And now, from the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and CNN, the Axviles with your

host, David Axelrod.

When you think of the most iconic songwriters, musical figures of our time, Paul Simon would

be right at the top of the list.

His music, the music of Simon and Garfunkel and then his solo albums are the signposts

of my life and the lives of so many others.

He sold, I think, 170 million albums in his career and he just laid down a new, great one,

stranger to stranger at the age of 74.

He performed on the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

And the eve of that performance, I had a chance to sit down with him to talk about his

extraordinary career starting in the New York City music scene of the 1950s and 60s to the

emergence of Simon and Garfunkel and then their very public breakup and what led him to the

stage at the Wells Fargo Center performing at Hillary Clinton's Convention.

Paul Simon, welcome.

So I have to tell you, like most people of my age, you were kind of an iconic figure

and are because your music is sort of, these are the signposts of our lives.

But you're just a guy from New York City.

I mean you started off as a kid in the public schools of New York City.

Let's see what do I have here.

I was just 164.

I went to PS40 so I'm like a big New York public schools guy.

But that's where you started this, huh?

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