“How can you live in the Northeast? How can you live in the South? How can you build on the banks of a river when the flood water pours from the mouth? How can you be a Christian? How can you be a Jew? How can you be a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Hindu? How can you?

“Weak as the winter sun, we enter life on earth. Names and religion come just after date of birth. Then everybody gets a tongue to speak, and everyone hears an inner voice. A day at the end of the week to wonder and rejoice.

“If the answer is infinite light, why do we sleep in the dark?”

–Paul Simon, from the lyrics of “How Can You Live in the Northeast?” the first song on his new album “Surprise.”