Uploaded February 2019 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
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An acoustic cover of "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" by Paul Simon from his 1972 album Paul Simon.
Words and music by Paul Simon
The mama pajama rolled out of bed
And she ran to the police station
When the papa found out he began to shout
And he started the investigation
It's against the law
It was against the law
What the mama saw
It was against the law
The mama looked down and spit on the ground
Every time my name gets mentioned
The papa said, "oy, if I get that boy
I'm gonna stick him in the house of detention"
Well I'm on my way
I don't know where I'm going
I'm on my way
I'm taking my time
But I don't know where
Goodbye to Rosie, the queen of Corona
Seein' me and Julio
Down by the schoolyard
Seein' me and Julio
Down by the schoolyard
Whoa, in a couple days they come and take me away
But the press let the story leak
And when the radical priest
Come to get me released
We was all on the cover of Newsweek
And I'm on my way
I don't know where I'm going
I'm on my way
I'm taking my time
But I don't know where
Goodbye to Rosie, the queen of Corona
Seein' me and Julio
Down by the schoolyard
Seein' me and Julio
Down by the schoolyard
Seein' me and Julio
Down by the schoolyard
*Song Facts*
"Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" is a song by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the second single from his second self-titled studio album (1972), released on Columbia Records.
The song is about two boys ("Me and Julio") who have broken a law, although the exact law that has been broken is not stated in the song. When "the mama pajama" finds out what they have done, she goes to the police station to report the crime. The individuals are later arrested, but released when a "radical priest" intervenes.
The meaning and references in the song have long provoked debate. In a July 20, 1972 interview for Rolling Stone, Jon Landau asked Simon: "What is it that the mama saw? The whole world wants to know." Simon replied "I have no idea what it is... Something risque is what I imagine, but when I say 'something', I never bothered to figure out what it was. Didn't make any difference to me."
More recently, in October 2010, Simon described the song as "a bit of inscrutable doggerel", while the "radical priest" has been interpreted as a reference to Daniel Berrigan, who was featured on the cover of Time on January 25, 1971, near when the song was written.
The percussion sound in the song, unusual for American pop, was created with a cuica, a Brazilian friction drum instrument often used in samba music.
In 1988, Simon released a video for the song to promote his greatest hits compilation Negotiations and Love Songs. The video was filmed at Mathews-Palmer Park in Hell's Kitchen, which was standing in for Halsey Junior High School in Forest Hills, Queens, the neighborhood in which Simon grew up and met Art Garfunkel in high school. Many of the children featured in the video were from that same school. It features an introduction by hip hop emcees (and then-fellow Warner Bros. Records label mates) Big Daddy Kane and Biz Markie. Main Source member Large Professor also makes a minor cameo towards the end. The video depicts adults interacting with the youth of an inner-city schoolyard. It shows Simon playing basketball and stickball with the children, and it also features basketball player Spud Webb, baseball legend Mickey Mantle, and football coach-commentator John Madden giving tips to young athletes.
The song appears in a montage in the 2001 film The Royal Tenenbaums directed by filmmaker Wes Anderson. It also appears in the film A Home at the End of the World, over the opening credits of Maid in Manhattan, The Simpsons episode "Holidays of Future Passed", within the film The Muppets, and in the trailer for Missing Link.
Simon himself performed the song on Sesame Street, along with a girl who backed him up singing "Dance dance dance all right/dance dance dance all right/Everybody dance," etc.
Canadian musician Sam Roberts performed a shortened version of the song on the Kids' CBC program Mamma Yamma, altering some of the lyrics to fit the scene he was in.
The song plays in the second episode of Saturday Night Live, during a Weekend Update segment where Simon plays basketball. It was also featured in an SNL skit paying homage to Wes Anderson as a trailer of a movie in his distinct style.
The BBC refused to play this song because of the reference to Newsweek, which is an American magazine. The BBC had a strict policy against product mentions in the songs they played.
The song makes full use of the stereo spectrum, with an acoustic guitar dominating the left channel, and lighter sounding guitar on the right. According to producer Phil Ramone, this right-channel guitar was an electric that was unplugged, with its strings dampened. Simon and David Spinozza played the guitars.
