People don't get smarter with age

I just got Paul Simon's new album Surprise, and my first reaction was "not another preachy PC lecture from an aging liberal!" This is a collaboration with Brian Eno, which probably saves it from being just another set of protest songs.

The first song seems to scold us for asking why anybody would live in a swamp like New Orleans, and by implication, for being reluctant to rebuild it without raising it above sea level.

Of course, John Prine's new album, the first since he underwent surgery for cancer on his throat, contains an obligatory attack on George Bush, with the customary tolerance of the left, trying to dehumanize him because of his convictions.

Maybe I should learn to quit listening to lyrics.