१६ मार्च, २०२४

Paul Simon loathes feeling groovy.


I'd seen that clip yesterday, and then this morning, when I was out on my sunrise run, the song came up in a "Daily Mix" Spotify had made for me, which I was listening to shuffled:


It's a perfectly happy song from 1966. I loved hearing it in the woods in the golden hour. But Paul wants to disown it. In particular, he hates to sing out "Life, I love you/All is groovy."

I said what I have to say about the word "groovy" back in 2007 — 17 years ago, in a post called "When does a song 'demobilize' a word, so that no serious lyricist can use it again?""
Betraying my age... I think of the mid-60s word "groovy," which spiked in popularity and then became unusable. In 1966, there was "A Groovy Kind of Love" (which was 34 on the Billboard 100 that year -- that great year). When that song came out "groovy" was nearly unknown slang (at least in the U.S.). The following year there was "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)," the Paul Simon song that was a hit by Harper's Bizarre. It's 98 on the Billboard 100 for that year. And, the same year, there's also "Groovin'" by the Young Rascals (11th). When these songs were hits, "groovy" had become a word that no one would actually use in conversation. You might hear it on a TV show, but it would be embarrassing to say it unless you clearly conveyed that you were making fun of the word. But this is a big digression, because no song lyric killed "groovy." "Groovy" was killed by its own sudden, extreme popularity....

More than half a century after the word became embarrassing, how can it still be embarrassing? No matter how cynical and jaded you have become, you could still find a way to express some feeling about the feeling of once having felt groovy? You're old, but you can sing about the feeling of being young.

But maybe Paul never felt groovy, and even back when he proclaimed that he did, he was faking it.

 

There's a Wikipedia page for "groovy" now. We are instructed:
The word originated in the jazz culture of the 1920s, in which it referred to the “groove” of a piece of music (its rhythm and “feel”), plus the response felt by its listeners. It can also reference the physical groove of a record in which the pick-up needle runs. Radio disc jockeys would announce playing “good grooves, hot grooves, cool grooves, etc.” when introducing a record about to play.

And I'm reminded that "The 59th Street Bridge Song" was not Simon and Garfunkel's first song using the word "groovy." The B-side of their first hit — "The Sounds of Silence" — was "We've Got a Groovey [sic] Thing Goin'."

So there was always a manic/depressiveness to the Simon and Garfunkel work product. And somehow, even today, it's eating at poor Paul Simon. Who knows why?!

६२ टिप्पण्या:

Aggie म्हणाले...

You may not be watching your Smartphone, but it's watching you - and it's watching what your watching.

Aggie म्हणाले...

* you're *

Shouting Thomas म्हणाले...

After decades of playing in dozens of original and cover rock bands, I cannot stand to listen to the Golden Oldies. I’m sick of them.

If I’m paid to play them, I put on my smiley face to please the customers, but that’s it.

Being wed to teenage music and concerns can really be a plague.

Cappy म्हणाले...

Well, it's probably not to fond of him, either.

Will Cate म्हणाले...

Well bless his heart, Paul shouldn't be so hard on himself.

"Fakin' It" is a great song... the Bookends album appeared in my parents' LP collection when I was about 8. They didn't play it much, but I listened to it endlessly, esp. side one (the conceptual suite).

traditionalguy म्हणाले...

In the zone for an athlete or a run of luck for a gambler. Groovy times do happen. And 1966 was one of them until LBJs crazy Asian war ended it.

Birches म्हणाले...

I love Paul Simon and feel the same way many of you, especially Althouse, feel about Bob Dylan. Must be because my mom played Simon and Garfunkel on road trips when we were little.

Birches म्हणाले...

I have no angst about them plugging in. "Keep the Customer Satisfied" has always been my favorite.

"You Can Call Me Al" is my favorite Paul solo song, so I guess I really like Brass.

MadTownGuy म्हणाले...

"So there was always a manic/depressiveness to the Simon and Garfunkel work product. And somehow, even today, it's eating at poor Paul Simon. Who knows why?!"

Maybe he felt it was a sellout to the record label.

Wince म्हणाले...

With the advent of texting I've found "groovy" to be an obscure one word reply to someone seeking approval.

