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Songwriter is not the first (nor, likely, the last) collection of essential Paul Simon songs. He's released an "Essential" collection, a couple of greatest hits collections from the Simon & Garfunkel years, a solo retrospective titled Shining Like a National Guitar, and the list goes on. So, it's curious that the powers that be felt inclined to collect Simon's finest work into yet another large set.

The result is a two-disc collection geared primarily at long-time fans, highlighting Simon's skills as a songwriter, and delving into some of the farther reaches of his catalog for examples of his songwriting prowess. For newcomers, the collection won't be an adequate introduction; folks who have enjoyed Simon's work for years, however, will feel well-served.

"I don't have a friend who feels at ease."

The daring of Paul Simon's songwriting is not limited to the brash honesty in his lyricism. Though he started as one half of a songwriting duo who played acoustic guitars and matched tightly knit harmonies, Simon's career since then has demonstrated the breadth of his creative talent - a thing which reaches far beyond what's possible with just a voice and a guitar.

Granted, with Art Garfunkel, he demonstrated the non-confinement possible with the employment of two voices and two guitars. Together, they created a sonic landscape which was the aural equivalent of form poetry. By placing limitations on the instrumentation, they found ways to strengthen what was inside those walls.

During his solo career, though, Simon has never displayed any inclination to stick in one particular style or sound. He's explored everything he can discover on his own fret board, toying with dynamics, tempos, and keys; teetering between each with carefully considered abandon. He's surrounded himself with musicianship which has lifted him up to its level and allowed him to fit into the figurative clothes of a jazz player, a pop star, a world music composer, a folkie, and even occasionally a rock and roller.

Earlier this year, he released So Beautiful or So What - an album at once accessible and profound. So, considering he seems to have reached a point in his career where he's figured out how to channel and direct his sharpest songwriting skills (instead of focusing on exploring sounds and landing on brilliant moments in the process), it makes some sense that someone decided to collect his finest, most imaginative songwriting moments into one collection.

An Exploration of the Mostly Obscure

Now and then, it turns out, Simon's most creative songwriting talent has intersected with whatever formulaic progression constitutes a pop hit. So, this collection doesn't steer the listener too far from giant hits like "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (here, with Aretha Franklin | purchase/download), "Still Crazy After All These Years" (purchase/download), and "Graceland" (purchase/download). But, instead of hearing these songs the same way you've heard them on the radio innumerable times before, perhaps their context here allows you to hear new turns of phrase. Maybe instrumental elements which, in the past, merely supported the song's catchiness, will here stand out as well-considered foundational elements labored over by someone dedicated entirely to their craft.

The disc starts with a string of live performances, featuring newer arrangements of songs like "Sound of Silence" (purchase/download) and "The Boxer" (purchase/download). Immediately, you're asked to let go of what you thought you know of Paul Simon and listen to the whole song, in the whole moment. By the time you get to "Graceland," arguably Simon's biggest pop hit, you suddenly notice his slight and subtle guitar fillings, the hand claps, the bass line, and even the fact that the song is more than just catchy. It's profoundly regretful and lonesome; profoundly heartbroken:

She comes back to tell me she's gone
As if I didn't know that
As if I didn't know my own bed
As if I'd never noticed the way she brushed her hair from her forehead
She says losing love is like a window in your heart
Everyone can see you're torn apart
Everyone can see the wind blow

...Or So What

Especially considering this is an album about craftsmanship, it's notable that the first disc in the collection ends with Simon's first greatest hit "Graceland." That song wrestles with the meaning of love and grace, and whether meaning is ever reliable when things such as love and grace tend to come and go from our lives.

It's also notable that the second disc ends with the title track from this year's So Beautiful or So What - a song which wrestles with the very meaningfulness of meaning itself. It's a self-conscious tune which could be used as an answer to the question: "Why make art?" or "Why live at all?" It seeks to strike a balance between caring deeply and not caring so much that it inhibits anything; using freedom and confinement without sacrificing beauty; rhyme scheme and rhythm without sacrificing the music. Like so much of Simon's finest work, it won't be a radio hit simply because it can't be digested in the three minutes it takes for a DJ to play it before s/he moves on to the next three-minute track.

Indeed, Paul Simon is an artist best taken time with. This collection proves he's more than a hit machine with staying power. The man's a songwriter.