Born At The Right Time - Lyrics

In a previous post, I wrote some conclusions about the Paul Simon song, Born At The Right Time, without examining the lyrics in detail, which I will do in this post.

The song begins with this first verse:
Down among the reeds and rushes
A baby boy was found
His eyes as clear as centuries
His silky hair was brown
This first verse reminds us of the story of Moses, who was found among the reeds and rushes of the Nile by Pharaoh's daughter, after his mother set him adrift on the Nile to avoid the slaughter of the newborn Hebrew boy.  Exodus 1:22-2:10.

The song goes on with the chorus:
Never been lonely
Never been lied to
Never had to scuffle in fear
Nothing denied to
Born at the instant
The church bells chime
And the whole world whispering
Born at the right time
Clearly, we are no longer speaking specifically about Moses, who had been lonely, probably was lied to, did scuffle in fear.  So who is the song about?

The next verse goes:
Me and my buddies, we are travelling people
We like to go down to Restaurant Row
Spend those Eurodollars
All the way from Washington to Tokyo
Well, I see them in the airport lounges
Upon their mother’s breast
They follow me with open eyes
Their uninvited guest
Though this verse begins with Paul Simon and his buddies spending Eurodollars around the world, the purpose of bringing this up seems to be that Paul notices babies at these airports feeding from their mother's breasts, or rather he notices them watching him, "they follow me with open eyes, their uninvited guest."  Many of us have had a similar experience with babes, and it seems like this particularly struck Paul Simon.

For the most part, babies and very small children have a special innocence whereby the lyrics of the chords seem to make sense, "Never been lonely; Never been lied to; Never had to scuffle in fear; Nothing denied to."  Obviously this is not always true, but with poetic license, it seems true when we catch the eyes of babes and very small children.

The third verse goes:
There’s too many people on the bus from the airport
Too many holes in the crust of the earth
The planet groans
Every time it registers another birth
But down among the reeds and rushes
A baby girl was found
Her eyes as clear as centuries
Her silky hair was brown

This verse begins by focusing on overpopulation.  But it shifts the focus to a baby girl found among the reeds and rushes, which definitely tells us this song is not specifically about Moses, though it retains an allusion to the story about the baby Moses.  The problem of overpopulation is overcome by considering a baby girl.  The return to the words of the chorus focuses us on the innocence of babes and very young children, which represents an ideal for us, even though we know better being older, that the world can be a rough place.  We can either give in to a jaded view of the world, or we can attempt to live up to the ideal of innocence of little children.

The song also speaks to being "born at the right time."  However, I examined this phrase in my previous post, which I invite you to read.

Born At The Right Time

In 1990, Paul Simon wrote a song, Born At The Right Time, featured in his album, The Rhythm Of The Saints, which received a Grammy for Album of the Year, and peaked at #4 in the U.S. and #1 in the U.K.  (The song played twice in the album, once with his full band - and a second time as an acoustic demo.)  He then decided to name his following 1991 tour, the Born At The Right Time Tour.  Later, in 1997, Import released a best of Paul Simon album entitled, Born At The Right Time, with the title song featured as the last song on the album.  In 2003, PBS produced an American Masters series on Paul Simon entitled, Born At The Right Time.

I recently listened to the album, and this song struck me, so I felt I needed to learn and perform it before others.  I found the lyrics fascinating, and it took me a while for me to figure out my own understanding of it.  (You can look at the lyrics at a later post where I examine it.) I largely understood the song as speaking to the innocence of babes and young children, which we should strive to  emulate, since Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3 - NIV.)

However, his line at the end of the chorus particularly struck me - born at the right time, especially since Scripture informs us But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. (Galatians 4:4 - NLT.)  In other word, Jesus Christ was born at the right time, as well as the right place.  For many reasons, Christ was born not too early, or too late, but just at the right time, as well as the right place.  (Paul Simon might not understand his song this way, but I do.  It is interesting that the title of the album is The Rhythm Of The Saints.)

Scripture also implies that we were born at the right time.  When St. Paul asserted, before the Greeks in Athens at the Agreopagus, that God marked out the boundaries and times of nations (Acts 17:26), his statement implies that God determines the times and places of our births.  In other words, we were born at the right place and time.  Though we had nothing to say, or do, about the time or place of our birth, and though we might be unaware of it, our birth fit into God's plan.

Since God chose the time and place of our birth, our lives have meaning and purpose. Our birth was not a meaningless accident.  It did not come about by random chance.  As we discover God's plan and purpose for our lives, we can work with that plan and purpose in order to please God, better our lives, and better the lives of those around us.  So Scripture informs us, And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purposes.  (Romans 8:28 - NIV.)