The track is already on its feet: dry drums, a springy low line, and little bright accents at the edges.

Simon’s voice comes in lightly, but the worry is plain right away: a man walking along and asking why he’s “soft in the middle.”

The chorus turns that private embarrassment into a social bargain: bodyguard, long-lost pal, Betty, Al. The backing voices brighten it, but the groove stays nimble.

The walking verse returns, and now the questions come quicker: short attention, long nights, the beat still refusing to drag.

“Where’s my wife and family?” lands almost casually, which makes it stranger; the song keeps him moving while the thought opens under him.

Now the instruments get a little room. The low line darts and turns, and the horn-like answers flash in without taking over the center.

When the story comes back, it’s still a street, but now it’s “a street in a strange world.” The same forward motion carries a much less familiar scene.

“Surrounded by the sound” is exactly how this section feels: voices, place names, and the porous groove all around him.

The words lift toward “Amen” and “Hallelujah,” but the arrangement doesn’t turn solemn. It keeps the same bright count under the blessing.

After the name comes loose, the song can live on syllables for a while: the “na-na” refrain keeps the communal motion going.

The ending circles the bodyguard and Betty phrases again, with those small “ooh” responses tucked into the repeats.