"I Am a Rock"

No one can hurt me.

When we experience rejection, loss, and grief, many of us tend to withdraw from life, and that is why I find this song so poignant. During my forty years of working in psychology, I always encountered patients who, from earliest childhood, experienced the loss of loved ones. They withdrew into themselves. That was why so many young and attractive men and women built walls around themselves. That is the reason I always thought this song was so poignant.

Simon and Garfunkel: I am a rock, written in 1966.

A winter's day

In a deep and dark December;

I am alone,

Gazing from my window to the streets below

On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.

I am a rock,

I am an island.

I've built walls,

A fortress deep and mighty,

That none may penetrate.

I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain.

It's laughter and it's loving I disdain.

I am a rock,

I am an island.

Don't talk of love,

But I've heard the words before;

It's sleeping in my memory.

I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died.

If I never loved I never would have cried.

I am a rock,

I am an island.

I have my books

And my poetry to protect me;

I am shielded in my armor,

Hiding in my room, safe within my womb.

I touch no one and no one touches me.

I am a rock,

I am an island.

And a rock feels no pain;

And an island never cries.

The song is about his wish to avoid pain and brokenheartedness. He doesn't want to be hurt again, so he refuses to make friends to fall in love; he'll be a hermit. It may sound determined, but by the song's end, it's obvious it's all a lie he tells himself to get through the days. He's alone, and it hurts him, but he'll say he likes it that way, hoping it won't hurt so badly. The last two lines explain it. He's not a rock; he's been hurt and has cried but will pretend not to. The "island never cries" line is possibly the most meaningful part. As he says this, he may as well be crying.

He intends to be emotionally and personally isolated and invulnerable.

When we experience rejection, loss, and grief, many of us tend to withdraw from life, and that is why I find this song so poignant. During my forty years of working in psychology, I always encountered patients who, from earliest childhood, experienced the loss of loved ones. They withdrew into themselves. That was why so many young and attractive men and women built walls around themselves. That is the reason I always thought this song was so poignant.

Simon and Garfunkel: I am a rock, written in 1966.

A winter's day

In a deep and dark December;

I am alone,

Gazing from my window to the streets below

On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.

I am a rock,

I am an island.

I've built walls,

A fortress deep and mighty,

That none may penetrate.

I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain.

It's laughter and it's loving I disdain.

I am a rock,

I am an island.

Don't talk of love,

But I've heard the words before;

It's sleeping in my memory.

I won't disturb the slumber of feelings that have died.

If I never loved I never would have cried.

I am a rock,

I am an island.

I have my books

And my poetry to protect me;

I am shielded in my armor,

Hiding in my room, safe within my womb.

I touch no one and no one touches me.

I am a rock,

I am an island.

And a rock feels no pain;

And an island never cries.

The song is about his wish to avoid pain and brokenheartedness. He doesn't want to be hurt again, so he refuses to make friends to fall in love; he'll be a hermit. It may sound determined, but by the song's end, it's obvious it's all a lie he tells himself to get through the days. He's alone, and it hurts him, but he'll say he likes it that way, hoping it won't hurt so badly. The last two lines explain it. He's not a rock; he's been hurt and has cried but will pretend not to. The "island never cries" line is possibly the most meaningful part. As he says this, he may as well be crying.

He intends to be emotionally and personally isolated and invulnerable.