I'm sorry but Paul Simon is so overrated

lol, estela, A++

alamac is a man of honor, of that i am certain

Please define troll thread, Hovercraft.

hell no, I'm busy reading the rest of the internet

Well wheelie king, that is a difficult question, I would certainly say that Leonard Cohen deserves more kudos and accolades than he got. Jorma Kaukonen as well. But I would also say that James Taylor is VASTLY overrated...

Leonard Cohen deserves more kudos and accolades than he got

Since he began touring again in 2008, I would say Cohen has received more ecstatic reviews and plaudits than just about any other artist from his era.

Well, ban this, hindsight is 20/20. But was he revered at the time of his heyday? I think not.

in Europe he's always been revered

Well, ban this, hindsight is 20/20. But was he revered at the time of his heyday? I think not.

Even if this weren't true, who cares?

Cohen's never been commercially successful, but he's ALWAYS been revered

a catch-all: I don't, but someone asked.

i kinda remember cohen being a bit of a punchline for rock critics in the early 80s because his style of folk was very unfashionable and "dated" in that period but by the end of the decade he was back to being revered

you're right but that was largely because he reinvented himself with I'm Your Man, which was the most direct and commercial record he'd ever made

also everyone loved Pump Up The Volume

All that movie needed was a scene of shirtless Leonard spinning around in an office chair.

In fact, he did his best work after the '70s!

He did most of his best work in the 70s. His very best work was done in 1983 (and late 60s if you count "Bookends"). However, what he has done since 1986 is largely a good bit overrated.

Paul Simon >>>>>>>>>>>> Art Garfunkel though.

yo i just found this and all i can say is god damn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46bkXgxb66E

simons dork brio is otherworldly

haha yes

he changed "four in the morning, crapped out, yawning" to "tapped out," which is a bummer

His very best work was done in 1983 (and late 60s)

Thought you meant Cohen here, 'cause I'd say that's true too.

I'd say Cohen is Yeats and Simon is Eliot.

cohen is missy and simon is elliot

his early 70s longish hair w/ combover look was something to behold

cohen is e.t. and simon is eliot

late 70s i guess but

http://permanentplastichelmet.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/paul-simon.jpg

xp there it is

cohen is robert culp and simon is elliott (gould)

cohen is dickens and simon is eliot

i don't know if the mustache really added to the look but hey 1975

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fwieE8fRwg&feature=related

cohen is dickens and simon is eliot

― horseshoe, Wednesday, August 10, 2011 11:52 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

came back here to do this one

xpost Paul Kinison

lol i'm your man

that "still crazy" performance sounds great, but simon sort of comports himself like will ferrell in the jazz flute scene from anchorman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScG0wN05msA

ok yeah a+

lolol

A favorite Anton Corbijn photo of Cohen there.

As long as we're posting 70s photos:
http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kp9rw15etK1qzcki4o1_250.jpg

Simon showed the new composition to Garfunkel the same day, and shortly afterward, the duo began to perform it at folk clubs in New York. In the liner notes of their debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., Garfunkel claims, "'The Sound of Silence' is a major work. We were looking for a song on a larger scale, but this is more than either of us expected."[6]

The duo recorded it for the first time on March 10, and included the track on Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., which was released that October.[7] The album flopped upon its release, and the duo split up, with Simon going to England for much of 1965.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hUy9ePyo6Q

that "still crazy" performance sounds great, but simon sort of comports himself like will ferrell in the jazz flute scene from anchorman

― horseshoe, Thursday, August 11, 2011 12:01 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah this is like half the reason it rules!

That's an awful photo of Leonard Cohen, please remove it.

no way that pic is all-time

haven't been following this terrifyingly long thread but i don't think anyone could argue that paul simon is cooler than leonard cohen

He's dressed like a teenage girl.

Ha ha that pic of cohen is amazing, is that death of a ladies man era

That was before a visit to NYC's Anvil in '78.

watching that old s&g clip, you can see why execs thought simon wouldn't get much play as a solo artist, he's so ubernebbish even garfunkel looks cool next to him

but that's his bag, right? sad sack par excellence, which makes his carping about being second best to dylan kind of o_O

dude was never going to be dylan or young or cohen or whatever, just own yr shit and move on

keep imagining an alternate history where s&g hang it up for good after their first album bombs, it subsequently becomes a cult fave from the 60s, and simon to this day records charming lo-fi albums in his motel room in ithaca

first mention of Neil Young here - kinda interesting to consider him a contemporary/peer (and as another "also-ran" to Dylan)

Judging by this thread, I'd say Simon is underrated as a lyricist. He has a very distinctive and memorable style. I don't think Cohen is a very apt comparison. I love Cohen (some of the time anyway), but his stuff screams "I am writing serious poetry" in a way that Simon's best work doesn't. The job of a lyricist is to put words & music together in a memorable way - I honestly don't care how the words look on the page - it has nothing to do with my enjoyment of the music. I think Simon implicitly gets this. His best stuff has a disarmingly casual, almost tossed-off feeling, but there's clearly a ton of craft behind it. He comes up with memorable conceits, and can evoke a lot of feeling without any watch-me-emote histrionics. I think actually David Byrne is a pretty good reference point, in the lyrics department. Both have a gift for finding the transcendent in the banal, and both hide more than a bit of prickliness underneath a surface cheeriness.

I honestly don't care how the words look on the page - it has nothing to do with my enjoyment of the music. I think Simon implicitly gets this.

he literally says this word for word in the Playboy interview linked upthread