“The Sound of Silence was the first song I wrote which seemed to come from some place that I didn’t inhabit”: Paul Simon tells all in a new three-and-a-half-hour documentary

Paul Simon and Alex Gibney speak onstage at the "In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon" premiere during the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival at Princess of Wales Theatre on September 10, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario.

Last year Paul Simon returned to music, releasing his album, Seven Psalms. Now comes a new movie, not only documenting the making of that album but charting his extensive career to date.

“The Sound of Silence was the first song I wrote which seemed to come from some place that I didn’t inhabit,” Simon tells The Guardian. “At age 23, it was unusual, well beyond my age and abilities. Then it happened again throughout my writing. Bridge Over Troubled Water was another song that came mysteriously. So did a lot of Graceland. I wrote Slip Slidin’ Away in 20 minutes – usually, it takes me a couple of months to get a song. There are other examples, like Darling Lorraine, of songs that came from someplace else … A mystery, you could call it.”