More retro and and lighthearted than "cool." Almost a verbal emoji.

What would a "groovy" emoji look like?

For some far-out reason, the first thought in my head was John Astin as the hippy in the Night Gallery episode "Hell's Bells."

But, alas, that episode was actually about "downers" and "bummers," man.

Mr. D म्हणाले...

I use groovy all the time. It's a deeply useful term if you enjoy puzzling younger people.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

"Fakin' It" has a verse about how Paul somehow would be less fake if he were a tailor:

Prior to this lifetime
I surely was a tailor, look at me...
I own the tailor's face and hands
I am the tailor's face and hands
I know I'm fakin' it, fakin' it...


He's quoted saying:

"During some hashish reverie I was thinking to myself, “I’m really in a weird position. I earn my living by writing songs and singing songs. It’s only today that this could happen. If I were born a hundred years ago I wouldn’t even be in this country. I’d probably be in Vienna or wherever my ancestors came from – Hungary – and I wouldn’t be a guitarist-songwriter. There were none. So what would I be? “First of all,” I said, “I surely was a sailor.” Then I said, “Nah, I wouldn’t have been a sailor. Well, what would a Jewish guy be? A tailor.” That’s what it was. I would have been a tailor. And then I started to see myself as like, a perfect little tailor. Then, once talking to my father about my grandfather, whom I never knew – he died when my father was young – I found out that his name was Paul Simon, and I found out that he was a tailor in Vienna. It wiped me out that that happened. It’s amazing, isn’t it? He was a tailor that came from Vienna."

Aggie म्हणाले...

I'd like to experience all that loathing while I'm depositing my residual royalty checks, too.

robother म्हणाले...

East Coast Cynicism vs. West Coast Hedonism. Paul Simon's big city New York roots were never going to let him groove in peace:

"Papa said Oy, if I get that boy, I'm gonna stick him the house of detention."

But I gotta admit, I'll take the earthy joy in "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" over the 59th Street Song any day.

Whiskeybum म्हणाले...

This seems to be somewhat of a common problem for music artists whose careers have advanced through the years; they look back at some of their earlier works as being naïve. I remember reading that James Taylor regretted recording the song "Blossom" on his Sweet Baby James album - he later felt is was too effeminate. That song had a similar vibe to 59th Street Bridge Song - young, starry-eyed, upbeat.

cassandra lite म्हणाले...

Story I remember reading in a profile of him in Rolling Stone back in the day. He said he wrote it because people would always tell him that he wrote only gloomy, depressing songs. So it was sort of a fuck-you song to the “critics” to show he could do it.

Narr म्हणाले...

Don't forget the Rascals "Groovin'"

Back in the day of Paul Simon's opa the Schneider, Vienna was probably the most antisemitic major city in the western world. But a musical Jew could have made it there.

Jolly Dave Hurwitz at Classical Today likens Simon and Garfunkel to lieder artists, which I think is groovy.

Simon's album "Rhythm of the Saints" is one of very few non-classical CDs I own, and I listen to it a lot.


Heartless Aztec म्हणाले...

I use "groovy" occasionally with an ironic emphasis in surfer speak.* "Completely groovy", "Totally groovy", "Way groovy" and the old surfer favorite - Bitchen' teamed up with groovy - which is actually double speak. I'm 71 years old and the year 1966 still lives within me.

*Note this usage is mostly limited to end of the pier or atop sand dune conversations for breaking waves and riding observations. What's said at the beach stays at the beach.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

"Don't forget the Rascals "Groovin'""

Don't forget to read the original post.

Two-eyed Jack म्हणाले...

Ahem . . .

Gotta make a move to a town that's right for me
Town to keep me movin', keep me groovin' with some energy
Well, I talk about it, talk about it, talk about it, talk about it
Talk about, talk about, talk about movin'
Gotta move on
Gotta move on
Gotta move on
Won't you take me to Funkytown?

Narr म्हणाले...

My bad. In one eye and out the other.

Two-eyed Jack म्हणाले...

Erm . . .

Hey, once I was a boogie singer
Playing in a rock 'n' roll band
I never had no problems, yeah
Burning down the one-night stands
Then everything around me, yeah
It got to start to feeling so low
And I decided quickly, yes, I did, heh
To disco down and check out the show
Yeah, they were dancing and singing
And moving to the grooving
And just when it hit me
Somebody turned around and shouted...

