I have just been listening, after a long break,
to a Paul Simon compilation that includes the 1972 song Me and Julio down by the Schoolyard.
‘Me’ and Julio, spotted doing something illegal, are reported and
arrested. I recalled that when Paul
Simon had been asked by Rolling Stone
magazine what it was that the MaMa saw he had no idea, but probably “something
sexual”. Remembering that, I decided to
check out the opinions of a few bloggers.
Fascinating!
Those focusing simply on the title see ‘Me’ and Julio in some sort of
homosexual encounter. But, in fact, the
lyrics say, “you, me and Julio, down
by the schoolyard.” That one little word
indicates the presence of a third person.
So
who is this ‘you’? Fairly obviously,
Rosie, the Queen of Corona, who is mentioned in the previous line.
Does
that mean that the homosexual argument collapses? Not a bit of it, say its advocates (those,
that is to say, who have conceded the extra presence). A ‘queen’ is a flagrant homosexual. It’s about a homosexual threesome.
Well, yes, that can be a meaning of ‘queen’. But ‘queen’ can also be a word for a
significant female (as in ‘Dancing Queen’) or a female ruler. The current Queen of England, for instance,
is a woman. “The Queen of Hearts, she
made some tarts…” The Queen on a chess
board. The Queen Bee. The Queen Alien in Aliens. And so on.
More
prosaically, Corona is a district in the New York borough of Queens. Paul Simon is presumably indulging in some sort
of pun. Rosie, our queen (as in
favourite girl) of the district of Corona in the Borough of Queens.
My own reading.
Early in the morning (hence, MaMa Pajama rolling out of bed) Rosie, ‘Me’
and Julio are engaged in some sort of clandestine sexual activity. (Not
clandestine enough, because they are spotted.) Because what is happening is
illegal, (and also happening in the schoolyard) both boys are probably under
age. Maybe Rosie is too. That would account for the disgust of the
MaMa and PaPa. Rosie’s parents? Julio’s?
Or just concerned citizens?
What does it matter? In terms of the song, not at all. Who cares?
But attention to data might matter in a real-life situation: a rape trial,
say.
Two people? Three? Hell, it’s
just a piece of fiction. But it’s also
worrying evidence of careless reading if some of those choosing to comment on
the song cannot even work out how many there are involved.
APPENDIX
These gems did not fit into the above, but are
too good not to be commented on.
- (My personal favourite, this.) We should look through the 1972 copies
of Newsweek, and see which one
has the kids on the cover. It has
eluded this particular interpreter that if the kids are fictional (and Paul
Simon says they are), then the reference to Newsweek is fictional also.
- A
devotee of the gay-twosome theory (you
have to hand it to these guys; they just never give up) explains
away the “you” as follows:
“See you, me and Julio down by the
schoolyard” should be understood as ‘See you,’ ie ‘Goodbye, everybody.’
That does have a certain plausibility if you simply look at the
words. However, it does not square with
the way Paul Simon sings the line: the pause does not come after ‘you’, but
after ‘Julio’.
- It must be an anti-war protest because the
kids get the support of a radical priest, and no priest would support sex
or drugs.
Really? This commentator
obviously hasn’t come across the sort of priests I have. Radical priests, in fact, have been the
victims of their own success. Having
hauled biblically-forbidden things like fornication and homosexuality into the
cultural mainstream, and with paedophilia well on the way towards
respectability, where do they go next?
Necrophilia? Incest? Sex
with sheep?
- Other interpretations of ‘corona’.
a. Since
‘corona’ means the end of the penis, Rosie is a prostitute: expert at giving
head.
b. Since a ‘Corona’ is a cigar… Then, as for explanation a: except Rosie is
also a Cuban.
c. Since ’Corona’ is a beer, Rosie is a champion
at downing them. Before they get
started, the kids have Coronas; so the song is about under-age drinking as well
as about under-age sex.
d. Since ‘corona’ means an aura round the Sun,
Rosie (she must be Mexican, since Julio knows her) is an Aztec sun
goddess. After all, the Sun is rosy
isn’t? The parents are mad because Rosie
is a Mexican. It’s the race war: a new version of West Side Story. (My own
invention, by the way. I’d like to add it
to one of those chat lines; only someone would be certain to take me
seriously.)
