Naming things has always been my weakness. And it is true that all of the good blog names are taken. After trying about a million different names, we finally settled on Surrounded by the Sound, which is a tidbit from a classic Paul Simon song, You Can Call Me Al. After all, couldn’t we all use a little amen and hallelujah?
You Can Call Me Al (lyrics by Paul Simon)
A man walks down the street
He says why am I soft in the middle, now
Why am I soft in the middle
The rest of my life is so hard
I need a photo-opportunity
I want a shot at redemption
Don’t want to end up a cartoon
In a cartoon graveyard
Bone digger, bone digger
Dogs in the moonlight
Far away my well-lit door
Mr. Beer Belly, Beer Belly
Get these mutts away from me
You know I don’t find this stuff amusing anymore
If you’ll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty, when you call me
You can call me Al
A man walks down the street
He says why am I short of attention
Got a short little span of attention
And, whoa, my nights are so long
Where’s my wife and family
What if I die here
Who’ll be my role model
Now that my role model is
Gone, gone
He ducked back down the alley
With some roly-poly little bat-faced girl
All along, along
There were incidents and accidents
There were hints and allegations
If you’ll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty, when you call me
You can call me Al
Call me Al
A man walks down the street
It’s a street in a strange world
Maybe it’s the third world
Maybe it’s his first time around
Doesn’t speak the language
He holds no currency
He is a foreign man
He is surrounded by the
Sound, sound
Cattle in the marketplace
Scatterlings and orphanages
He looks around, around
He sees angels in the architecture
Spinning in infinity
He says Amen! and Hallelujah!
If you’ll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty, when you call me
You can call me Al
Call me Al
Na, na na na…
If you’ll be my bodyguard, ooooh
I can call you Betty, ooooh
If you’ll be my bodyguard, ooooh
I can call you Betty, ooooh