Captivating. 
When I heard It first, 
in traffic, I thought, “
Is that Plant?”

Then I searched to learn whether or not Mr. Simon had a religious conversion…. 

The third thought, was “How long is this??”

But I have never yet hit the “play something different” button  (not on purpose, anyway)

But do I ever I wish you had a 
“play it again” button!

I would definitely hit it to play this song again. 
I’ve got time…    
  I hope. 

Nope. Sorry, Mr. Simon. Your vast portfolio did not need this addition. It's disappointing from a living legend, introspective or otherwise. /M.

Is this the longest song ever played on RP?

Quite a lengthy piece of advice (..? or TÜRÜLÜ ) to stomach, it is how an individual human existence can come about, I guess. The human term which is so often neglected these days is us. We can't escape. 

Hesitant to utilize the skip-function yet, missing depth for such a long story.

Done with my own patience now, I finally hit >>skip<<.

Reflections on life from an elder, with a nod to his Jewish heritage.

Pauls got In the Goda Da Avida Beat by 15 minutes.

Generally spoken I like his music, his voice....but this is the most monotonous crap he has ever put on paper. Please RP don't waste precious airtime on this...... 

This is beautiful and profound.  

 dmymd wrote:
I agree with your opinion! 

I have been listening to this while painting in my gallery. It was background music but as this ling piece went in I was mesmerized by it. Si different for Paul. So different from most anyone else. This wiuld merit a second cup in a coffeehouse. I love this thiugh I see I am bot in the majority.

I’m always a bit shocked when others don’t love the same music as I!  Kidding, course, we all have different tastes and that is certainly OK.  For me, though, this is a stunningly beautiful song/album.  

Paul Simon made an unusual song here, and after several listenings, I like it a lot.

This recent album reminds me of Neil Young’s 2003 “Greendale” rock opera because it also took some listening to capture the flow.

 obispo wrote:
I tend to agree. But, I don’t think PS or WG care. 
Both have earned their due respect. I’m a fan of PS, and approaching mid 60s, so I kind of relate to his musings.

As a musician, I don’t quite know how he’d ever be able to play this again even close to the same way… the chords travel all over the place! But he’s the musical genius, of course, not me.

Oof! I know the man is a legend, and maybe that's why no one had the courage to say, "A 9 part song about your mortality? No. Just no." I like Dylan's voice. I like Tom Waits' voice. But this is kind of sad. And I'm getting up there in age myself, so I get what he's trying to do. I don't like to yuck anyone's yum, so I'd normally just skip this half hour song and move on, but I'm listening via Alexa, so that's not an option. Not for me. Life is too short.

Geez, how long does this go on?

I love PS. But I’m glad this isn’t played too often…. js. Don’t judge. It’s long and rather pedantic. Still…. It’s Paul Simon at the end of his years, y’know? So, RESPECT! 

I’m so used to tapping my foot to his music, tho, y’know? None of that here. 
Still, it’s Paul Simon and I’m ever a fan. Like others, I count myself fortunate to be able to call him a contemporary and that I saw him doing his last tour. 

What a treasure he and his music is!

Well, it's been 10 minutes since the track (or rather the full album) started. And I don't know yet if I want to listen to it in full, or to skip. 
So I start writing this comment while listening, sitting on the sofa.
I thank RP for sometimes playing several tracks from the same album, especially when it makes sense, like with Pink Floyd or Jethro Tull, but 33 minutes?! I'm going to endure listening, involuntarily, to the same style of music that I'm not sure I've enjoyed for so long. On the other hand if they put the whole album at once it must not be a coincidence, and they want us to listen because it must represent something important for them, that they want share with the RP community.
So I let myself be carried away by the soft music, by the touching voice of Paul Simon, and I enjoyed this moment, although English is not my native language, I did not understand the full meaning of words, I will have to come back to them.
I'm finishing this comment, there are 3 minutes left before the end, and I feel relaxed like after a meditation or hypnosis session, a little confused, stunned, lost.
Thanks again RP for the discovery, new music, new emotion.

Love it!

According to Pitchfork, the woman's voice accompanying Paul is Edie Brickell (of the Bohemians).  So she does go for philosophy after all! 

