You went to Forest Hills High School?
> Yes.
> >In the late 1950s?
> Yes.
> >Did you happen to know Paul Simon?
> Yes.
No... <incredulous>
> > If so, please tell us about him as a teenager.
> Sorry. No. My recollections of Paul (and Artie) forty years ago have little
> to do with who they are today. Rather, my recollections have a lot to do with
I thought formative teenage years were destiny? Prime pop psychology
principle, that.
I can tell you what he was like as a teenager, and I wasn't even born at
the time. He was insecure, frightened, frustrated, self conscious, out
of place, lonely, and brilliant. The first apply to all teenagers,
everywhere (but especially intelligent ones, for whom high school is
hell), and the last is more than evident from the work he did even then.
His friends were drama geeks and literary magazine staff, and they
passed their time thinking up creative insults and clever sarcasms,
being witty about interesting things, but never very important ones. And
that's just true because I say so, and can't picture him growing up any
other way.
Don't correct me, please. I prefer my illusions.
> who I am, and I doubt that the readers of this newgroup have any interest in
> that.
Sure we do. Half the fun of fanship is the sense of community, don't you
know. We like each other's company as much as we like Paul Simon
(otherwise we'd be listening to the albums instead of reading USENET,
woudln't we?)
-Mary
Michel Couzijn
On Wed, 11 Feb 1998 17:36:30 GMT, hsmo...@earthlink.net wrote:
>My recollections have a lot to do with who I am, and I doubt that
>the readers of this newgroup have any interest in that.
Try us! We don't bite.
Michel Couzijn
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Michael Aidulis
Michel Couzijn <cou...@ilo.uva.nl> wrote in article
<34e245d0...@news0.xs4all.nl>...
> On Wed, 11 Feb 1998 17:36:30 GMT, hsmo...@earthlink.net wrote:
>
> >My recollections have a lot to do with who I am, and I doubt that
> >the readers of this newgroup have any interest in that.
What is your favourite soup? Do you drive a car? Do you fold or bunch? See,
we are interested :-)
Michael Aidulis
hsmo...@earthlink.net
In article <01bd378c$758a7800$be2d63c3@default>, "Michael Aidulis" <Michael...@btinternet.com> wrote:
>Michel Couzijn <cou...@ilo.uva.nl> wrote in article
><34e245d0...@news0.xs4all.nl>...
>> On Wed, 11 Feb 1998 17:36:30 GMT, hsmo...@earthlink.net wrote:
>>
>> >My recollections have a lot to do with who I am, and I doubt that
>> >the readers of this newgroup have any interest in that.
>
>What is your favourite soup?
New England Clam Chowder.
> Do you drive a car?
Two - a 1989 Ford Taurus wagon and a 1991 Mercedes 420 SEL.
> Do you fold or bunch?
Huh?
> See, we are interested :-)
But not anymore, I would bet :-)
Seriously, some boring stories about playing basketball with Artie or the song
that Paul wrote for my sister have nothing to add to the "record". There were
a bunch of guys from the local schools that we went to who sang, made records,
and even had their "fifteen minutes of fame." As teenagers, Paul and Artie
were like any other kids from the neighborhood. Just think about the
teenagers you grew up with. The stories are the same.
Harvey
mmes...@mindspring.com
hsmo...@earthlink.net wrote:
> <snip>
> Seriously, some boring stories about playing basketball with Artie or the song
> that Paul wrote for my sister have nothing to add to the "record". There were
Nuh uh, that won't wash. You're just being coy. If you don't want to
talk about their past because it's wrong to encourage the parparazzi
mentality, fine and good. But don't drop hints and names. You know
perfectly well that people will gladly devour the most mundane details
about celebrity lives, true or false, and to refer to these while at the
same time insisting that we wouldn't care is just asking for attention,
and being intentionally annoying. If you don't want to talk about them,
you shouldn't have mentioned it, and you certainly shouldn't have said
anything like the above.
> a bunch of guys from the local schools that we went to who sang, made records,
> and even had their "fifteen minutes of fame." As teenagers, Paul and Artie
> were like any other kids from the neighborhood. Just think about the
> teenagers you grew up with. The stories are the same.
Every story is different.
-Mary