२२ ऑक्टोबर, २०२१

"... Simon and Garfunkel also played a high-profile gig at Gerde’s Folk City in the Village, and a couple of shows at the Gaslight Cafe. The audiences there, though, regarded them as a complete joke..."

"... Dave Van Ronk would later relate that for weeks afterwards, all anyone had to do was sing 'Hello darkness, my old friend,' for everyone around to break into laughter. Bob Dylan was one of those who laughed at the performance — though Robert Shelton later said that Dylan hadn’t been laughing at them, specifically, he’d just had a fit of the giggles — and this had led to a certain amount of anger from Simon towards Dylan."

That's from the podcast "A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs," "Episode 135: 'The Sound of Silence' by Simon and Garfunkel." 

I've never been much of a Simon and Garfunkel fan, though, of course, I've often enjoyed listening to their songs. They did seem self-absorbedly gloomy, and I completely identify with the people who thought it was funny to intone — out of the blue — "Hello darkness, my old friend." I have a vivid memory from 1965, when "I Am a Rock" was a hit, and I was 14. I was with some of my girlfriends and a boy from our class, walking by, suddenly and, I think sincerely, sang out "I Am a Rock." Oh, how we laughed at him! It still makes me laugh. You're a rock, are you? That's so interesting. I guess if he was a rock, our derision didn't hurt him.

Knowing little of S&G's background, I learned a lot from that episode:

Neither Paul Simon or Art Garfunkel had many friends when they met in a school performance of Alice in Wonderland, where Simon was playing the White Rabbit and Garfunkel the Cheshire Cat. Simon was well-enough liked, by all accounts, but he’d been put on an accelerated programme for gifted students which meant he was progressing through school faster than his peers. He had a small social group, mostly based around playing baseball, but wasn’t one of the popular kids. 

Art Garfunkel, another gifted student, had no friends at all until he got to know Simon, who he described later as his “one and only friend” in this time period. One passage in Garfunkel’s autobiography seems to me to sum up everything about Garfunkel’s personality as a child — and indeed a large part of his personality as it comes across in interviews to this day. He talks about the pleasure he got from listening to the chart rundown on the radio — “It was the numbers that got me. I kept meticulous lists—when a new singer like Tony Bennett came onto the charts with “Rags to Riches,” I watched the record jump from, say, #23 to #14 in a week. The mathematics of the jumps went to my sense of fun.”

I also learned that Garfunkel has kept a list of all the books he's read, going back to 1968 and up through the present day, and you can read the whole list on line, here. It's highly aspirational, beginning with Jean Jacques Rousseau's "Confessions," and full of great classics. As kids, though, Paul and Art bonded over Mad Magazine.

By the way, I love "Waters of March" as sung by Art Garfunkel (which I only discovered recently and only because Spotify pushed it at me).

७४ टिप्पण्या:

Tom T. म्हणाले...

Photos from their early days as Tom and Jerry are adorable.

Mike Sylwester म्हणाले...

My blog article:
The Meaning of the Song "Sounds of Silence"

Iman म्हणाले...

Van Ronk and folkies laughing at the music of others!?!?

THAT is rich…

Brian McKim and/or Traci Skene म्हणाले...

Just heard Waters of March for the first time in English, while driving to a gig here in Vegas. The local oldies station played it! I had heard it a million times-- in Portuguese--as the Jobim/Gilberto version has been among our personal collection here at home. Great tune, interesting structure. Never knew the song's title! Even though I owned it! Musta been listed on the CD in Portuguese!

Jeff Gee म्हणाले...

55 years go by and I finally realize "Help I'm a Rock" is an answer song!

who-knew म्हणाले...

Great song. I don't know whether to blame Art Garfunkel or the arranger bt I think theirs is a pretty clunky arrangement of what should be a lightly swinging sng. Check out this version by Elis Regina and Tom Jobim: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBEesrdaRog

PM म्हणाले...

Maybe or maybe not SofS was intended to appeal to emotional young teens worried, as teens are now, about the world they inhabit. If so, no one tapped into that better than Brian Wilson with "In My Room."

Ficta म्हणाले...

I've never been that big a fan of Simon and/or Garfunkel. Some of the hits are very nice. "The Boxer" is catchy and, allegedly a Dylan diss. When I was a teenager, I bought a few singles (and, eventually, many albums). One of those singles was Art Garfunkel's cover of "Wonderful World". My favorite Paul Simon solo song might be the very deep cut: "Renee and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog After the War".

