Paul Simon Reveals Which One of His Songs He Thinks 'Will Last 100 Years'

Paul Simon believes his song "The Sound of Silence" has the best chance of lasting 100 years

NEED TO KNOW

• The song, written when Simon was 22, gained popularity and slowly rose in the charts

• Simon was inspired by seeing the song performed across the world

Paul Simonthinks one of his songs will be heard by generations to come.

In an interview with Anthony Mason on his showAlchemy with Anthony, Simon, 84, said he believes "The Sound of Silence" has and will continue to stand the test of time.

The 1964 song, which he wrote when he was 22, was inspired by an echo in the bathroom, the songwriter confessed, calling it “a gift.”

“It was a gift to me when I got it. It was way beyond where I was at as a songwriter," the Grammy-winning singer said.

“I have a feeling that if any of my songs last 100 years, ‘The Sound of Silence' has the best chance," he added.

The reason, Simon said, is that he has seen the song take on a life of its own.

"Somebody sent me a video of a rabbi singing ‘Sound of Silence' in Hebrew, and I thought, 'That's interesting.' And then, I saw a video of a Native American guy, just sitting somewhere in the West, playing it on a flute. I thought, ‘Well, if it's gone that far around as a melody, maybe it'll last 100 years.' "

“If you last 100 years, then that's in the culture,” Simon noted.

The song, recorded by Simon andArt Garfunkel, initially didn't do well. However, in September 1965, it was rereleased with a remix that included overdubbed electric instruments and drums.

In an interview forThe Late Show with Stephen Colbertin April, the singer shared how he knew whether or not the song would be a hit.

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“There was a magazine calledCashbox,” Simon explained of the music-industry trade magazine that was published from 1942 to 1996.

“They used to have the top 100 and then what they called bubbling under, which was 100 to 120,” he remembered. “And Arty says to me, ‘You know, we're like 111 on bubbling under.' I said, ‘Really?' And then the next week we were 101.”

A week later, Simon was heading to Denmark to perform and made a stop at the publisher's office, waiting for it to open so he could get the magazine.

“I went in there, and I got the magazine, and I said, ‘I just can't bear to look at it.' Because I know if it comes in anywhere between 100 and 80, you're not going to have a hit," he remembered.

Once he had it, he looked at the charts, seeing it was absent from the “bubbling under" section.

“I just sort of quickly go, ‘Good, it's not there.'” He then checked between 80 and 70 and saw it wasn't there either. “Okay, that could be good,” Simon thought.

After checking the whole list, he saw the song sitting at 59.

“I said, I never forget this, I said, ‘My life is irrevocably changed.' It was,” Simon said.

“The Sound of Silence” landedCashbox's No. 1 spot on January 29, 1966. It also hit No. 1 on the Billboard chart.Simon & Garfunkelcontinued to perform and release hits like "Homeward Bound,” "Mrs. Robinson,” "The Boxer,” “Cecilia” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

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