Narr म्हणाले...

I did read the post, but forgot the middle part--I even went back to doublecheck before commenting.

I also forgot to mention that like others I use 'groovy' sometimes when talking to my contemporaries.

Two-eyed Jack म्हणाले...

Also, YouTube has been pushing Turtles on me (Turtles all the way down) . . .

Elenore, gee, I think you're swell
And you really do me well
You're my pride and joy, et cetera
Elenore, can I take the time
To ask you to speak your mind?
Tell me that you love me better
I really think you're groovy
Let's go out to a movie
What do you say, now, Elenore, can we?

Roger von Oech म्हणाले...

For Ann:

How would you like to wake up on the morning of your 75th birthday, and find out that the Nobel Prize committee has slightly altered its criteria for the winner of the Nobel for Literature, and they’ve decided to give the prize to a rock singer-songwriter?

And then you find out that you’re not getting the award, but BOB DYLAN is!

This actually happened to Paul Simon in October 2016.

How weird Paul must’ve felt!

Whiskeybum म्हणाले...

Name That Tune!

"It's not a big motorcycle,
Just a groovy little motorbike..."

"Mashed potato, feel the groovy beat now"

"Shake your groove thing, yeah, yeah"

"In the cool of the evening
When everything is gettin' kind of groovy..."

"And it's magic if the music is groovy
It makes you feel happy like an old-time movie"

"Soak it in the sun and make a groovy lemon pie..."

"The message may not move me
Or mean a great deal to me
But hey! It feels so groovy to say..."

"We were dancin' and singin' and movin' to the groovin'"

RCOCEAN II म्हणाले...

Feelin'Groovy.

I liked the song years ago. When I was in college I discovered SG and went through a phase where I thought them smart and deep. Of course, I also thought they'd written "Scarborough Fair". But "oh for the days of Joe Dimaggio". And the "I am a rock" song touched me. Heavy man.

I now think of them as fake and pretentious. In fact unbearable. That Simon wrote some wanky muscial about PR's in NYC doesn't surprise me. Feeling Groovey seemed to be their only sincere song, but even that seems to be fake.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

The Turtles' "Elenore" is a sarcastic mockery of a love song. "Groovy" is used in a knowing, hip way. It came out in 1968, after the word was known to be embarrassing.

Temujin म्हणाले...

With all that Paul Simon wrote, I can see how he would dismiss "59th St. Bridge Song". His music has covered so much ground since then. As we all have.

"Bookends" was one of the all-time great albums. I listened to it constantly. And even today, maybe especially in this past year, a song from that album, "Old Friends" hits home with a nudge to me and my friends. Many of us just turned 70.

"How terribly strange to be 70."

Paul Simon- probably the best lyricist of our generation (sorry Bob Dylan devotees) had such a wise look at old age in this song, written when we were all just young ones. Groovy, huh?

Two-eyed Jack म्हणाले...

Turtles sarcastic? Flo? Eddie?

Take it back a year then to something more classical (IV):

In the cool of the evenin' when eveythin' is gettin' kind of groovy
I call you up and ask you if you'd like to go with me and see a movie.
First you say "No", you've got some plans for the night
And then you stop, and say, "All right."
Love is kinda crazy with a spooky little girl like you.

All is groovy.

baghdadbob म्हणाले...

As you cross the 59th Street Bridge during the NYC Marathon, this song plays in a continuous loop. A groovy moment.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

Fun fact: Simon is no more than 5'2" tall.

There are only a few photos of him standing next to people.

It looks really odd as I've always thought of him as 'average.'

Kakistocracy म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Aggie म्हणाले...

I can sympathize with Simon, actually. After all, who could imagine Paul McCartney singing I Love You , Yeah, Yeah, Yeah" at the age of 82 or 83, and shaking his hair? It's a kid's song.

Robert Cook म्हणाले...

I've never used the word "groovy" in actual conversation or any other contexts. Perhaps ironically (and pointedly so) once or twice. But, then, I'm about five to 10 years younger than the first generation of 60's "hippies," (I turned 14 two months after Woodstock), and the word was not in vogue among my peer group.

