’’Tonight I sing my song again
play the game, and pretend....
but all my words come back to me,
in shades of mediocrity,
like emptiness in harmony,
I need someone to comfort me....homeward bound’’
When I hear the beautiful strains of this song or for that matter any other song from ’’the best of simon and garfunkle’’ cd the first image that comes to my mind is one of lament...you may wonder why such melodious soul-stirring songs create such a feeling in me...frankly, I lament for the lost chords and harmony in music that was present in these dion’s times.
Can you imagine any musician coming up with a thought provoking creation like’’the sound of silence’’...blatantly criticising the loss of the human touch...we live in a world where ’’the words of the prophet are written on a subway wall’’.
Or for that matter a song of undying love and self-sacrifice as ’’like a bridge over troubled water’’....i cannot. thus I listen to s&g, marvel and be amazed with their grace and fluidity over rhythm, beat, melody and words!
The best of simon and garfunkle is a must for anyone who calls himself an s&g fan...it has 20 of their best songs like;
sound of silence
homeward bound
I am a rock
the dangling conversation
scarborough fair/canticle
feelin’ groovy
a hazy shade of winter
at the zoo
mrs robinson
bookends
bridge over troubled water
el condor pasa
the boxer...... and 7 more
The album is a reflection of the creative genius of a poet and a singer... they talk of times which are strange... where ’’we speak of things that matter, with words that must be said’’.
While bookend talks about friendship..’’can you remember just years from today, sharing a parkbench quietly, how terribly cold to be seventy’’.... the song hazy shade of winter laments wasted youth.
the boxer and bridge over troubled water are definitely high on any fan’s list but the song that would stay on in your mind for the brilliant orchestration is scarborough fair.
.....’’remember me to the one who lives there,
she once was a true love of mine.’’