I used to read and admire poems of Wordsworth, Shelley and Tagore when I was in school. They talked about ages long gone by, and I played with their words striving to understand what they were feeling. A good poet is one with whose poetry everyone can identify.. A zillion meanings can be derived from a same poetry in different moods. Don’t misunderstand me: I am not writing a wrong review. But our modern age poets do not just write poetry-they sing it too. And out of such a band of poets, my favourite group is Simon and Garfunkel.
Its a fashion to group music along lines such as Rock, Pop, Country, etc. I do not know under what genre this music falls along, and nor do I care. All I can say is that If you wants to listen to melodious, hummable music and need some sense to be drilled into you at the same time, its time to listen to what Mr. Paul Simon and Mr. Art Garfunkel are trying to tell us. The transition from one song to the other is so smooth, one might even miss it. But rest assured-each song is worth listening to and falling in love with.
I guess its time to stop my lyrical trash and quote a few lines from these poets. The song that appeals to me the most is a track called ’Old Friends’.
Can you imagine us years from today,
Sharing a park bench quietly,
How terribly strange to be seventy.
Then I come to a song called ’The Boxer’. Its one of the less quoted songs of this duo; it describes a lonely life of a struggler. It has two of the most meaningful lines in music that I have come across....
I have squandered my resistence for a pocketful of mumbles, such are Promises,
All Lies and jests, still a man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest.
The two most famous songs of this duo are ’Bridge over Troubled Water’ and ’The Sounds of Silence’. The sounds of silence has immortal lines such as
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence
Bridge over troubled water is a memorable love song, which I guess, everybody must have heard and I need not go into. If you havent, It wouldnt be a bad idea to buy this album just for this one song alone.
Another beautiful song of this duo, one of my personal favourites is a song called The Dangling Conversation
Yes, we speak of things that matter,
With words that must be said,
’’Can analysis be worthwhile?’’
’’Is the theater really dead’’
Yes this duo does sometimes come across a bit melancholy, and if you are looking for a pick-me-up after a tough day, Its better to listen to the Beatles. Yes, this group does share lighter moments with us-in one song they advise us on ’’50 ways to leave your lover’’. The lady advises the guy(me, you or anyone you know) different ways to leave your lover; and she just cutely says.....
’’The problem is all inside your head, she said to me
The answer is easy if you take it logically
I’d like to help you in your struggle to be free
There must be fifty ways to leave your lover’’
She tries giving different ideas, but they all sound dumb to me.. So how does she convince me in the end????
She said, why don’t we both just sleep on it tonight
And I believe, in the morning you’ll begin to see the light
And then she kissed me and I realized she probably was right
There must be fifty ways to leave your lover, fifty ways to leave your lover
There’s another beautiful light song of the duo ’Feelin Groovy’ which I have discussed in my favourite songs review; its worth listening to.
If you are a rock afficianado, a ghazal fanatic, or love just laid back music..You will definitely want to try this group out (If you already havent, which is improbable). Give it a miss if you are a brigade of Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Abhijeet Sawant type. Rock fans esp. Floyd fans will like to listen to this group when they are in a mood of something different and something soothing.
And for the britney spear’s type- All I can say in Defense of the review is the original ’’Cecilia’’ is by this wonderful duo.