"I hear the drizzle of the rain..."

I don't hear the rain yet, but it should be here soon. Gracias, Eduard!

That line is from my favorite Simon and Garfunkel song. Actually, it's one of my favorite songs period. It's called "Kathy's Song." Kathy is also mentioned in "America," another S & G song I really like, and one that I happen to be learning to play on the guitar. So as I was preparing for my guitar lesson today, I got to thinking, "Who is Kathy?"

When my dad and I saw Simon and Garfunkel a few years ago, they talked about playing music in London where they had a friend named Kathy. Since Kathy warranted a song (a really beautiful song!) and is a character in another song, I figured there was more to it than that. Hooray for the Internet!

Various sources suggest that the Kathy mentioned in these songs is a woman named Kathy Chitty whom Simon dated while living in England in 1964-65. An excerpt from Paul Simon: The Definitive Biography by Laura Jackson confirms that he dated such a person. Since the songs are from that time period (Kathy's Song is from '65 and America is from '68) it makes sense. Jackson also says that Chitty came to visit Simon in America and that they went on an extended vacation around the country together. Since I was reading the book in a Google book preview, I didn't get to read all of it, so I don't have any idea about Kathy's personality or character. But, I do know what she looked like. She is on the cover of The Paul Simon Songbook with Paul (pictured above).

Have a listen if you're not familiar with it, or just because it's a great song!