The second number two hit from There Goes Rhymin’ Simon, “Rock” trots along its agreeable
pop-gospel course with substantial help from the Dixie Hummingbirds, who
finally take the song over, and Paul Simon continues to remind me of Green
Gartside with his seemingly offhand manner of saying nothing yet everything.
Just as you amble down its by-the-Devil-I-was-tempted highway, however, he
inverts the entire song in its final verse when he sings about being President
and regarding Congress as Satan. An extremely subtle political song and, like
most 1973-4 songs of note, it’s about Nixon, in one way or another.
Date Record Made
Number Two: 6 October 1973
Number Of Weeks At
Number Two: 1
Record At Number One: A
song by Cher with a non-PC title (let us refer to it as “Mixed Race”)
UK Chart Position: 39
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