Sure Don't Feel Like Love

I've been enjoying Paul Simon's latest album, Surprise, since its release in the spring. One song in particular, "Sure Don't Feel Like Love," has really hit home.

I registered to vote today
Felt like a fool
Had to do it anyway
Down at the high school
Thing about the second line
You know, "felt like a fool?"
People say it all the time
Even when it's true
So, who's that conscience sticking on the sole of my shoe?
Who's that conscience sticking on the sole of my shoe?
Cause it sure don't feel like love

There's an important life message in there, although it's pretty obscure until you hear Simon explain it, as he did in an online-only bonus interview with NPR back when the album was released. Here's what he said:

"[I got a chance to speak with this guru-type guy and ask him] what actually is going on, because the stuff I'm saying to myself sometimes, it's pretty nasty, and it's interfering with… a lot of stuff." … And he said, "You know, that's a very typical thing… There's this inner voice that's extremely harsh, and very arrogant, and very negative. And because you hear it from inside you, you think it's true… but it's not really true. And this is my trick: Take a voice that you think is very funny…. say, Bugs Bunny, and take that voice and put it on the sole of your shoe, and then say all these negative things you have to say and let it come from that place, and then you'll have the perspective on how much you should pay attention to that."

If you're anything like me, this voice speaks to you way too often. It likes to remind you of embarrassing things you did an hour ago, yesterday, a month ago, or 5 or 30 years ago. (Next time you see me spontaneously wince, you'll know why.) Sometimes it even tries to embarrass you over something that's not even remotely embarrassing--say, registering to vote.

Now there's nothing wrong with a little shame--Lord knows there are some very powerful people in our nation's capital who could stand to have a lot more of it--but it's also nice to have a way to cope with it when it starts getting annoying. Let it speak to you in the voice of Sylvester the Cat, or Foghorn Leghorn, or Pee-Wee Herman. Then, like a piece of gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe, stamp on it and scrape it off when it gets to be too much.

So, Paul, if that voice doesn't feel like love, what does?

Some chicken and a corn muffin well that feels more like love

Amen, man. As the Zen Buddhist said when asked to sum up his religion in one sentence: "Eat when you're hungry, sleep when you're tired." Sometimes simple is the most profound.