"Something So Right" is a song by the American singer-songwriter

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

. It is the fourth song on his third studio album, '' There Goes Rhymin' Simon'' (1973). Although it was not a single, it was released as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

of a number of singles, including " Take Me to the Mardi Gras" and " Slip Slidin' Away". The song has been covered by numerous artists, most notably by British singer

Annie Lennox Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician Dave Stewart w ...

, whose 1995 duet with Simon placed at number 44 on the UK Singles Chart.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''There Goes Rhymin' Simon''. *

– vocals, guitar, songwriting, production *

David Spinozza David Spinozza (born August 8, 1949) is an American guitarist and producer. He worked with former Beatles Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and John Lennon during the 1970s, and had a long collaboration with singer-songwriter James Taylor, producing T ...

– guitar * Al Gafa – guitar * Richard Davis – acoustic bass *

Bob Cranshaw Melbourne Robert Cranshaw (December 3, 1932 – November 2, 2016) was an American jazz bassist. His career spanned the heyday of Blue Note Records as a house bassist to his later involvement with the Musicians Union. He is perhaps best known f ...

– electric bass *

Grady Tate Grady Tate (January 14, 1932 – October 8, 2017) was an American jazz and soul-jazz drummer and baritone vocalist. In addition to his work as sideman, Tate released many albums as leader and lent his voice to songs in the animated ''Schoolhou ...

– drums * Bob James –

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

* Bobby Scott – piano *

Don Elliott Don Elliott Helfman (October 21, 1926 – June 5, 1984), known as Don Elliott, was an American jazz trumpeter, vibraphonist, vocalist, and mellophone player. Elliott recorded over 60 albums and 5,000 advertising jingles throughout his career. C ...

–

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

–

string String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

arrangement *

Phil Ramone Philip Rabinowitz (January 5, 1934March 30, 2013), better known as Phil Ramone, was a South African-born American recording engineer, record producer, violinist and composer, and co-founder of A & R recording studio. Its success led to expansion ...

–

audio engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduc ...

*Also, a flute is audible on the song (but the player is uncredited).

Charts

;Paul Simon version

Annie Lennox version

In 1995, "Something So Right" was recorded by Scottish singer

for her second solo album, ''

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; ), also called Gorgo () or the Gorgon, was one of the three Gorgons. Medusa is generally described as a woman with living snakes in place of hair; her appearance was so hideous that anyone who looked upon her wa ...

'' (1995). Later that year, she re-recorded the track with Paul Simon, who features as an acoustic guitarist on the track and sings a harmony vocal partway through the song. This re-recorded version was released as a single by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

, reaching no. 44 on the UK charts.

Critical reception

Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later m ...

'' wrote, "This

song from Lennox' cover album ''Medusa'' has the additional vocals and guitar parts of Mr. Simon himself. It starts out as a beautiful, simple ballad, but as the song progresses,

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

influences and more elaborate orchestrations pop up. Another great seasonal single."

Track listing

CD maxi-single

CD single

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1973 songs 1995 singles Annie Lennox songs Columbia Records singles Paul Simon songs RCA Records singles Song recordings produced by Paul Simon Song recordings produced by Phil Ramone Songs written by Paul Simon