so annoying to think how much garfunkel there's gonna be in the top 20 though. who let all these s&g fans in. diminishing my goodwill towards BOTW somewhat.
― judith, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 09:19 (twelve years ago) link
this latest bunch has 3 of my top 5.
i forgot peace like a river, this is what happens when you are rushed
― max, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 11:26 (twelve years ago) link
i put scarborough fair as my no. 2 i think because i wanted to rep for s&g, but then i put a fair amount of other s&g on my ballot so i dunno
― max, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 11:27 (twelve years ago) link
"American Tune" behind "Magritte," wha?
― Literal Facepalms (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 20 March 2012 11:41 (twelve years ago) link
That's a point. Someone explain the appeal of Rene & Georgette, please. I find it almost absent in its slightness, but I also get the impression there's probably a couple of layers of meaning there that aren't reaching me.
― Ismael Klata, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 11:49 (twelve years ago) link
I voted American Tune higher than Rene and Georgette, but love both. In re the "appeal" of the latter, besides the really lovely chorus there's the notion of Doo-wop (and by extension music) as a redeeming force. Sort of a Simon thesis statement, but in a gentle, un-didactic way.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 20 March 2012 12:56 (twelve years ago) link
Can we guess top 5, or does that spoil things for people?
― kornrulez6969, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 13:22 (twelve years ago) link
"american tune" is nice; i didn't vote for it; apparently it was used in a commercial for barack obama?
I don't know a dream that's not been shattered
― Literal Facepalms (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 20 March 2012 14:19 (twelve years ago) link
I love "American Tune" (it was my #4), but my favorite version is Willie Nelson's not Paul's.
This performance from the two of them in '93 is great:
http://youtu.be/q_12lzRizYw
― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 14:24 (twelve years ago) link
#22 SLIP SLIDIN' AWAY#21 RENE & GEORGETTE MAGRITTE WITH THEIR DOG AFTER THE WAR
my 1/2
― iatee, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 14:30 (twelve years ago) link
The "he kissed his boy as he lay sleeping" line in Slip Slidin' has been a guaranteed tear-up moment for me ever since I had kids.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 20 March 2012 14:38 (twelve years ago) link
Have you heard the acoustic Slip Slidin demo? I like it better than the original
― kornrulez6969, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 14:39 (twelve years ago) link
me too
― iatee, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 14:40 (twelve years ago) link
me three.
― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 14:41 (twelve years ago) link
yeah, me too
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 14:58 (twelve years ago) link
Someone explain the appeal of Rene & Georgettei'll try, i put it pretty high on my ballot. i think i like this one not only because of the lovely melody, but because it is a simon song that i find kind of mysterious? i'm not really sure what the song is *about* and that is actually a little rare for simon? he's a very purposeful writer, and it's unusual that a song of his feels so beguilingly strange. maybe? i don't know.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 14:58 (twelve years ago) link
I like "Rene" more now than I did in the mid nineties when I bought Negotiations that's for sure.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 20 March 2012 14:58 (twelve years ago) link
the appeal of rene and georgette is all in the sort of yearning way he sings the names of all the doo-wop groups. any paul simon songs about music i automatically love, i think. but also i didn't vote for it.
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:00 (twelve years ago) link
rene is super ridiculously evocative. love the imagery in that song so much i don't really care what it's about.
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:01 (twelve years ago) link
I like the key change in "Siiiide by siiiddde...."
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:03 (twelve years ago) link
― judith, Tuesday, March 20, 2012 5:19 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
lol otm
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:03 (twelve years ago) link
I'll count it a victory if Julio tops BOTW.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:06 (twelve years ago) link
my ballot was like 80% S&G or Graceland, hate all you want but a) diehard-only polls are lame and b) i promise i will someday be better acquainted with PS's catalog
― some dude, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:07 (twelve years ago) link
My ballot was 15% S&G.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:09 (twelve years ago) link
idk its a song about memories, about before and after. there's artifacts and traces of past lives that become fossilised in those artifacts. how things were before. its like when sonny takes a look back on his yearbook photos in obvious child or the child of his first marriage. a kind of density of association, overstuffed with memory. here crystallised, here forgotten. but also like the mannequins of christopher street. its almost benjaminean: the trace the archive. an old photograph of them when they were younger. before and after. and how in that instant dancing alone in their room, the distinctions seem to fall away. i mean melodically it doesn't do much for me and i find the language a little clunky in places like someone said. a little heavy handed compared to the subtle allusions he works on other parts of that album.
― judith, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:11 (twelve years ago) link
al, i agree that diehard only polls are lame, i was just grumbling. also i guess someday i should become better acquainted with s&g's catalog. grumble grumble.
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:12 (twelve years ago) link
my ballot was 5% S&G
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:13 (twelve years ago) link
― some dude, Tuesday, March 20, 2012 3:07 PM (4 minutes ago)
i think its just that paul simon threads can count on the same reliable posters and you get used to a certain consensus and its a little disorienting to be reminded that there are people out there that have some notion that hazy shade of winter is a better song than gumboots for eg.
― judith, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:14 (twelve years ago) link
my ballot was 5% s&g
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:16 (twelve years ago) link
its weird i didnt know they were so popular relative to solo simon
^^^
― judith, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:16 (twelve years ago) link
i don't have any problem with people voting for a lot of graceland btw; it compensates for me brutally slashing graceland from my ballot, about which i still feel guilty
xp because of people's parents! and how they're in all the movies!
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:17 (twelve years ago) link
i actually had more s&g than graceland
― judith, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:18 (twelve years ago) link
more psyched than usual to see everyone's ballots
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:19 (twelve years ago) link
my ballot was 40% graceland B-)
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:19 (twelve years ago) link
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme is a good album dudes
― some dude, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:19 (twelve years ago) link
okay but someone explain "scarborough fair" to me
In my anecdotal observation of a very small sample group, solo Simon resonates more with Gen X demographic than with millenials (who are more likely to have the S&G best-of or even Concert in Central Park than Negotiations, eg).
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:20 (twelve years ago) link
are plax + Lamp millenials?
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:21 (twelve years ago) link
i didn't vote for "scarborough fair" but i don't think i can explain even the S&G songs i like
― some dude, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:22 (twelve years ago) link
his s/t is 25% of my ballot when i thought that would be rhythm of the saints. i guess i always forget how much ground he covers w/ it because its his most pared back instrumentally, but on graceland its like a couple of tracks will do in terms of standing in for the whole project, same with rhythm of the saints. whereas Paul Simon and Hearts and Bones subtly move out of these different moods and sounds in a way that's crucial to understanding what the project is about.
― judith, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:25 (twelve years ago) link
i really did want to vote for most of the s/t but i restrained myself
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:27 (twelve years ago) link
honestly i think my inability to grok 'scarborough fair" is same as the rest of s&g. garfunkel's voice freezes everything in amber or something; it gives it this museum-like quality that makes me care less about it.
― horseshoe, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:29 (twelve years ago) link
i just voted for what i was most into
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:29 (twelve years ago) link
i'm not into the whole "sound of silence"/"scarborough fair" vibe in general
― some dude, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:30 (twelve years ago) link
the s&g earnest dork vibe is tough to take
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:31 (twelve years ago) link
it's hilarious imo
― some dude, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:33 (twelve years ago) link
it is, in theory
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:34 (twelve years ago) link
im sort of a sucker for the sentimental.
― judith, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:39 (twelve years ago) link
i find the world weary sentimentality of his solo works so much more affecting
― lag∞n, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 15:40 (twelve years ago) link