As for Paul Simon, I do really like "Feelin' Groovy."

mccullough म्हणाले...

But because a record has a groove
Don’t make it in the groove

cassandra lite म्हणाले...

AA says: "The Turtles' 'Elenore' is a sarcastic mockery of a love song. 'Groovy' is used in a knowing, hip way. It came out in 1968, after the word was known to be embarrassing."

It was quite a while after 1968 that groovy was known to be embarrassing, at least in California, where the Turtles lived and recorded. I'd say it hung on unironically in the lexicon for another couple of years. (I say that as someone who loathed it and never used it, and so was attuned to the nails-on-the-chalkboard cringe.)

Saint Croix म्हणाले...

ha ha ha

I love that song.

"Sometimes I punish myself and sing it."

too funny

ex-madtown girl म्हणाले...

I prefer to use “groovy” a la Bruce Campbell in Army of Darkness.

Saint Croix म्हणाले...

Slow down, you move too fast
You got to make the morning last
Just kicking down the cobblestones
Looking for fun and feeling groovy
Ba da-da da-da da-da, feeling groovy

Hello lamppost, what'cha knowing
I've come to watch your flowers growin'
Ain't you got no rhymes for me?
Doo-ait-n-doo-doo, feeling groovy
Ba da-da da-da da-da, feeling groovy

I got no deeds to do, no promises to keep
I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep
Let the morningtime drop all its petals on me
Life, I love you, all is groovy
Ba da-da da-da da-da
Doo-ait-n-doo-doo, ba-don-dah-don don
Ba da-da da-da da-da
Doo-ait-n-doo-doo, ba-don-dah-don don
Ba da-da da-da da-da dum


I wonder if he wrote out...

"Ba da-da da-da da-da
Doo-ait-n-doo-doo, ba-don-dah-don don
Ba da-da da-da da-da
Doo-ait-n-doo-doo, ba-don-dah-don don
Ba da-da da-da da-da dum"

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

"Bookends" was one of the all-time great albums.

It is an amazing album. I think I have the vinyl somewhere.

Stephen म्हणाले...

Bottom line: it's not a very good song, certainly as compared with others he might perform, and it's from a totally different time in his life. If the Beatles were still touring today, they probably wouldn't perform Please Please Me or P.S. I Love You, either.

Stephen म्हणाले...

Joni hasn't been performing much until the recent revival, but I bet that it's been a very long time since she performed Chelsea Morning, a song with a similar youthful emotional feel.

Whiskeybum म्हणाले...

It came out in 1968, after the word was known to be embarrassing.

Embarrassing after 1968? Even Led Zeppelin was groovin' to it on their 1982 album 'Coda'.

We're Gonna Groove

Wilbur म्हणाले...

Ann Althouse said...
The Turtles' "Elenore" is a sarcastic mockery of a love song. "Groovy" is used in a knowing, hip way. It came out in 1968, after the word was known to be embarrassing.


Somebody forgot to tell Sammy Davis, Jr., the guy who tried harder than anyone in the world to be hip and turned into a self-parody. When I think of someone saying "groovy", I think of Sam.

Mikey NTH म्हणाले...

"What would a groovy emoji look like?"

It would look like a young Tommy Chong.

William म्हणाले...

I wonder when it will no longer be cool to describe something as cool. Being hip has been hip for a long time. Maybe someday being groovy will like, say, being the bee's knees be more nostalgic than cringe worthy, and then that generation can again fully appreciate The 59th St Bridge Song.....I like the music of Paul Simon and Billy Joel, but I don't think I ever fully committed to it. Sometimes they dance too close to the edge of sentimentality or corniness. I don't think they go over the line but they're moon-June adjacent. Not like Cohen or Dylan. To the extent you can make out what their lyrics even mean, they're definitely not corny. Some songs by the Beatles fully embrace corniness and make it worthy in the way that a Norman Rockwell illustration does......I guess if Al Jolson were still alive, he'd really regret singing Mammy in blackface. Real career killer that.

Chick म्हणाले...

There is not one Paul Simon song I like.

Captain BillieBob म्हणाले...

