I voted for "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright" because it is the one that has grown in my estimation the most over my lifetime with the record (it is literally the first record I remember hearing). I thought it was dull as a kid, without the bombastic drums of "Cecelia" or the thunderous booms of "The Boxer" or the sing-along chorus' of so much of the record. But as I've gotten older, the lyrics, the delivery, the subdued bossa vibe have all hit me harder and harder. It's such a lived in song from a couple of guys still in their 20s.
― EZ Snappin, Thursday, 12 January 2012 16:55 (1 year ago) Permalink
I should read what I plan to post - that's got some interesting construction and grammatical issues, as always.
― EZ Snappin, Thursday, 12 January 2012 16:56 (1 year ago) Permalink
unrelated to this specific album but posting here cuz what the hell. Apparently this was the b-side to "Fakin' It", and is their only non-album b-side...? weird.
have always wondered what the story was behind the sampled dialogue in the middle of Fakin' It, anyone know the background on that...?
― locally sourced stabbage (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 12 January 2012 18:59 (1 year ago) Permalink
the correct answer is the title track
― ban this sick stunt (anagram), Thursday, 12 January 2012 19:08 (1 year ago) Permalink
lol what?
― judith, Thursday, 12 January 2012 20:44 (1 year ago) Permalink
i have been listening to this album so much since you started this poll... i still like 'only living boy' the most, its so soft and pretty and self-conscious just the way he sortof drags out the beginning of 'i get the news i need on the weather report' with this hesitant 'ahh' is so amazing
― 404 (Lamp), Thursday, 12 January 2012 23:21 (1 year ago) Permalink
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Friday, 13 January 2012 00:01 (1 year ago) Permalink
Fair enough.
― EZ Snappin, Friday, 13 January 2012 00:13 (1 year ago) Permalink
Absolutely no surprises for me there with the top spot, 'The Only Living Boy In New York' is sublime. I'm very surprised that 'El Condor Pasa' didn't come higher, though.
― Turrican, Friday, 13 January 2012 00:19 (1 year ago) Permalink
me too!
― Little GTFO (contenderizer), Friday, 13 January 2012 00:27 (1 year ago) Permalink
"El Condor Pasa" is my least favorite song on the record.
― EZ Snappin, Friday, 13 January 2012 00:29 (1 year ago) Permalink
boo
― Little GTFO (contenderizer), Friday, 13 January 2012 00:37 (1 year ago) Permalink
the lyrics are like a holdover from a more cloying, less-self assured earlier period of Simon's songwriting imho
― job kreaytor (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 13 January 2012 00:38 (1 year ago) Permalink
you only say that because you would rather be a snail
― Little GTFO (contenderizer), Friday, 13 January 2012 00:39 (1 year ago) Permalink
well I do leave a trail of slime wherever I go
― job kreaytor (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 13 January 2012 00:40 (1 year ago) Permalink
^^^(obscure Bloom County joke/ref that probably only Ned will get)
― job kreaytor (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 13 January 2012 00:41 (1 year ago) Permalink
plax i just want you to know that i am going to compile all your paul simon/simon and garfunkel-related posts and craft them into a book and read it while i listen to this album and all the paul simon albums. which is all i'm going to ever do for the rest of my life.
― horseshoe, Friday, 13 January 2012 00:50 (1 year ago) Permalink
― locally sourced stabbage (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, January 12, 2012 6:59 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
Well, I know that it's not sampled, and was in fact voiced in the studio by Beverley Martyn (later to marry John Martyn). She's saying 'Good morning, Mr. Leitch' because they wanted to come up with a 'character' for this 'shop scene' in the middle of the song, and Beverley Martyn suggested using Donovan's surname.
That lyric is just basically Paul Simon saying if he'd existed a century ago, he wouldn't be earning money writing songs, he'd be a tailor instead.
― Turrican, Friday, 13 January 2012 00:54 (1 year ago) Permalink
haha waht that is so random
― job kreaytor (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, 13 January 2012 00:56 (1 year ago) Permalink
love whatever that clinking-glasses sound is in the guitar breakdown of Cecilia
― The Silent Extreme (Shakey Mo Collier), Friday, January 6, 2012 11:19 PM (1 week ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
Are you talking about the instrumental part? That's a heavily limited xylophone, played by Paul.
― Turrican, Friday, 13 January 2012 01:20 (1 year ago) Permalink
Only Boy in New York is the 'best', but my favourite is narrowly 'Song for the Asking'. That cello counterpoint! So beautiful. Especially given how it fades in from the audience applause at the end of Bye Bye Love.
― Somewhere between Fergie and Jesus (Alex in Montreal), Friday, 13 January 2012 01:49 (1 year ago) Permalink
I'm in two minds about the length of 'Song For The Asking'... some days I wish it was longer, but on others I think the length of it is just perfect.
― Turrican, Friday, 13 January 2012 01:54 (1 year ago) Permalink
wow what a great song "keep the customer satisfied" is!
