Paul Simon says that he might be close to taking a break from songwriting.

"I really wonder what would happen to my creative impulses, which seem to come on a regular basis; every three, four years they manifest themselves," he tells NPR's Bob Boilen.

"And by habit, they manifest themselves as songs. But this is really the decision of a 13-year old.

Me, who said, at 13, 'No, I want to write songs.' So I'm doing it 60 years later. This 13-year old is still telling me what to do."

"But I wonder what happens if I simply prohibit myself from expressing whatever the creative urge is, if I do not allow that to happen in song or music form.

I'm sort of willing to give it a year or so. I feel like in the beginning it'll be frustrating and annoying and I'll want to go back to the other way. But if I stay with the rules maybe I'll discover some other outlet."

Simon will release Stranger to Stranger, his first album since 2011's So Beautiful or So What, on June 3.