The Best Artist Interview Ever

Steven Colbert’s interview of Paul Simon was the best interview of an artist I have ever seen or heard.

I came across an interview that Stephen Colbert did with Paul Simon yesterday that really moved me on a number of levels. It is posted above. It is worth watching in its entirety.

Colbert starts out asking Simon about his artist inspirations. Simon talks about the song that introduced him to Rock and Roll at 12 years old. Then he talks about his effort to educate his father, whose musical tastes were very sophisticated, about early rock and roll through the song Earth Angel.

I love watching Paul Simon. He is clearly a genius, but he has such a humility about him. It’s very touching.

Then Colbert asks him whether, in the process of writing a song, the song goes in a different direction than he intended. At that point, Simon describes the process of writing a song called Darling Lorraine, a song I’ve never heard. It was beyond brilliant. He starts out light and by the end of the story, Colbert’s audience was in stunned silence and i could feel tears welling up in my eyes.

The next high point was when Colbert described an incident when he was 13 and a Paul Simon song gave him a profound insight into his mother’s life based on her reaction to it.

Finally, and appropriately, the interview ends with the most profound question of all, ‘Do you believe in God?’ Simon answers the question as mostly yes, but turns it on Colbert and Colbert gives an answer for the ages.

Just watch it.

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