Gahrie म्हणाले...

If you haven't heard it yet, you have to listen to a cover version of "The Sound of Silence" by a band named Disturbed. I would describe the band as punk metal, but you wouldn't know it by their cover.

https://youtu.be/Bk7RVw3I8eg

hombre म्हणाले...

Well no wonder there is laughter. Their songs are sung, not spoken in ebonics and they don’t say “fuck.”

Kai Akker म्हणाले...

--- I completely identify with the people who thought it was funny to intone — out of the blue — "Hello darkness, my old friend."

Well, ok, maybe. But that, coming from a Bob Dylan fan?

"Nobody feels any pain tonight as I stand inside the rain"

"They're selling postcards of the hanging, they're painting the passports brown"

Think of how absurd or pretentious so many Dylan lyrics are. Yet most of them make good songs, to his fans.

The nasty little anecdote is curious. Dylan had "a fit of the giggles" but it wasn't like anyone else in his knowing crowd laughing, too; it must have been purely a coincidence? It couldn't possibly have come from a desire to upstage any new act who might have similarities to his troubadour folksinger shtik, I'm sure? Paul Simon just didn't understand, did he. Nah.

reader म्हणाले...

I have always liked the song The Sound of Silence, now Disturbed’s cover more than the original. Found an interesting analysis of the cover.

Voice Coach/Opera Singer REACTION & ANALYSIS Disturbed "The Sound of Silence"

DimWhit म्हणाले...

I believe the line 'Can analysis be worthwhile?' refers to mathematical analysis,
not psychoanalysis.... (Maybe a little bit telling?)

Tim म्हणाले...

I always thought "Hello Darkness my old friend, I've come to talk to you again" was a really good line. Perhaps it doesn't compare to "And I need you more than want you, and I want you for all time" or "you don't really care for music dooya", or "Just around the corner from the light of day" or "I can fly higher than an eagle, for you are the wind beneath my wings" or dozens of other great lines by great lyricists over the years, but damned if it does not evoke a {image, emotion, moment} like the other great lines do.

William म्हणाले...

Okay, Paul Simon is not Bob Dylan, but neither is he Barry Manilow. I liked S&G much better when I was younger. Some of the lyrics now sound a bit pretentious, but so was I. Paul Simon caught his moment but perhaps not in a way that will outlive that moment.....Bing Crosby and Al Jolson were the most popular singers of their era. Bing now sounds corny and Jolson schmaltzy, but they were quite something in their moment....I don't know if there's any aesthetic or moral lesson to be learned from this beyond the fact that tastes change.

Amexpat म्हणाले...

this had led to a certain amount of anger from Simon towards Dylan

I haven't listened to this episode yet, so I don't know if Hickey brought up S&G's pretty poor Dylan parody, A Simple Desultory Philippic (or How I Was Robert McNamara'd into Submission). Could be that was Simon's attempt to get back at Dylan for supposedly laughing at his song.

They did tour together about 20 years ago and even duetted on some songs (Garfunkel is a much better fit for Simon), so they obviously have forgotten about any previously perceived slights.

Lloyd W. Robertson म्हणाले...

Very nice. Did I think "Bridge Over Troubled Water" was kind of deep, back in the day? Alas, yes. For some reason I'm not a big fan of Paul Simon's solo work, although I must say "You Can Call Me Al" appeals to me. I like Garfunkel better, although there is a kind of monotony to a dreamy quality in the music. "Watermark," an album of Garfunkel singing Jimmy Webb songs; All My Love's Laughter" is a favourite of mine.

here.

rcocean म्हणाले...

I liked S&G as a teenager. Their lyrics were so..sophisticated. And suitably dark and edgy. And IRONIC. Just the sort of thing you might like when you're 15. Of course, I also thought they'd written "Scarborough Fair" themselves.

Now, they seem so fake and pretentious. I can't listen without cringing or laughing.

I have no need of friendship friendship causes pains
It's laughter and it's loving I disdain
I am a rock I am an island

I am just a poor boy
Though my story's seldom told
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocketful of mumbles

Amexpat म्हणाले...

I glanced through Garfunkel's reading list. I've read a many of the same history books as him - lots of Caro and Edmund Morris.

In my view most of the books are good, except for an odd assortment of celebrity hack writing, on both sides of the political spectrum. Bill O'Reilly and Al Gore, Donald and Mary Trump. He had Ayn Rand's the Fountainhead as a favorite. I doubt it was for the literary merit, so he must like her philosophy.

