It’s not a surprise that Homeward Bound: A Grammy Salute to the Songs of Paul Simon, which aired (recorded April 6, 2022) on CBS on Wednesday Dec. 21, was so satisfying.

Paul Simon has long been regarded as one of our top songwriters. He won the 1970 Grammy for song of the year for “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and was nominated in that category for “Mrs. Robinson” and “Graceland.” He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1982 and received that organization’s highest honor, the Johnny Mercer Award, in 1998. In 2007, he became the inaugural recipient of the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

Many of the participants on the two-hour special spoke warmly about Simon’s songs. Elton John Elton John called him “one of the greatest songwriters of all time” and recalled early days when he and Bernie Taupin would sit “on the floor with our headphones listening to [Simon & Garfunkel’s] Bookends just in complete awe of the songs – the way you wrote the songs and the sounds. As a songwriter, you are the bees’ knees.”

Remembering his childhood home, Garth Brooks said “When your stuff was playing, our house was a sweet place to be in.” Herbie Hancock said, “Paul Simon is a truly global citizen of this musical world – a daring and visionary artist who is open to our entire musical universe.” Dustin Hoffman said, “Quite simply, The Graduate would not be The Graduate” without Simon’s songs. Sting, Oprah Winfrey, Sofia Carson and actor Woody Harrelson also paid tribute to the master songwriter.

The special included performances of 10 of Simon’s 14 top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 (combining Simon & Garfunkel and solo releases). At the end of the evening, Simon said “It’s been a night of extraordinary and many unexpected pleasures. I’d really like to thank all of these artists. It’s really amazing if you’re a writer to hear another artist perform your song well. It really makes a songwriter feel good. It makes you feel like you wrote a good song.”

Simon’s first major hit, “The Sound of Silence,” includes a lyric, “People writing songs that voices never shared/And no one dared/Disturb the sound of silence.” As a songwriter, Simon has never known that feeling and never will.

Ken Ehrlich, who was the producer or executive producer of the annual Grammy telecast for four decades from 1980-2020, executive produced this special (and co-wrote it with David Wild). Ehrlich’s talent, taste and connections are a big reason the show was so compelling.

Here are nine of the most memorable performances from the special, which is available to stream on demand on Paramount+.

Billy Porter with Take 6, “Loves Me Like a Rock”

Song history: This was the second single from There Goes Rhymin’ Simon. The song, on which Simon was backed by The Dixie Hummingbirds, reached No. 2 on the Hot 100 in October 1973.

Notes: Porter sang the song with evangelical fervor. He explained that as a gay kid who was raised in the Pentecostal church, he could relate powerfully to the song’s twin images of “a consecrated boy” and “a consummated man.” Porter said to him the song is fundamentally about a mother’s love. Indeed, many of Simon’s songs explore the theme of the parent/child relationship, including “Mother and Child Reunion” (which was performed on the show by Jimmy Cliff and Shaggy) and “Slip Slidin’ Away” (performed by Little Big Town).

Bonnie Raitt With Brad Paisley, “Something So Right”

Song history: This was also from There Goes Rhymin’ Simon. It was never released as a single for Simon, though it showed up as the B side of his 1977 hit “Slip Slidin’ Away.” Barbra Streisand recorded it on The Way We Were, which topped the Billboard 200 for two weeks in March 1974. Other artists who have recorded the song include Phoebe Snow, Annie Lennox and Yearwood.

Notes: Paisley (who had opened the show with a solid performance of “Kodachrome”) played bluesy guitar behind Raitt as she sang an exquisite version of this song. Raitt noted that “this song wasn’t a big hit single. It was just stunning and deep and true.” The song includes one of the most eloquent lyrical passages of any song in modern times: “Some people never say the words ‘I love you’/It’s not their style to be so bold/Some people never say those words ‘I love you’/But like a child, they’re longing to be told.”

Rhiannon Giddens With Paul Simon, “American Tune”

Song history: This was the third single from Simon’s second solo album, There Goes Rhymin’ Simon. It failed to match the commercial success of the album’s first two singles, “Kodachrome” and “Loves Me Like a Rock,” both of which reached No. 2 on the Hot 100. “American Tune” peaked at No. 35 in January 1974.