Far out!
Lay some bread on me
Let's split
That's some heavy shit man
It's a gas
Can you dig it?
What's your bag?
Saw S&G in 1968 Garfunkel couldn't sing for shit. Simon was great even if he wasn't feelin groovy
Listening to Led Zeppelin as I read through this thread and reminisce on the 60's.
To anyone who didn't grow up in the 60's they weren't all that great but the music was out of sight.

Captain BillieBob म्हणाले...

I don't recall if I used Groovy much or at all, it was a while back. I also didn't know it fell in to such disfavor. Keep on truckin

BrianLloyd म्हणाले...

Groovy baby! It's so unhip that it's hip, because only someone who is truly hip could get away with using it! ;-)

Iman म्हणाले...

“But, then, I'm about five to 10 years younger than the first generation of 60's "hippies," (I turned 14 two months after Woodstock), and the word was not in vogue among my peer group.”

Let me guess… words possibly in vogue with your peers:

collective
potato
vodka
need
comrade
means

RigelDog म्हणाले...

Does Simon hate the song because of the word groovy, or is he just tired of his old hit, or is he not able to generally enjoy the upbeat vibe of the song? I still really enjoy this song! It’s like a sip of fizzy lemonade on a hot day.

Leora म्हणाले...

Sammy Davis's cover of Mr Tambourine Man is a hoot. My brother had it in his Pure Cheese file on his computer.

I do recommend Carrie Fisher's novel, "Surrender the Pink", fictionalizing the post-divorce from Paul Simon period of her life. She made a point of them being both the same height - like salt and pepper shakers.

wildswan म्हणाले...

"Feelin Groovy" is a song I always liked but it was fragile. The mood couldn't last - but then spring doesn't last long either.

Mr. Forward म्हणाले...

Gravy is groovy.

Meade म्हणाले...

Woovy Groovy

baghdadbob म्हणाले...

Wavy Gravy.

Tina Trent म्हणाले...

Hello darkness my old friend,
I've come to talk to you again...

My favorite Simon and Garfunkel song is Old Friends. They were young men when Simon wrote it. A good guy overall, I think. Willie Nelson and Rodger Wilson wrote a different version. It's a classic theme going way back in Appalachian music. And that's all I know about music, except for every last thing about Queen, the Shaggs, and Mozart's Elisa. Every line of Simon's song is poetry.

Old friends, old friends
Sat on their park bench like bookends
A newspaper blown through the grass
Falls on the round toes
Of the high shoes of the old friends
Old friends, winter companions
The old men lost in their overcoats, waiting for the sunset
The sounds of the city sifting through trees
Settle like dust on the shoulders of the old friends
Can you imagine us years from today
Sharing a park bench quietly?
How terribly strange to be seventy
Old friends
Memory brushes the same years
Silently sharing the same fear
Time it was, and what a time it was!
It was a time of innocence
A time of confidences
Long ago it must be
I have a photograph
Preserve your memories
They're all that's left you.

Kirk Parker म्हणाले...

Birches,

The entire album ("Graceland") is full of wonderful stuff. Very Dylanesque in its allusive nature.

Tom_Ohio म्हणाले...

My faves for bands and persona do switch from time to time.
I used to love Bridge over troubles water, i'm mostly tired of that one now.
The Boxer
Homeward Bound
Even Mrs. Robinson and occasionally Sounds of Silence and I am a Rock.
I told someone who asked how i was Groovy, pulled that outta thin air a few weeks ago.
I told them that groove is in the heart.
They think I am a crazy old dude.

Another Mark म्हणाले...

Trivia: Harpers Bizzarre had only one other American Top Forty hit after "The 59th Street Bridge Song" (which hit #13 in 1967): "Come To the Sunshine" (which hit #37 same year). Ted Templeman who was the leader of Harpers Bizzarre went on in the music industry to produce albums for the Doobie Brothers and Van Halen and at least one song for Carly Simon ("It Keeps You Running"). Roy Hallee was the producer of many Simon and Garfunkel albums but also played trumpet on the Blood Sweat & Tears - David Clayton-Thomas reunion album "Brand New Day".
Apologies for my tardiness in posting. I had to go find my Joel Whitburn books to confirm my memory. ;)