Watch Paul Simon’s ‘SNL’ Farewell
Paul Simon performed “Can’t Run But” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water” on Saturday Night Live last night (Oct. 13), three weeks after he completed his farewell tour.
It was something of a complete circle, since Simon, 77, had been the show’s second-ever host when he reunited with Art Garfunkel on screen in 1975. At the end of “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” as he took the crowd’s applause, Simon appeared visibly moved as he touched his heart and offered a clasped-hand salute.
You can watch both songs below:
The last show on his “Homeward Bound” farewell tour took place on Sept. 22 in Flushing Meadow Corona Park, Queens, N.Y., not far from the Forest Hills neighborhood where he’d grown up. At the end of the performance he’d told the audience their responses “means more than you can know.”
When he’d announced the farewell tour he’d said, “I’ve often wondered what it would feel like to reach the point where I'd consider bringing my performing career to a natural end. Now I know: It feels a little unsettling, a touch exhilarating and something of a relief. ... Mostly, though, I feel the travel and time away from my wife and family takes a toll that detracts from the joy of playing.”
However, he’d added that he didn’t plan to stop performing entirely. “I anticipate doing the occasional performance in a (hopefully) acoustically pristine hall and to donate those earnings to various philanthropic organizations, particularly those whose objective is to save the planet, ecologically."