Dylan's Chronicles was on the list. So perhaps he holds no grudge.

typingtalker म्हणाले...

I find that music is better if I ignore the words.

Diamondhead म्हणाले...

Because it's Friday afternoon and I'm procrastinating I spent a few minutes perusing Art's reading list and made the following observations:

1. He read Bill O'Reilly's Killing the SS immediately after Cormac McCarthy's The Road (which is marked with an "asterick" (sic) as one of his favorites).

2. He has not read either White Fragility or any of Kendi.

3. He read Giovanni's Room roughly the same month as me.

Temujin म्हणाले...

Dylan vs Simon is a personal hot button of mine.

Your opinion of Simon & Garfunkel matches up with my opinion of Dylan, from early on to now- with maybe a couple of excepted albums. But as a soloist and when you take in the full catalogue of Paul Simon's work, to me he's one of the great songwriters of the last 100 years. He crosses styles from all over the world, mixes different musical styles together, with lyrics that run from humorous, to stories of humanity.

That said, I was never much into Garfunkel outside of his perfect harmonies with Simon. I'm a great fan of Brazilian jazz and Jobim is one of the greats in that genre. Waters of March is one of my all-time favorites, and as much as I liked Garfunkel's harmonies with Simon, I don't think I could get through his version of Waters of March when there are so many great versions of that song. But...I'll give it a try.

But it still befuddles me how anyone can listen to more than one song sung by Bob Dylan. That voice is horrendous. I've never been able to get past it. It's not quirky. It's just awful. He's written great songs, but...to me it's never been a contest. Simon is a superior musician, writer, singer. Simon and Dylan are both 80 now. ("Old Friends"). I saw Simon in concert about 8 years ago in Atlanta, when he was 72. He sang in an outdoor venue, on a hot, humid Southern night in August. Played for two+ hours, took 10 minutes and came on with his band for two encores- another 30-40 minutes or so. I was just sitting there, drenched from the heat- just sitting there. I was amazed that he could do what he did at 72. He's done touring now, though he's still writing.

Dylan, is apparently going back on tour. I guess he opens up in Milwaukee this November 2- coming up. I expect to hear a review from you and Meade, Ann.

Temujin म्हणाले...

Holy Crap. That's as impressive a reading list as I've ever seen. Man...do I feel like a slacker.

wild chicken म्हणाले...

The only song I really loved by them was America, which Bernie used in an ad.

The words tore me up at the time because I was 19, restless, never been anywhere, dying to hit the road, but stuck in my first job, a good one with fedgov.

If I'd kept it I could have retired at 48. But I just had to get out.

Ice Nine म्हणाले...

Dave Van Ronk, and his music, were the very antithesis of Simon & Garfunkel and theirs; it is little wonder that he laughed at them. They might well have laughed at him for the same reason. As for me, I loved all three of them.

M Jordan म्हणाले...

“I Am a Rock” was a great, self-ironic song. It a lonely, jilted boy pretending he’s a tough guy. The entire set of lyrics needs a negative sign in front of it: it’s all irony.

Ozymandias म्हणाले...

In 1965, S&G personified a certain Forest Hills ennui. For some that gave form to adolescent depression and self-isolation (“darkness” as an old friend). To others (such as me) it felt maudlin and precious, although in retrospect, with poor Garfunkle, who seems somewhat Aspergerish, it may have been quite authentic.
Many of those who were not enchanted by that style regarded them as—to invoke a buzz word of that time—"neurotic,” a status that was often worn with a degree of defensive pride; Simon appeared in at least one Woody Allen movie as himself.
Of course, that mien does not wear well with the passing years (imagine a 38-year old emo), yet it took them some time, and many, more extroverted, songs, to shake off those images.

Will Cate म्हणाले...

For me their peak artistic endeavor was side one of the "Bookends" album, with its flowing life-story song cycle. The rest of their stuff I could take or leave...

Sigivald म्हणाले...

In retrospect I'm surprised "Help, I'm A Rock" isn't a reference to the S+G song, but apparently it is not.

Conrad म्हणाले...

As I recall, you gushed over the Bernie Sanders commercial that featured the S&G song "America."

Jake म्हणाले...

Haven’t got to that episode yet of the podcast. Stopping by to say thanks for turning me on to it. Well done work and very worthwhile listening.

Iman म्हणाले...

