Album: Still Crazy After All These Years (1975)

Charted: 23 1

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• "The problem is all inside your head", she said to me
  "The answer is easy if you take it logically
  I'd like to help you in your struggle to be free
  There must be fifty ways to leave your lover"
  She said, "It's really not my habit to intrude
  Furthermore, I hope my meaning won't be lost or misconstrued
  But I'll repeat myself at the risk of being crude
  There must be fifty ways to leave your lover
  Fifty ways to leave your lover"
  
  You just slip out the back, Jack
  Make a new plan, Stan
  You don't need to be coy, Roy
  Just get yourself free
  Hop on the bus, Gus
  You don't need to discuss much
  Just drop off the key, Lee
  And get yourself free
  Ooh, slip out the back, Jack
  Make a new plan, Stan
  You don't need to be coy, Roy
  You just listen to me
  Hop on the bus, Gus
  You don't need to discuss much
  Just drop off the key, Lee
  And get yourself free
  
  She said, "It grieves me so to see you in such pain
  I wish there was something I could do to make you smile again"
  I said, "I appreciate that and would you please explain
  About the fifty ways?"
  She said, "Why don't we both just sleep on it tonight?
  And I believe in the morning you'll begin to see the light"
  And then she kissed me and I realized she probably was right
  There must be fifty ways to leave your lover
  Fifty ways to leave your lover
  
  You just slip out the back, Jack
  Make a new plan, Stan
  You don't need to be coy, Roy
  Just get yourself free
  Oh, you hop on the bus, Gus
  You don't need to discuss much
  Just drop off the key, Lee
  And get yourself free
  Slip out the back, Jack
  Make a new plan, Stan
  You don't need to be coy, Roy
  You just listen to me
  Hop on the bus, Gus
  You don't need to discuss much
  Just drop off the key, Lee
  And get yourself free Writer/s: Paul Simon
  Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 31

• Øivind from NorwayActually in the Muppet Show in 1980 they also make an intentional joke with the title of the song, naming it "50 ways to love your liver"
• Seventh Mist from 7th HeavenI had a 6th way, for the author: “Go down to the mall, Paul.”
• Renee from HoustonThis song is such a contrast. The melody on the verses is quiet and beautiful, and the slow military drumbeat creates such an ominous undercurrent of tension. You can just FEEL that there's something heavy and emotional hanging over the situation, something profound and painful...so painful the singer is wrung-out and numb just from thinking about it.
  
  And then it breaks into the most inane, meaningless chorus ever.
  
  Whomp, whomp!
  
  *Ahem.* Yeah. Okay, so my headcanon for the song is that the singer is trapped in an emotionally abusive situation, and the woman with him is a friend telling him "Forget everything else, and just leave. Vanish if you need to. It doesn't have to be complicated, just do whatever you need to to get out." The kiss she gives him is from sympathy, and kind of a blessing. She knows she may not see him for a while, but he'll be free, and that's the important thing.
  