Notes: “American Tune” is a hymn, really, and one of Simon’s finest songs. On the special, Simon noted that Giddens wasn’t even born when he wrote the song. But she related all the meaning of such lines as “And I don’t know a soul who’s not been battered/I don’t have a friend who feels at ease.” The song resonated amid the Vietnam/Watergate agonies of the early ‘70s and it resonates even more today after years of COVID and political turmoil. “It seems right to sing it today,” Simon said. 

Garth Brooks With Trisha Yearwood, “The Boxer”

Song history: This was initially a one-off single for Simon & Garfunkel. It reached No. 7 on the Hot 100 in May 1969 and was included on Bridge Over Troubled Water the following year.

Notes: Brooks took the lead on this faithful performance of the song, with Yearwood offering expert harmony vocals.

Sting, “America”

Song history: This ballad appeared on S&G’s 1968 album Bookends, but it wasn’t released as an S&G single until 1972, when the success of Simon & Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits (top five on the Billboard 200 in July of that year) reminded the industry of their potency. Prog-rock giants Yes had the biggest hit version of the song (No. 46 on the Hot 100 in September 1972).

Notes: It’s interesting that an Englishman chose to perform this song about searching for the soul of America, a song that was first released in one of the most turbulent years in American history. But Sting has a strong affinity for the song. ““God bless you, Paul for writing this great song,” he said. “I love it.”

Stevie Wonder With Ledisi, “Bridge Over Troubled Water”

Song history: This power ballad topped the Hot 100 for six weeks from February to April 1970. It was both S&G’s biggest hit and the year’s biggest hit. It swept Grammys for record and song of the year. Aretha Franklin’s classic soul version reached No. 6 the following year – and also won a Grammy. Other artists who have charted with the song include disco star Linda Clifford in 1979 and Mary J. Blige & Andrea Bocelli in 2010.

Notes: Wonder and Ledisi built on Franklin’s classic soul cover version for this duet. Wonder introduced the song by calling it “one of the most beautiful songs ever written.” Wonder and Ledisi also performed S&G’s 1968 classic “Mrs. Robinson,” joined by the Jonas Brothers and Sheila E. Wonder and Simon have long shown mutual respect for each other. Wonder beat Simon for album of the year at the 1974 Grammy ceremony. When Simon won two years later for Still Crazy After All These Years, he famously remarked, “Most of all, I’d like to thank Stevie Wonder, who didn’t make an album this year.”

Paul Simon, “The Sound of Silence”

Song history: This tender ballad was Simon & Garfunkel’s first No. 1 hit on the Hot 100. It logged two weeks at No. 1 in January 1966. Disturbed’s crunching hard-rock version of the song reached No. 42 in 2016.

Notes: This was one of three songs that Simon performed to close the show, along with “Graceland” and “American Tune.” The song’s theme of disconnection is, sadly, timeless – “People talking without speaking/People hearing without listening.” The only thing that would have made this closing number it better is if Art Garfunkel had walked on stage to join his old partner.

Eric Church, “Homeward Bound”

Song history: This was Simon & Garfunkel’s second top five single on the Hot 100. It reached No. 5 in March 1966. Many artists have covered it, including Glen Campbell, who included it on By the Time I Get to Phoenix, which won the 1968 Grammy for album of the year (beating Bookends, as it happens). Simon performed “Homeward Bound” with George Harrison on Saturday Night Live in 1976.

Notes: Church offered a fine version of this ballad, which lends itself to a country spin (though it has never been a major country hit). He prefaced it by saying, “Paul Simon is a Mt. Rushmore songwriter and artist in my career – in my life, actually which makes this…terrifying.” The camera cut to Simon laughing at Church’s self-effacing remark.

Dave Matthews With Angélique Kidjo and Take 6, “You Can Call Me Al”

Song history: This zesty song was the biggest hit from Simon’s Graceland album, which won a Grammy for album of the year and subsequently rose to No. 3 on the Billboard 200. The song reached No. 23 on the Hot 100 in May 1987 — Simon’s most recent top 40 hit.

Notes: Matthews, who as the announcer reminded us, was born in South Africa, sang the song on the special, backed by Angélique Kidjo and Take 6. The performers also delivered two other songs from Graceland, “Homeless” and “Under African Skies.”

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