Songfacts®:

• "So Beautiful Or So What" is the title track from Paul Simon's 12th album. The theme of the disc is The Meaning of Life. Simon told Mojo magazine: "'So beautiful or so what' is a valid question when you're facing the enormity of the infinite. Or pure Love."
• Simon had hoped he could get Bob Dylan to sing on this track. He explained what happened to Mojo magazine: "I'd written the title track 'So Beautiful Or So What,' and there were two verses that I thought would be good for Bob. It's kind of a blue song and I thought it could accommodate his voice now that it's real rough. I thought he could be the voice of wisdom. I sent a message via our mutual manager asking if Bob would like to sing on the song. The first word I got back was that he liked it and he wanted to do it, but then I never heard anything more. I had a deadline and I needed to get the album finished. I figured maybe Bob was burnt out from touring or maybe he had more dates to do. It was no big deal."