Hearts and Bones - Composition

Composition

The title track is about Simon and his then girlfriend, Carrie Fisher. (It is often wrongly assumed that Fisher was his wife at the time of this composition - However, the song is copyrighted 1982 and the couple did not actually marry until August 1983), as they travel through New Mexico ("one and one-half wandering Jews"), and also about love in general. The album also contains one of the few songs about numbers (and love) — "When Numbers Get Serious", which evokes the beginnings of the Information Age. Also unusual is "Think Too Much", actually two different songs with the same title and chorus line, dealing generally with thinking (and love).

The eighth track is a surreal song about the surrealist artist René Magritte and his wife Georgette, and fancifully suggests that they secretly admired the music of such doo-wop artists as The Penguins, The Moonglows, The Orioles, and The Five Satins. The title derives from a caption to a photograph of the Magrittes, "Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog During the War". Simon changed "During" to "After" as it scanned better for the song lyric.

The last track is Simon's homage to John Lennon, who had been assassinated shortly before Simon wrote it. The song and its title also wistfully hark back to Johnny Ace, an early rock and roller who died from an accidental self-inflicted gunshot to the face. Simon had actually premiered the song during Simon and Garfunkel's reunion concert in Central Park; near the end of the song a fan ran onto the stage, which can be seen in the DVD of the concert. The man was dragged offstage by Simon's personnel. The man can be heard speaking to Simon, "I have to talk to you". The attack was possibly in response to Simon mentioning John Lennon in the lyrics. The closing music of this track (an instrumental section using strings, clarinet and flute) was written by composer Philip Glass.