Listen to this knowing it was produced by an 82 year old. It is masterful. This flows like a bard's song in a tavern; he really is relinquishing ancient wisdom onto the listener. Particularly with the way he frames people's view of God often being "whatever disaster is here". In the modern mind, this is COVID, climate change, etc. But to the ancient mind, their god was often the deliverer of destruction. Excellent commentary by Simon. 

I’m not a big Paul Simon fan, but I did like this song. Better if I was listening to it under a shade tree in a hammock half asleep with the crashing sounds of waves on the beach. 

Well, this has some nice moments, but will take some getting used to. 
So much better than Bob Dylan's recent stream-of-consciousness material (Rough and Rowdy Ways).

Thanks RP! A beautiful and a bittersweet journey of songs.

Overall, the words read very much like a late life observation on the human condition, unsurprisingly quite pessimistic. The Lord is in charge and offers comfort, if one believes.
Musically, a pleasant, rambling accompaniment.
I've been privileged to see Paul Simon several times in concert and would go a very long way to repeat that experience. That now seems very unlikely. I respect his need and ability to make these 'psalms', but I don't need to hear them again.

Certainly seems to be a divisive one, unsurprisingly. Kudos to RP for playing it in its entirety.

Need to give this more focus next time it comes up for me.  The Sacred Harp stood out to me on this initial listen, particularly with Edie's nice vocals on it.  

I recommend all interested RP'ers to do their favorite inter-web search on this. I came up with this:  
What is the meaning of the song Seven Psalms by Paul Simon? Seven
Psalms is Paul Simon's 15th solo album and in it, he confronts his
mortality head-on and wonders about God, the reasons for existence, and
death. In the trailer from Paul Simon's latest release, Seven Psalms,
the singer-songwriter explains his latest work is an “argument about belief or not”.
To me, I sense a lot of a parallel to Mr. Bowie's swan album, Dark Star.
Our time is limited, what does that mean to myself? What is my meaning in this life? We can all dig out 100's of examples of artists all questioning the why we are here and what are we going to do about it with what we have left. No matter what you think or believe, in the end we are all dust.
A lovely song.
Peace to all.

Best to sit back, with some time, to consider his implications.

He has plenty of 'street cred' with me but the ambiance of that recording studio is stale or sterile. I get they are probably going to be sad songs in a sad time but a little too much gloom is coming threw for me. It just doesn't sound good. sorry, I'll pass

First song in a long time that I needed to skip.

I find it interesting that there are already 5 comments and the song isn't done yet...of course it is 32+ minutes long.  I'll have to give it another listen before passing judgment (not in the religious sense).

First time I've heard this. Not for everyone, especially at over half an hour. Another new direction for Simon? It's long, but worth a listen, especially if you've followed his music for the last sixty some odd years. I suspect a lot of listeners will be reaching for the PSD button though...

Wow. That sucked. And it just wouldn't stop...

Paul Simon can do no wrong. The term "national treasure" is thrown around, but it applies here.

Two things. First, his voice is changing with age in a similar way to Paul McCartney's. Second, hope he's not doing what Bowie did with Lazarus.

Paul Simon could sing about watching paint dry for a day and it would still be awesome! Loved him since I was a kid, love him now, just love him. He is so cool.

 xrdstv wrote:
I think he’s sharing with us his views of this world, as the title states. Sometimes we just have to put ourselves out there, not for approval or a number 1 hit. Very vulnerable and his truth. Being an artist myself, I understand the calling.

It’s obvious what Paul’s after here. It’s obvious that William needed a long bathroom break! That being said… You go, Paul!

First I've heard of this. Hm, yeah, different but he has stories to tell. His fingerstyle is a treat to hear as well. 

Heard this originally on that  streaming app a while ago and I enjoyed it.  Nice concept and good to hear from Simon.  

29 minutes too long.

You could break out the individual tracks, but it wouldn't really help.  None seems good enough to stand on its own.

"3" for me.

I will need to give this more time, but I'm intrigued.
I am SO happy this American genius is still writing. 

I Thank God (well BillG) for the skip feature... 

Nice, I like it 

 pfreet wrote:

for an 80+yr old, not very strained.

Not sure what he's going for here... 

Good song, but this sounds like a demo version. The vocals are really strained.