  The chorus is an inane sing-song because the singer is using as a "survival mantra" to psych himself up to leave the crazy person he's with. He'll have to leave almost everything he knows to do it...and he has to GO BACK first. He has to go home and face her one last time, risk getting tangled up in her craziness, in order to grab the few things he needs to go. He'll have to [slip out the back, Jack] keep hold of himself, wait till she's asleep. If she wakes up early, he'll [make a new plan, Stan] make something up to distract her, something [no need to be coy, Roy] simple, it doesn't matter, then just [hop on the bus, Gus] get as far as he can and [no need to discuss much] not tell anyone what he's up to, just get out before she figures it out, he can [just drop off the key, Lee] leave his key at her workplace and [just get] himself [free]....
• Pat Mcpee from ChicagoSorry. But it seems that you have miscounted just how many ‘ways’ That “Al,” er, I mean “Paul has suggested for us to exit a relationship.
  You missed one. So not only does he give us six (6), but you have also misquoted an exit refrain on one of them. And these are the correct lines:
  1) You just slip out the back, Jack,
  2) Make a new plan Stan,
  3) You don’t need to be coy, Roy,
  (corrected): You just listen to me.
  4) You just hop on the bus, Gus,
  5) You don’t need to discuss much,
  6) Just drop off the key, Lee-
  And get yourself free…
  (and, of course, what Gabriele from Edmonton Ab mentioned, the bonus suggestion: “Why don’t we both just sleep in it tonight? And I believe that in the morning you’ll begin to see the light.”)
• Kgt from A Place Of Slush And Dirty SnowI think this song really speaks to what a great lyricist Paul Simon is. He paints such a vivid picture that it's hard to believe that this just popped into his head one New York morning. Of course, he had just broken up with his first wife... so maybe there's some deeper Freudian subconscious thing at play here.
• George from Vancouver, CanadaThank you, Camille from Toronto; I just listened to Miley singing it in one of her backyard sessions -- I like it better than Paul's. . .
• George from Vancouver, CanadaThis was written when the heavy societal(Catholic) taboo against divorce was going away. So he's saying if you feel like crap, you don't need to stay -- just slip out the back, Jack. . .
• Calicomist from WvI think the woman is a lover and the singer isn't brave enough to leave his wife or another lover. The rhyming part is simple because everyone should know how to leave a lover. But when someone is in emotional turmoil, as he obviously is which is shown when she says "I wish there was something I could do to make you smile again" they understand simple instructions better than long, drawn out, complex answers. So we have, "Slip out the back, Jack, Make a new plan, Stan, You don't need to be coy, Roy, just set yourself free; Hop on the bus, Gus, Drop of the key, Lee, and get yourself free.' It's repeated over and over until he gets t. Later, the woman gets exasperated when he says "But would please explain.." I can see her rolling her eyes - 'I've said a million times, all I'm done talking, either you want to leave, or you don't.' When she says "why don't we both just sleep on this tonight, and I believe that in the morning you'll begin to see the light," she was saying, either leave your wife, or I'm gone.' The fact that the song starts with a drum says how difficult it is for him to leave, that it has to be a strategic battle and push to make himself, but in the end he realizes he has fight for himself, for his sanity or he's going to be destroyed. I always thought he was in an abusive or toxic relationship. I see this as a self-esteem or recovery song. Like talking the talk until you can do the walk.
• Pierre Le Floss from Tigard Oregon Who is the woman he is talking too in the song?
• Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn February 22, 1976, Paul Simon's "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" peaked at #1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Tracks chart, and the record it bumped out of the top spot was "Breakaway" by his old buddy, Art Garfunkel.
• Meanmrmundy from KansasI have always interpreted the final "way to leave your lover" was how the woman was leaving him.
  Why don't we both just sleep on it tonight
  And I believe that in the morning you'll begin to see the light
  I think it occurs to him that she won't be there in the morning
  Then she kissed me and I realized, she probably was right...
  He gets the kiss goodnight (good-bye). He'll wake up in the morning and she'll be long gone.
• Alex from Flushing, NyCompletely by coincidence, Stan and Jack are the first names of the celebrated duo Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the prolific creators of such iconic comic book characters as the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men. This is no evidence that Simon was aware of Lee and Kirby, but that hasn't stopped fans from looking for evidence that Roy, Lee and Gus refer to Roy Thomas (Lee's successor on several comics), Stan Lee a second time, and Marvel letterer Gus Roussos.
• Warbot from A Place Of War And CogsI always thought the woman he spoke to was the lover he wished to leave, as if she was very sympathetic to his plight yet wanted one more night to maybe change his mind, even though she gave him the "Okay" to leave, even mapping out a plan, maybe I am reading to much into it.
• Camille from Toronto, OhFebruary 15, 2015: During the 40th Anniversary broadcast for Saturday Night Live, Miley Cyrus performed this song. Really, I never liked it much until hearing her version which was surprisingly very classy.
• Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn December 14th 1975, "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" by Paul Simon entered Billboard’s Hot Top 100 chart at position #74; and seven weeks later on February 1st, 1976 it peaked at #1 {for 3 weeks} and spent 17 weeks on the Top 100...
  It also reached #1* {for 2 weeks} on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Tracks chart...
  * The record it replaced at #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart was "Break Away" by Art Garfunkel.
• Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn December 6th, 1975 Paul Simon's fourth studio album, 'Still Crazy After All These Years', peaked at #1 (for 1 week) on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart...
  Three tracks from the album entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart; "50 Ways to Leave Your lover" (#1 for 3 weeks), "Still Crazy After All These Years" (#40), and in a duet with Art Garfunkel, "My Little Town" (#9)...
  And at the 18th Annual Grammy Awards (held Feb. 28th, 1976) it won the award for 'Album of the Year'...
  Both Mr. Simon and Mr. Garfunkel recently celebrated their 72nd birthday; Mr. Simon on October 13th and Mr. Garfunkel on November 5th.
• Esskayess from Dallas, TxI always liked the rhythm of this song, but got sick of the lyrics. Sounded like PS grabbed a rhyming dictionary to help write this.
  
