Posted on 07/17/2013 7:20:08 PM PDT by lee martell
That song came into my head today for no good reason. I was much younger back when it was released in 1970. The recording still resonates today. I say recording, and not just the song, which was beautifully written. In fact, Paul Simon (formerly married to Carrie Fisher) said that there are times when he considers this one the best song he ever wrote. The song starts in a subtle way, like little waves lapping on the shore. There is gospel styling of the lead piano, a promenade becomes a dirge. Then the soaring tenor of Art Garfunkle. Simon asked for Art to sing the lead, he now regrets it, but that is how it was probably meant to be presented. Every adult can identify a little with the purposely vague and esoteric tone. I listened to the song on my cell phone right before I went into the local gym to do my "War on Fat" exercises.This was the first time in about thirty years that I really, really walked along with this song, listening to it, allowing the song to lead me in some musical manner. I'm glad I did not listen to this song for the first time in 30 years through my earphones while I satinside the gym on a stationary bike. The other folks might wonder why I had this stunned expression on my face, or why I had to keep wiping my eyes. Go ahead and laugh at my melodrama, ha, ha, ha. If you ever liked Simon and Garfunkle back then, YOU take the dare and really listen to the musical structures and production techniques and the crescendos,(production based on some Phil Spector innovations) then describe to yourself how you feel. And that, ladies and gentlemen is what you call talent!
I was an S & G addict in late 60’s - 70’s, and so many of their pieces have incredible musical nuances and harmonies and still hit me today as they did then (I’m a guitarist).
Sounds of Silence is still one of my fav pieces.
Yes, Bridge Over Troubled Waters is their highpoint. It’s really a spiritual song with the deepest meaning for Christians about the love of God.
Have their Greatest Hits CD.
There will never be anyone like them.
IMO the perfect rock and roll song has already been written.
“American Pie”. It is just chock full of hidden meaning and you know they really do mean something, not just odds and ends thrown into a song to make people guess, and the writer has no idea what they mean.
Yes, I understand; wiping my eyes a bit too. It was in 1970 that I contracted an illness that progressively took away my hearing. Today, I have only 5% left, and the biggest thing I miss (next to hearing my husband and children speak) is music. But I well remember the tune of this song (and all the other incredible music of that time); it was gorgeous. I remember the lyrics, too, and I thank you for posting!!
FULL DISCLOSURE: (For what it’s worth)
In recent years, I got over S&G, finding them after after all this time whiny, kind of New York Jew whiny, like Carole King in her solo career. “You’ve go a friend”, Oy, vey. Jackson Browne (L.A. whine.) Flame me if it’ll make you feel better.
Their last song together I think was The Only Living Boy In New York. The back up vocals are by different singers they knew that stopped in the studio the day they were recording it. The next day I think I read somewhere Art was going to Mexico to be in a movie. Thus the opening lines "Tom get your plane right time. I know you'll part will go fine. Fly down to Mexico..."
I like this version:
A long, long time ago, on Graduation Day,
You handed me your book, I signed this way:Jane Fonda's red, my love,
Violets are blue.
Stalin is dead, my love,
I wish that she were, too.We dated through high school, and when the big day came,
I wrote into your book next to my name:Jane Fonda's red, my love,
Violets are blue.
Stalin is dead, my love,
I wish that she were, too.Then I went far away, and you found someone new.
I read your letter, dear, and I wrote back to you:Jane Fonda's red, my love,
Violets are blue.
Stalin is dead, my love,
I wish that you were, too.Is that your little girl? She doesn't look at all like Jane.
Some day, some boy will write next to her name:Jane Fonda's red, my love,
Violets are blue.
Stalin is dead, my love,
I'm glad that she is, too.
I think people mishear that lyric all the thyme.
They took his Kodachrome away in 2009 and its processing ended in 2010.
I think so too. Simon could have pulled off everything but the last verse, though. And I think the song would have been better without the last verse.
It’s not twine? Is it wine?
It’s thyme wine in the bottle with the twine.
I Am A Rock.
For my love.
But I've got a Nikon camera (a D200--which doesn't use Kodachrome because it's digital), and I love to take photographs.
It's not wine, it's 'thyme' as in a clock!
I like that version. Acoustic and not overproduced like the studio version.
It’s thyme,an herb,like parsley,sage,and rosemary.
Oh, duh! Of course it is. I have had a brain freeze thinking about twine around an herb bouquet that you cook with. Ha, I knew that now that I’m singing it out loud. I won’t tell my husband about this—jeesh! He would howl.
I had a friend that thought “jim Dandy to the rescue” was jim dandy with the red shoes.
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