― Chris V. (Chris V), Friday, 6 June 2003 12:23 (twenty years ago) link
― Burr (Burr), Friday, 6 June 2003 15:23 (twenty years ago) link
Paul Simon solo: even better.
Art Garfunkel solo: about the same as bathing in honey I suppose - but if listened to at the right time (very happy sunny day), simply sweet.
― Tijn, Friday, 6 June 2003 18:41 (twenty years ago) link
― dave q, Friday, 6 June 2003 18:45 (twenty years ago) link
S&G are fantastic, without reservation. "America" is one of the few songs that makes me cry with unbridled joy - I would say that there's a handful, and America is one of them. "Counting the cars on the New Jersey turnpike/ They've all come to look for America" - genius!
Bookends is a great album, as is Bridge over Troubled Water. The title track of BOTW is a bit OTT, but the rest of the album is great. "Only Living Boy In New York", "The Boxer", "Song for the Asking" - just too good.
The Box Set is first rate, and everyone with a passing interest in tunes will adore it.
Classic to the power to n.
― Johnney B (Johnney B), Saturday, 7 June 2003 07:22 (twenty years ago) link
― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Saturday, 7 June 2003 07:37 (twenty years ago) link
― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Saturday, 7 June 2003 15:50 (twenty years ago) link
― nickn (nickn), Sunday, 8 June 2003 04:07 (twenty years ago) link
― Millar (Millar), Sunday, 8 June 2003 05:30 (twenty years ago) link
― Ian Johnson (orion), Friday, 9 January 2004 01:36 (twenty years ago) link
"Kathy," I said as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh"Michigan seems like a dream to me now"It took me four days to hitchhike from SaginawI've gone to look for America
Laughing on the busPlaying games with the facesShe said the man in the gabardine suit was a spyI said "Be careful his bowtie is really a camera"
"Toss me a cigarette, I think there's one in my raincoat""We smoked the last one an hour ago"So I looked at the scenery, she read her magazineAnd the moon rose over an open field
"Kathy, I'm lost," I said, though I knew she was sleepingI'm empty and aching and I don't know whyCounting the cars on the New Jersey TurnpikeThey've all gone to look for AmericaAll gone to look for America
― gygax! (gygax!), Friday, 9 January 2004 01:50 (twenty years ago) link
― Ian Johnson (orion), Friday, 9 January 2004 01:56 (twenty years ago) link
― Sonny A. (Keiko), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 05:14 (nineteen years ago) link
― youn, Wednesday, 16 June 2004 06:32 (nineteen years ago) link
― kyle (akmonday), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 13:58 (nineteen years ago) link
― eddie hurt (ddduncan), Wednesday, 16 June 2004 23:46 (nineteen years ago) link
― Kris (aqueduct), Thursday, 17 June 2004 00:07 (nineteen years ago) link
WhA?????
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 17 June 2004 00:09 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 17 June 2004 00:13 (nineteen years ago) link
― jim wentworth (wench), Thursday, 17 June 2004 02:23 (nineteen years ago) link
― Sonny A. (Keiko), Thursday, 17 June 2004 07:55 (nineteen years ago) link
― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Thursday, 17 June 2004 08:00 (nineteen years ago) link
― cozen (Cozen), Monday, 9 May 2005 12:41 (eighteen years ago) link
― cozen (Cozen), Monday, 9 May 2005 12:42 (eighteen years ago) link
― 57 7th (calstars), Monday, 9 May 2005 12:53 (eighteen years ago) link
― 57 7th (calstars), Monday, 9 May 2005 12:56 (eighteen years ago) link
― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 9 May 2005 13:10 (eighteen years ago) link
― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 9 May 2005 13:25 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ken L (Ken L), Monday, 9 May 2005 13:34 (eighteen years ago) link
I've always wondered: Did Paul Simon steal that "Coo coo ca-choo" from John Lennon or vice versa?
― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Monday, 9 May 2005 14:38 (eighteen years ago) link
― Alba (Alba), Monday, 9 May 2005 14:46 (eighteen years ago) link
― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 9 May 2005 14:51 (eighteen years ago) link
― Alba (Alba), Monday, 9 May 2005 14:55 (eighteen years ago) link
Several S&G songs are as classic as can be: "The Boxer," "Only Living Boy in New York," "America," "April Come She Will," "Mrs. Robinson."
