Hearts and Bones

Hearts and Bones is the sixth solo studio album by Paul Simon. It was released in 1983.

The album was originally intended to be called Think Too Much, but Mo Ostin, president of Warner Bros. Records, persuaded Simon to change it to Hearts and Bones. The album was written and recorded following Simon & Garfunkel's The Concert in Central Park in 1981, and the world tour of 1982-1983. Several songs intended for Think Too Much were previewed on tour, and Art Garfunkel worked on some of the songs with Simon in the studio, with an intention that the finished product would be an all-new Simon & Garfunkel studio album. Garfunkel left the project and Simon worked the material into a solo album.

Reception
Although in 1983 the album was considered somewhat of a commercial failure and signaled a low point in Simon's career, the passage of time has been kind to the album. It has been re-examined and considered to be one of Simon's more important records and a lyrically strong one. Robert Christgau later referred to the album as being "a finely wrought dead end."

Singles
There were two songs from this album released as singles. The first single with "Allergies" as the A-side and "Think Too Much (b)" as the B-side peaked at #44 in the U.S. Hot 100. The second single failed to chart, this being "Think Too Much (a)" (A-side) and "Song About the Moon" (B-side). (Also, the title track was released as the flipside to "Graceland" in the U.S. in 1986, and as the B-side of "The Boy in the Bubble" elsewhere in the world).

Track listing
All songs written by Paul Simon, with one-minute coda on Track 10 written by Philip Glass.

1. "Allergies" – 4:37
 * Side one

2. "Hearts and Bones" – 5:37

3. "When Numbers Get Serious" – 3:25

4. "Think Too Much (b)" – 2:44

5. "Song About the Moon" – 4:07

1. "Think Too Much (a)" – 3:05
 * Side two

2. "Train in the Distance" – 5:11

3. "Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog After the War" – 3:44

4. "Cars Are Cars" – 3:15

5. "The Late Great Johnny Ace" – 4:45

1. "Shelter of Your Arms" (Unreleased Work-in-Progress) – 3:11
 * Bonus tracks

2. "Train in the Distance" (Original acoustic demo) – 3:13

3. "Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog After the War" (Original acoustic demo) – 3:46

4. "The Late Great Johnny Ace" (Original acoustic demo) – 3:22 11-14 are bonus tracks on the remastered Rhino Records CD-release (July 2004):

Personnel
The uncredited horn section on "Allergies" and "Cars Are Cars" are Mark Rivera (saxophone), Jon Faddis & Alan Rubin (trumpet)
 * Paul Simon - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, programming, vocals
 * Rob Mounsey - synthesizer, vocoder
 * The Harptones - background vocals
 * Bernard Edwards - bass guitar
 * Nile Rodgers - electric guitar on "Think Too Much (A)", "Train in the Distance" and "Cars are Cars", programming
 * Al Di Meola - electric guitar solo on "Allergies"
 * Eric Gale - electric guitar on "When Numbers Get Serious"
 * Sid McGinnis - electric guitar on "The Late Great Johnny Ace"
 * Airto Moreira - percussion
 * Marin Alsop - violin on "The Late Great Johnny Ace"
 * Michael Boddicker - synthesizer on "The Late Great Johnny Ace"
 * Wells Christy, Tom Coppola - synthesizer
 * Steve Ferrone - drums on "When Numbers Get Serious" and "Think Too Much (A)", additional drums on "Allergies"
 * Steve Gadd - drums on all songs except where noted
 * Anthony Jackson - double bass
 * Jill Jaffe - viola on "The Late Great Johnny Ace"
 * Jesse Levy - cello on "Train in the Distance"
 * Mike Mainieri - marimba, vibraphone
 * George Marge - bass clarinet on "The Late Great Johnny Ace"
 * Marcus Miller - bass guitar on "Train in the Distance" and "Think Too Much (B)"
 * Jeff Porcaro - drums on "Train in the Distance"
 * Dean Parks - electric guitar, acoustic guitar
 * Greg Phillinganes - piano, Fender Rhodes on "Allergies", "Song About the Moon" and "The Late Great Johnny Ace"
 * Michael Riesman - synthesizer, conductor on "The Late Great Johnny Ace"
 * Mark Rivera - alto saxophone on "Train in the Distance"
 * Rob Sabino - synthesizer, piano
 * Richard Tee - synthesizer, piano, Fender Rhodes
 * Carol Wincenc - flute on "The Late Great Johnny Ace"
 * Frederick Zlotkin - cello on "The Late Great Johnny Ace"
 * Peter Gordon - French horn on "Train in the Distance"
 * Dave Matthews - horn arrangements