I liked a few of the early S&G songs, but always found the lyrics too precious… too east coast college pretentious for my taste.

Of Simon’s solo stuff, only the “Graceland” album stood out to me. That was great music!

Garfunkel… guy has a son that he groomed to dress and look - including his hair - just like him… a mini-Garfunkel of sorts. WHO does that!?!?

jg म्हणाले...

That Waters of March cover is dreadful. No wonder Garfunkel hasn't amounted to as much on his own.

D.D. Driver म्हणाले...

Is Art Garfunkel on the autism spectrum? That passage make it seem so.

Tim म्हणाले...

I checked out his reading list. Pretty good list as far as content is concerned, but only 145 books in 10 years?! What a piker. That would have been the years I was 10 to 20. During that period, I read over 2000 books. Pretty much everything readable in the Algood School Library, in the Cookeville Jr. High school library, in the Putnam County High School Library, in the Clara Cox Epperson public library, and in the Putnam County public library. Along with all my Dad's L'Amour and Spillane books, and my moms and sisters romance novels (mostly Barbara Cartland and Emily Loring), all the Science fiction books I could get my hands on enough money to buy, and the 1969 set of the World Book Encyclopedia the year I was 14 and desperate for reading material.

Narr म्हणाले...

We wore out the BOTW album but I didn't follow either S or G much afterward.

I got "Rhythm of the Saints" under circumstances I no longer recall and have not regretted it--great stuff.

As for pretention . . . what is being a teenager about but that? And R&R is teenager music.
Doesn't mean it can't transcend the genre and be great.

rcocean म्हणाले...

Where have you gone art garfunkle? Our nation looks it lonely eyes at you.

Hoo hoo hoo. And of course: whoa whoa whoa.

Thanks for "Hello, Darkness my old friend" joke. I can't wait to use it on right person, but I don't think I could get it out without laughing.

rcocean म्हणाले...

WHy did they Joe Dimaggio? well, try to rhyme something to Babe Ruth.

Iman म्हणाले...

Artie and that goddam Larry Fine hairdon’t .

Clyde म्हणाले...

When I was a kid, Parley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme was one of the records my parents got from the record club. I can't say that it's the sort of thing that either of them probably liked, but they didn't send it back and so there it was, and I played it a lot. There were songs on it that creeped me out, like "Patterns" and "7 O'Clock News/Silent Night". I liked a lot of the other songs, especially "The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine" and "A Simple Desultory Phillipic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara'd Into Submission)", although as a kid I had no idea what all the name-checking was about.

khematite म्हणाले...

Garfunkel has a master's degree in Math Education from Columbia University's Teachers College. He also completed the coursework for a doctorate in that field, though he never wrote his dissertation. He certainly turned that early childhood fascination with the record charts into something pretty respectable.

Howard म्हणाले...

Heard Kodachrome for the first time on a road trip from Venice to Santa Cruz for a Jr Lifeguard competition. Always reminds me of that trip.

Bill Peschel म्हणाले...

Dylan, is apparently going back on tour. I guess he opens up in Milwaukee this November 2- coming up. I expect to hear a review from you and Meade, Ann.

Dylan's coming to the Hershey Theatre. I checked in on tickets, not only sold out, but resellers are asking $300+ for them.

I remember seeing him at the HersheyPark pavilion and paid nowhere near that amount. Actually quite reasonable. Ah, well. I'm passing up hearing John Cleese talk about creativity over $75 (plus fees).

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

" If so, no one tapped into that better than Brian Wilson with "In My Room.""

Another one is the Beatles "There's a Place."

Eric म्हणाले...

Here's a better version of the song you like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJl4WH569M0

Everything sounds better in Brazilian.

Gahrie म्हणाले...

@reader

I watch her videos a lot. She did an incredible analysis of Unchained Melody by the Righteous Brothers (https://youtu.be/nyXfCq1ix3g). I can't understand a thing she's saying, but her reactions are priceless.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

"Dylan, is apparently going back on tour. I guess he opens up in Milwaukee this November 2- coming up."

Even though we once went to Missoula, Montana to see Dylan... and caught him again in Fargo on the way home... and even though we once drove to Chicago to see him and drove back home the same night... we don't want to drive to Milwaukee for a concert.

I'd get awfully tired. But I used to chauffeur my sons to Milwaukee just to see a concert — drive there and back the same day. Things I drove to Milwaukee for: Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth.

Andrew म्हणाले...