But they also made some truly troublingly bad things. The swallowed-a-thesaurus 11th-grade-level poetry of "The Dangling Conversation," for example. Or
Pressed in organdyClothed in crinolineOf smoky burgundy
...it just smacks of Trying Too Hard.
And if I never hear "Feelin' Groovy" again, I will die a happy man.
Frankly, I've never really gotten the sense that Garfunkel added a lot. He sings pretty. He sings high. So the fuck what. The songs are where it's at--delete Art from most S&G tracks and you still have good songs.
So semiclassic, with reservations.
― The Mad Puffin (The Mad Puffin), Monday, 9 May 2005 15:07 (eighteen years ago) link
Couple in the next roomBound to win a prizeTheyve been going at it all night longWell, Im trying to get some sleepBut these motel walls are cheapLincoln Duncan is my nameAnd heres my song, heres my song.
Right up there with "Motel Blues" in the Best Motel Song category.
― Ken L (Ken L), Monday, 9 May 2005 15:14 (eighteen years ago) link
The snare drum part on the intro of "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" is easily one of the three or four best drum performances ever recorded. I am a drummer and I am telling you that it is utterly, indisputably perfect. But would you call the group that recorded that song "Simon & Gadd"? No.
― The Mad Puffin (The Mad Puffin), Monday, 9 May 2005 15:20 (eighteen years ago) link
Simon solo piques me more.
― PappaWheelie (PappaWheelie), Monday, 9 May 2005 15:51 (eighteen years ago) link
I love those lyrics!
― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 9 May 2005 15:57 (eighteen years ago) link
POX (off the top of my head)
AmericaFor Emily, Whenever I May Find HerHazy Shade Of WinterPatternsScarborough Fair/CanticleFaking ItMrs RobinsonSeven O'Clock News (Silent Night)The Dangling Conversation
Albums
1. Parsley, Sage Rosemary and Thyme*2. Bookends3. Sounds of Silence4. Bridge Over Troubled Water5. Wednesday Morning, 3AM6. The Graduate OST
*Wins over Bookends because of the hilariously over-earnest sleevenotes.
― Ben Dot (1977), Monday, 9 May 2005 23:23 (eighteen years ago) link
― VegemiteGrrl (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 00:55 (eighteen years ago) link
― dl, Tuesday, 10 May 2005 01:39 (eighteen years ago) link
― Ken L (Ken L), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 14:06 (eighteen years ago) link
― Eisbär (llamasfur), Thursday, 12 May 2005 03:49 (eighteen years ago) link
i think his first solo record is the best, most coherent/satisfying thing he's done (though there are some songs on the second solo album that are incredible). but there sure are some awesome s&g songs, even if they all have a few lyrics and/or clipped diction that make me cringe. ("seeking out the poor-er quarters..." egads).
― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Thursday, 12 May 2005 05:35 (eighteen years ago) link
Also, why was S&G never mentioned as a massive "influence" on Belle and Sebastian?? It seems so glaringly obvious.
― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 28 July 2005 19:55 (eighteen years ago) link
― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 12 June 2006 19:57 (seventeen years ago) link
― Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Monday, 12 June 2006 20:07 (seventeen years ago) link
Classic.
― shorty (shorty), Monday, 12 June 2006 21:43 (seventeen years ago) link
― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 12 June 2006 21:48 (seventeen years ago) link
It's basically the antithesis of why I like Simon & Garfunkel, but even a second rate Chuck Berry shuffle with third rate Phil Ochs lyrics on top has certain charms.
― EZ Snappin, Monday, 29 July 2013 14:15 (ten years ago) link
Garfunkel was definitely otm. What about the worst Simon & Garfunkel tune that was actually released, though? Not including the Tom & Jerry stuff they did before Simon & Garfunkel, of course.
― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Monday, 29 July 2013 18:44 (ten years ago) link
If you take out their covers I'm not sure. They did some bad covers, especially some of the ones that surfaced as bonus cuts on the early records.
― EZ Snappin, Monday, 29 July 2013 18:47 (ten years ago) link
Big bright green pleasure machine is so bad
― joe schmoladoo from 7-11 (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 29 July 2013 18:56 (ten years ago) link
Simple desultory phillipic too, as noted
― joe schmoladoo from 7-11 (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 29 July 2013 18:57 (ten years ago) link
I loved "The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine" as a kid so can't fairly judge it.