  'Grab the door hinge, Orange.'
• Jack from Mesa, AzI think the military-style drumming is symbolic of the coldness of the situation. I mean the guy is cheating and the two are minimizing the impending breakup into little rhymes
• Jfv from Philadelphia, PaI recently came up with the remaining 45 "ways to leave your lover" if anyone is interested. The parody version of the song should be available on YouTube sometime next month.
• Gabriele from Edmonton, AbActually he told us 6 ways:
  
  Slip out the back, Jack
  Make a new plan, Stan
  You don't need to be coy, Roy, just set yourself free
  Hop on the bus, Gus
  Drop of the key, Lee, and get yourself free.
  
  and finally
  
  Why don't we just sleep on it tonight;
  And in the morning I believe you'll see light
  
  which (by the way) implies sleep together and she'll see your having an affair blah blah blah
• Jake Grissom from Los Angeles, CaThis song is specifically about someone meeting a 'new' lover, and they are suggesting ways to help in the situation. They are suggesting '50 Ways To Leave Your Lover'
• Malena from Monterrey, Mexicolove this song and it seems as time has FLY
• Brad from Barry, TxJohn Valby, alias "Dr. Dirty," wrote and performed the very memorable parody "50 Ways to F@#$ Your Lover."
• George from Pittsburgh, PaYou're kinda screwed if your name is Orange, Purple, or Silver.
• Heather from Los Angeles, CaA pretty jaded song from the guy who brought us "Kathy's Song" and "To Emily (Wherever I may find her)" Simon's songs just weren't as good after Garfunkel left.
• Musicmama from New York, Ny"Fifty Ways to Lose Your Liver": Just sip out the sack, Jack/Go cop me a gram, Stan...
• Chuck from Houston, TxSteve Gadd did the drums (marching style) during this song. It was wise for Paul to pick Steve for this job because the fact that the marching beat (Which Gadd learned to prefect during his three years in the Marine Corp.) adds a personality and tone to the song that not only was the driving force that made it a hit, but was also a big influnce among young and upcomming drummers during the time peiord. One of them being Carter Bulford, who would grow up to play with the "Dave Mathews Band" and credited this song as being the primary influnce behind the marching style he used in the bands biggest hit song to date "Crash" which was recorded over 20 years after the release of "50 Ways to Leave your Lover" He even plays both marching versions on his video "Under the Table and Drumming"
• David from Mesa, AzA comedy show on BBC Radio, "The 99p Challenge", had comedians discussing other ways to leave your lover apart from the three or four mentioned in the song. Among them:
  
  "Hire a contract killer, Mrs. Miller"
  "Push her off a cliff, Cliff"
  "Show your rash, Sash"
  "Change your name to Paul, Simon"
  "Sleep with someone, Else"
  "Tell her your real name, Agamemnon"
• Jay from Brooklyn, NyThis is perhaps the only song to contain the word "misconstrued."
• Ralph from Newton, MaUse effective rhetoric Frederick
• Robin from Birmingham, AlPhoebe Snow ("Poetry Man")is one of the women doing backup vocals on this song.

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