How it's strange that some rooms are like cages

As singer/songwriter Frank Tedesso once put it, GRACELAND is the mountaintop and RHYTHM OF THE SAINTS is the mist around the peak. The latter certainly does seem to pick up where it's South African-flavored predecessor left off. Though RHYTHM OF THE SAINTS relies on the traditional musical forms of a different part of the world (Brazil), Simon uses a somewhat similar strategy. He wraps his very American voice and lyrics around the rhythms and harmonies of a culture much more dependent on polyrhythms. In the process, he creates a new paradigm that is simultaneously familiar and excitingly fresh.I'm accustomed to a smooth rideOr maybe I'm a dog who's lost its biteI don't expect to be treated like a fool no moreI don't expect to sleep through the nightSome people say a lie's a lie's a lieBut I say whyWhy deny the obvious child?Why deny the obvious child?And in remembering a road signI am remembering a girl when I was youngAnd we said These songs are trueThese days are oursThese tears are freeAnd heyThe cross is in the ballparkThe cross is in the ballparkWe had a lot of funWe had a lot of moneyWe had a little son and we thought we'd call him SonnySonny gets married and moves awaySonny has a baby and bills to paySonny gets sunnier Day by day by day by dayI've been waking up at sunriseI've been following the light across my roomI watch the night receive the room of my daySome people say the sky is just the skyBut I sayWhy deny the obvious child?Why deny the obvious child?Sonny sits by his window and thinks to himselfHow it's strange that some rooms are like cagesSonny's yearbook from high schoolIs down from the shelfAnd he idly thumbs through the pagesSome have diedSome have fled from themselvesOr struggled from here to get thereSonny wanders beyond his interior wallsRuns his hand through his thinning brown hairWell I'm accustomed to a smoother rideMaybe I'm a dog that's lost his biteI don't expect to be treated like a fool no moreI don't expect to sleep the nightSome people say a lie is just a lieBut I say the cross is in the ballparkWhy deny the obvious child