Their saddest song, in my opinion, is The Only Living Boy in New York. It's supposedly their break up song.

glennlarkin म्हणाले...

https://youtu.be/y1cm9-ERoVA
Where I first heard it.

Maynard म्हणाले...

Back in the day when we sat around with guitars and sang popular tunes, the only two Simon and Garfunkel songs that people liked were "Mrs. Robinson" and "The Boxer". Everything else seemed too sappy.

"Sound of Silence" is probably their best song when performed by Disturbed. My understanding is that Paul Simon wrote that after the Kennedy Assassination. The words are angry, but he could not bring himself to sing that way. The singer from Disturbed does a terrific job of performing it the way it was written.

Baceseras म्हणाले...

Paul Simon wrote a lot of great songs, and musically he employs a jazzier sense of rhythm than most ex-folkies of his period -- and I say this as one who likes many of those ex-folkies.

This is top shelf. These are the days of miracle and wonder

Baceseras म्हणाले...

Speaking of fits of the giggles, and speaking of Forest Hills ennui, anyone remember "Darkness darkness, hide my yearning for the things that cannot be . . ."

Ralph L म्हणाले...

No one mentioned the 59th Street Bridge song (Feelin' Groovy).

I was exposed to them (and other folk artists) in reruns, starting with "Bookends," that my older sister got from Columbia Records, so I didn't realize SoS and others were earlier.

Narr म्हणाले...

"try rhyming something to Babe Ruth."

Tool booth. Bad tooth. That's the truth, forsooth.

I kept track of books I had read one year, and it was about 60 or 70, not counting for class.

If I don't average about one a week I start to feel like a slacker.

Brian McKim and/or Traci Skene म्हणाले...

Any love for the Yes cover of America?

rcocean म्हणाले...

Garfunkle sure was a smart man.

And almost as talented as Einstein.

daskol म्हणाले...

Sonic Youth is worth a trip. I’m glad they’ve achieved a somewhat enduring status because that was one my dad particularly used to doubt anyone would listen to in 20 years.

CWJ म्हणाले...

Paul Simon is a sublime lyricist. Far superior to Dylan. I like them both. But Dylan's lyrics are prose poem. For me, Simon creates fantastic images in parallel to the words he's actually singing. One person's pretentious is another's evocative.

Lurker21 म्हणाले...

I liked them a lot when I was young. They were the kind of group your English teacher would play in class, and at the time I was young and timid enough to think that was a plus, rather then a minus.

I wasn't that crazy about whatever Simon's been doing for the last 40 years or so, but finding out that Garfunkel may have been on the spectrum makes me like the original duo all the more.

It explains things about their music and their lives. It also explains Garfunkel's acting career. There was always something a little different and distant about the characters he played.

*

The Wallflowers are coming to town. Jakob Dylan is on the posters and flyers, but they don't mention his name.

He doesn't look that happy. Maybe it's because his career hasn't been going anywhere in this century, or maybe it's because now that his father has been certified a bona fide literary genius he can finally have the unhappy childhood that he didn't get when he was growing up.

Critter म्हणाले...

I view S&G as similar to Paul McCartney - extremely talented but not capable of truly poetic lyrics. But that doesn’t get in the way of me enjoying S&G and McCartney-written songs. Great for what they are. No need to put them down, but I can understand the smirk thing in an era when folk songsters were looking to make serious statements in song lyrics.

Night Owl म्हणाले...

Hello darkness my old friend reminds me of psalm 88:18, NLT translation" ...darkness is my closest friend." One of the most discouraged psalms. Oddly enough I just read the psalm last night and now Althouse makes a reference.

Night Owl म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Night Owl म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Kai Akker म्हणाले...

--- Sound of Silence" is probably their best song when performed by Disturbed. My understanding is that Paul Simon wrote that after the Kennedy Assassination. The words are angry, but he could not bring himself to sing that way. The singer from Disturbed does a terrific job of performing it the way it was written.

Watched that video and was surprised by two aspects -- how well "Disturbed" sings it, and just how heavy-handed the lyrics get. It's not the opening lines that are hard to take, though, at least for me; it's some of the heavy melodrama of later verses. I have to revise my cynical estimate of Bob's giggling motivation -- could have been entirely natural and authentic. The song has some of the same quality that made "Eve of Destruction" and "In the Year 2525" such huge hits, too. Teens go for that end-of-the-world you-awful-adults message.

Kai Akker म्हणाले...