#PaulSimon #MeAndJulioDownByTheSchoolyard #FolkRock
🎤 plaidonflannel.com
🎸 plaidonflannelshop.com
An acoustic cover of "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" by Paul Simon from his 1972 album Paul Simon.
Words and music by Paul Simon
The mama pajama rolled out of bed
And she ran to the police station
When the papa found out he began to shout
And he started the investigation
It's against the law
It was against the law
What the mama saw
It was against the law
The mama looked down and spit on the ground
Every time my name gets mentioned
The papa said, "oy, if I get that boy
I'm gonna stick him in the house of detention"
Well I'm on my way
I don't know where I'm going
I'm on my way
I'm taking my time
But I don't know where
Goodbye to Rosie, the queen of Corona
Seein' me and Julio
Down by the schoolyard
Seein' me and Julio
Down by the schoolyard
Whoa, in a couple days they come and take me away
But the press let the story leak
And when the radical priest
Come to get me released
We was all on the cover of Newsweek
And I'm on my way
I don't know where I'm going
I'm on my way
I'm taking my time
But I don't know where
Goodbye to Rosie, the queen of Corona
Seein' me and Julio
Down by the schoolyard
Seein' me and Julio
Down by the schoolyard
Seein' me and Julio
Down by the schoolyard
*Song Facts*
"Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" is a song by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the second single from his second self-titled studio album (1972), released on Columbia Records.
The song is about two boys ("Me and Julio") who have broken a law, although the exact law that has been broken is not stated in the song. When "the mama pajama" finds out what they have done, she goes to the police station to report the crime. The individuals are later arrested, but released when a "radical priest" intervenes.
The meaning and references in the song have long provoked debate. In a July 20, 1972 interview for Rolling Stone, Jon Landau asked Simon: "What is it that the mama saw? The whole world wants to know." Simon replied "I have no idea what it is... Something risque is what I imagine, but when I say 'something', I never bothered to figure out what it was. Didn't make any difference to me."
More recently, in October 2010, Simon described the song as "a bit of inscrutable doggerel", while the "radical priest" has been interpreted as a reference to Daniel Berrigan, who was featured on the cover of Time on January 25, 1971, near when the song was written.
The percussion sound in the song, unusual for American pop, was created with a cuica, a Brazilian friction drum instrument often used in samba music.
In 1988, Simon released a video for the song to promote his greatest hits compilation Negotiations and Love Songs. The video was filmed at Mathews-Palmer Park in Hell's Kitchen, which was standing in for Halsey Junior High School in Forest Hills, Queens, the neighborhood in which Simon grew up and met Art Garfunkel in high school. Many of the children featured in the video were from that same school. It features an introduction by hip hop emcees (and then-fellow Warner Bros. Records label mates) Big Daddy Kane and Biz Markie. Main Source member Large Professor also makes a minor cameo towards the end. The video depicts adults interacting with the youth of an inner-city schoolyard. It shows Simon playing basketball and stickball with the children, and it also features basketball player Spud Webb, baseball legend Mickey Mantle, and football coach-commentator John Madden giving tips to young athletes.
The song appears in a montage in the 2001 film The Royal Tenenbaums directed by filmmaker Wes Anderson. It also appears in the film A Home at the End of the World, over the opening credits of Maid in Manhattan, The Simpsons episode "Holidays of Future Passed", within the film The Muppets, and in the trailer for Missing Link.
Simon himself performed the song on Sesame Street, along with a girl who backed him up singing "Dance dance dance all right/dance dance dance all right/Everybody dance," etc.
Canadian musician Sam Roberts performed a shortened version of the song on the Kids' CBC program Mamma Yamma, altering some of the lyrics to fit the scene he was in.
The song plays in the second episode of Saturday Night Live, during a Weekend Update segment where Simon plays basketball. It was also featured in an SNL skit paying homage to Wes Anderson as a trailer of a movie in his distinct style.
The BBC refused to play this song because of the reference to Newsweek, which is an American magazine. The BBC had a strict policy against product mentions in the songs they played.
The song makes full use of the stereo spectrum, with an acoustic guitar dominating the left channel, and lighter sounding guitar on the right. According to producer Phil Ramone, this right-channel guitar was an electric that was unplugged, with its strings dampened. Simon and David Spinozza played the guitars.
#PaulSimon #MeAndJulioDownByTheSchoolyard #FolkRock