― horseshoe, Friday, 13 January 2012 03:23 (1 year ago) Permalink
yeah it is, love that final orchestra hit
― sonderangerbot, Friday, 13 January 2012 03:25 (1 year ago) Permalink
baby driver rightfully marginalized as the james taylor cover it is
― Mordy, Friday, 13 January 2012 03:28 (1 year ago) Permalink
its also like magnificently sequenced the songs i already knew seemed so much punchier in this context.
this is so true! i finally get "the boxer."
― horseshoe, Friday, 13 January 2012 03:30 (1 year ago) Permalink
everywhere i goi get slanderedLIIIIIIIIIIBELEDi hear words i never heard in the bible
― horseshoe, Monday, 16 January 2012 23:25 (1 year ago) Permalink
but the best part of breaking upis when you're making up with me
― judith, Monday, 16 January 2012 23:58 (1 year ago) Permalink
the 75 minute doc i was burbling about upthread starts on BBC4 UK in about 25 minutes and will then be available to watch for about a week afterwards. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0171r6x
― piscesx, Friday, 20 January 2012 21:36 (1 year ago) Permalink
I just want to throw this on here:
http://lightbulbhead.tumblr.com/post/16178795155/b-b-s-g
― EZ Snappin, Friday, 20 January 2012 21:42 (1 year ago) Permalink
aw the BBC doc is UK only...
― AlXTC from Paris, Saturday, 21 January 2012 09:15 (1 year ago) Permalink
top two are abt right
― plax (ico), Saturday, 11 February 2012 02:53 (1 year ago) Permalink
i don't think i ended up voting, but it would have been "only living boy," though "keep the customer satisfied" was a delightful discovery i might never have made if not for this thread! i was seriously wrong about simon & garfunkel.
― horseshoe, Saturday, 11 February 2012 02:59 (1 year ago) Permalink
i know! how embarrassing. im saving bookends. dont anyone try to poll this without me or ill find out where you live
― judith, Saturday, 11 February 2012 03:01 (1 year ago) Permalink
listening to this LP back to back with solo simon stuff just reminds me how much he needed to cut artie out.
sorry artie.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Saturday, 11 February 2012 03:25 (1 year ago) Permalink
not that there isn't really good stuff on this LP, but that overall it feels kind of watery, and even the best songs are a bit hampered by the vocal arrangements.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Saturday, 11 February 2012 03:26 (1 year ago) Permalink
So Long FLW is the best wreckognize
― President Keyes, Saturday, 11 February 2012 03:29 (1 year ago) Permalink
I don't know David Browne's writing at all, but I'm really looking forward to this:
I ordered it the minute I saw it, not realizing it wouldn't be out for months.
― clemenza, Saturday, 11 February 2012 04:48 (1 year ago) Permalink
and even the best songs are a bit hampered by the vocal arrangements.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Friday, 10 February 2012 22:26 (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― flopson, Saturday, 11 February 2012 05:53 (1 year ago) Permalink
I GET SLANDERED, LIIIIBELED, I HEAR WORDS I NEVER HEARD IN THE BIBLE
― flopson, Saturday, 11 February 2012 06:32 (1 year ago) Permalink
UPGRADE TO PRO TODAY!
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Saturday, 11 February 2012 08:07 (1 year ago) Permalink
UPGRADE YR OPINIONS TODAY!
― dayove cool (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 11 February 2012 10:06 (1 year ago) Permalink
it was picardfacepalm.gif ftr
― flopson, Saturday, 11 February 2012 14:45 (1 year ago) Permalink
What, clemenza, that book came out last year.
― Only the RONG Survive (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 11 February 2012 15:54 (1 year ago) Permalink
I ordered the trade paperback, so I guess that's what comes out in the summer. Dumb--the hardcover wasn't all that much more.
― clemenza, Saturday, 11 February 2012 15:56 (1 year ago) Permalink
Heard the best version ever of "El Condor Pasa" tonight.
I GET SLANDERED, LIIIIBELED, I HEAR WORDS I NEVER HEARD IN THE BIBLE― flopson, Saturday, February 11, 2012 1:32 AM (Yesterday)
― flopson, Saturday, February 11, 2012 1:32 AM (Yesterday)
― Only the RONG Survive (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 12 February 2012 06:28 (1 year ago) Permalink
Wow I might need to read the 1970 book
― black Emanuelle did costume design for Troll 2 (Drugs A. Money), Sunday, 19 February 2012 03:04 (1 year ago) Permalink
The thing about this record is that "The Only Living Boy In New York" is SUCH a "last song" that everything after that feels like a bonus track, and ALSO feels like a "last song." It makes the album simultaneously seem way too short and way too long, for me anyway.
― Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 3 April 2012 18:02 (1 year ago) Permalink
Wasn't feeling well today and decided to watch "The Harmony Game" which turned out to be what the doctor ordered
― Ian Hunter Is Learning the Game (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 22 May 2012 23:50 (1 year ago) Permalink
yeah amazing innit.
― piscesx, Wednesday, 23 May 2012 00:32 (1 year ago) Permalink