Although for one performer to laugh visibly and audibly at another, in a club that had been important to him, too, still seems like a coolness competition was in play at some level. The innies were going to help define who were the outies. Nice that the years to come disproved the Dylan-Van Ronk superior coolness treatment.

Kai Akker म्हणाले...

Although for one performer to laugh visibly and audibly at another, in a club that had been important to him, too, still seems like a coolness competition was in play at some level. The innies were going to help define who were the outies. Nice that the years to come disproved the Dylan-Van Ronk superior coolness treatment.

Emilie म्हणाले...

Not surprised to hear that Garfunkel was fascinated by numbers. He completed coursework for a PhD in mathematics during the height of the duo's success.

I consider Paul Simon one of the great American songwriters. Mark Steyn's essay on Bridge Over Troubled Waters (https://www.steynonline.com/10092/bridge-over-troubled-water) gets into some of the history of that song and informed me that Simon's personal favorite covers of it were by Aretha Franklin and Elvis.

Even when the lyrics are at their most pretentious (A Dangling Conversation) I marvel at the melodies the very young Simon was able to create.

If you have Spotify, check out some of Simon's later great work, like The Insomniac's Lullaby, Love, and my personal favorite, Renee and Georgette Magritte with their Dog After the War.

John Althouse Cohen म्हणाले...

Simon & Garfunkel are better than Dylan. I agree with Temujin’s comment.

I’ve seen live shows by Paul Simon and Bob Dylan in the same night — it was no contest. Dylan was OK, Simon was great.

Bender म्हणाले...

I saw a documentary last night that explained that many of the iconic songs from Simon are somewhat autobiographical. They are about Simon's psyche -- a short kid with low self-esteem needing to always get the approval of his father who never gave him any. So there is a lot of darkness there. Meanwhile, Garfunkel towers over him in height and has the voice of an angel that Simon wanted.

Friends in school, the tension between them started right away when they got their first recording opportunities, with Simon secretly signing a side solo deal, which Garfunkel later got wind of -- never to fully trust Simon again.

Garfunkel also wanted more creative input, but Simon's need to prove himself made him all-controlling. Besides, music was his entire life. When Garfunkel wanted to have his own identity and got an acting role in Catch-22, leading him to be away for a long time and Simon twiddling his thumbs instead of being able to record, Simon felt abandoned and that's when "I am a Rock" was written. When Garfunkel went off to film Carnal Knowledge, Simon quietly broke-up the group with it not becoming public until a year later.

Bender म्हणाले...

The documentary also made it clear that it was Garfunkel who inspired Simon to get serious about music after hearing the very young Garfunkel, then a stranger, sing at school.

PM म्हणाले...

"Mrs. Robinson" was originally "Mrs. Roosevelt" but they changed it the day Mike Nichols asked if they had a song for The Graduate.

Jeff म्हणाले...

I believe the line 'Can analysis be worthwhile?' refers to mathematical analysis, not psychoanalysis

That line, of course, is from The Dangling Conversation, one of Simon's true masterpieces. In context, your interpretation makes no sense. The lyrics paint a beautiful and sad picture of two people who've lost touch with each other and now converse only in superficialities:

It's a still life watercolor
Of a now-late afternoon
As the sun shines through the curtain lace
And shadows wash the room

And we sit and drink our coffee
Couched in our indifference, like shells upon the shore
You can hear the ocean roar

In the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs
The borders of our lives

And you read your Emily Dickinson
And I my Robert Frost
And we note our place with book markers
That measure what we've lost

Like a poem poorly written
We are verses out of rhythm
Couplets out of rhyme
In syncopated time (in syncopated time)

And the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs
Are the borders of our lives
Yes, we speak of things that matter

With words that must be said
"Can analysis be worthwhile?"
"Is the theater really dead?"

And how the room is softly faded
And I only kiss your shadow, I cannot feel your hand
You're a stranger now unto me

Lost in the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs
In the borders of our lives

Narr म्हणाले...

I recall Art G in Catch-22. He was a better singer than actor, I think.

Someone mentioned Simon's skills as a lyricist, and how the music and words work together. That takes real talent, and he got better as he went along.

His songs tend to make better covers. Is that the right locution? On the American songwriter
award some years back, his songs sounded good almost regardless of the performer. Dylan is great but I don't think his songs are as adaptable by others for whatever reason. ( I know about Jimi of course.)

Narr म्हणाले...

Oh, and Paul Simon is no slouch as a singer either.