The stupid sub-Dylan "A Simple Desultory Philippic (or How I Was Robert McNamara'd into Submission)" is horrid except for that organ bass line or whatever it is that anchors it. Great music, shit lyrics. I feel the same way about "Patterns".
― EZ Snappin, Monday, 29 July 2013 18:58 (ten years ago) link
Best unreleased tune is "Groundhog":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaKCN44w-T0
― EZ Snappin, Monday, 29 July 2013 18:59 (ten years ago) link
The stupid sub-Dylan "A Simple Desultory Philippic (or How I Was Robert McNamara'd into Submission)" is horrid
Yep, I'd agree with this... I've never been fond of it!
― I wanna live like C'MOWN! people (Turrican), Monday, 29 July 2013 23:46 (ten years ago) link
the rest of the lyrics of The Boxer aren't quite as bad, but they still have kind of a hackneyed, kid in creative writing class writing about "The Poor" quality.
― HOOS next aka won't get steened again (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 30 July 2013 00:50 (ten years ago) link
Philippic: YA CAN UNNERSTAN DA WOIDS
― playwright Greg Marlowe, secretly in love with Mary (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 30 July 2013 01:05 (ten years ago) link
Mrs. Robinson is a pretty mediocre song.
― on entre O.K. on sort K.O. (man alive), Thursday, 3 March 2016 20:25 (eight years ago) link
line about Dimaggio gets me every time and I don't even like baseball
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 3 March 2016 20:28 (eight years ago) link
well i mean imagine a whole nation's worth of eyes
― leet gentlemen's club (contenderizer), Thursday, 3 March 2016 20:43 (eight years ago) link
'Mrs. Robinson' isn't a favourite of mine, but I don't mind it. 'The Only Living Boy In New York', though... ALL TIME.
― // D I R E S T R A I T S W A L K O F L I F E // LOVE (Turrican), Thursday, 3 March 2016 20:46 (eight years ago) link
'Mrs. Robinson' was an unfinished song they had lying around til Mike Nichols needed a song called Mrs Robinson
― we can be heroes just for about 3.6 seconds (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 3 March 2016 20:56 (eight years ago) link
― wizzz! (amateurist), Thursday, 3 March 2016 20:56 (eight years ago) link
$50 for a lawn seat at my local summer outdoor venue on his summer tour. Feels like a lot to pay to sit on the grass (straining our nation's worth of eyes)
― curmudgeon, Thursday, 3 March 2016 21:19 (eight years ago) link
got in the car this morning, turned on the radio and... this came on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOGqZJC0_Xs
i don't mean to get all alex in nyc on y'all, but there oughta be a law
― wizzz! (amateurist), Thursday, 5 May 2016 19:43 (seven years ago) link
It took some time for the YouTube embed to load, all the while I was assuming it'd be this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4
― rhymes with "blondie blast" (cryptosicko), Thursday, 5 May 2016 20:21 (seven years ago) link
"I Am A Rock" is the first song I have exercised my veto over in my dad cover band. It's a bridge to far, which, incidentally, sounds like it would be the name of a Simon and Garfunkel album.
― the last famous person you were surprised to discover was actually (man alive), Monday, 28 August 2017 18:01 (six years ago) link
so I found something rather interesting on wikipedia
In 2015, someone edited the Wikipedia page for "The Sound of Silence," claiming the original first lyric was "Aloha darkness, my old friend." It is still there. https://t.co/uB7mBnA1sQ pic.twitter.com/1EFP7uEXsj— katherine morayati (@morayati) March 9, 2018
― algorithm is a dancer (katherine), Friday, 9 March 2018 18:36 (six years ago) link
So, I'm listening to Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme for the first time in ages tonight and I've pretty much reminded myself why this is the last Simon & Garfunkel album I tend to reach for. Such a frustrating mix of high quality classics ('Scarborough Fair', 'Patterns', 'Cloudy', 'The 59th Street Bridge Song') and supreme duds ('A Simple Desultory Philippic') ... Sounds of Silence was a relative rush job, but I much prefer it.
― Le Baton Rose (Turrican), Thursday, 13 December 2018 23:26 (five years ago) link
i've lost my harmonica, albert
― meaulnes, Friday, 14 December 2018 10:53 (five years ago) link
I'd never seen this before. Really enjoyed it--don't know if Simon's a little stoned, or if he's always like that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDqIsuIpVy4
― clemenza, Monday, 14 June 2021 22:28 (two years ago) link