Which one is your favorite? - LXIII -

This week I chose a song from Paul Simon released in December 1975. It was the second single from his fourth studio album, Still Crazy After All These Years (1975), released on Columbia Records. Backing vocals on the single were performed by Patti Austin, Valerie Simpson, and Phoebe Snow. The song features a recognizable repeated drum riff performed by drummer Steve Gadd.

Here is the song for this week;

"50 Ways To Leave Your Lover"

One of his most popular singles, "50 Ways" was released in December 1975 and began to see chart success within the new year. It became Simon's sole number-one hit as a solo artist on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, and was his highest position in France, where it peaked at number two. Elsewhere, the song was a top 20 hit in Canada and New Zealand. The single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting sales of over one million copies.

Following Simon's divorce from first wife Peggy Harper, Simon opted to take a more humorous approach to document the incident. He recorded the song in a small New York City studio on Broadway, and built the song around the drums in order to "avoid clutter".

In a 1975 interview published in Rock Lives: Profiles and Interviews, Simon told the story of this song: "I woke up one morning in my apartment on Central Park and the opening words just popped into my mind: 'The problem is all inside your head, she said to me...' That was the first thing I thought of. So I just started building on that line. It was the last song I wrote for the album, and I wrote it with a Rhythm Ace, one of those electronic drum machines so maybe that's how it got that sing-song 'make a new plan Stan, don't need to be coy Roy' quality. It's basically a nonsense song."

According to Simon's younger brother Eddie (from the same interview), Paul made this song up while teaching his son how to rhyme. Even though he didn't take the lyrics too seriously, it's an interesting song, particularly for those who feel trapped in bad relationships.

Paul Simon may have sung that there were 50 ways to leave your lover, but he listed only five, which are:

1) Slip out the back, Jack

2) Make a new plan, Stan

3) You don't need to be coy, Roy, just set yourself free

4) Hop on the bus, Gus

5) Drop off the key, Lee, and get yourself free

We still await the other 45! He left plenty of room for a sequel, but never followed up.

Here are the 7 versions I picked for you;

• Tok Tok Tok - "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover"

• Sidsel Endresen & Bugge Wesseltoft - "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover"

• Lyle Lovett - "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover"

• Rag'n'Bone Man - "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover"

• Miley Cyrus - "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover"

• Sophie Milman - "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover"

• Lee Lessack & Johnny Rodgers - "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover"

Now the floor is yours, go ahead and make your comments (here, Instagram, Facebook wherever you feel like...).

nb. Please note that I intentionally do not include the original versions of the songs as it would be a little unfair to the artists covering the songs, and I am sure that sometimes you will be surprised to see that the songs you thought were the originals are just covers.