In the mid 90s, a song that got really popular among us teenage kids was Cecilia by Suggs feat. Louchie Lou & Michie One.
It was a time that the local music stores were selling custom made compilations of songs (People from Chembur, Mumbai may remember Orbis Audio Centre) and Cecilia featured in every one of them. Some months after I got a copy of Cecilia, I heard Dad playing Simon & Garfunkel on his stereo and heard a different version of the same song. It got me curious and that was the beginning of my love for the duo.
We had two albums at home - Sounds of Silence (1966) and Bridge over Troubled Water (1970).
The first album opens with a remixed version of 'The Sound of Silence'. The original was an acoustic version from their previous album which didn't get half as popular so Columbia records decided to mix it up a little. The song was apparently written by Paul Simon when he was 21 years old. How someone that young could come up with such lyrics even he does not know (as he admitted in an interview I saw somewhere). For me the two stanzas that capture the essence of this song are
"And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
No one dared
Disturb the sound of silence
"Fools," said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you."
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence"
Although written over 50 years ago, the problem of miscommunication or no communication between people continues to stay relevant. In the fight for our right to personal space, we seem to have isolated ourselves and become so sensitive that anything that we do not like, we chose not to listen to. What I also have always been fascinated with is the title of the song and the play of words. My experience with the "sound" of silence has been in locations around the world where there has been absolutely no ambient noise at all. No wind or rain, no traffic, no snoring, no machines running in and around you. For someone who grew up in a city like Mumbai, I found it very unnerving to have absolutely no noise or sound around me. Today it doesn't bother me any more but earlier it did a lot. There's even a fascinating article published by the New York Times some months ago titled The Sound of Silence. Funnily enough, it is about white noise and how people are used to background noises and need it to fall asleep.
This album also has a song called Anji which is a guitar instrumental which I always loved. Turns out, this was a cover of an original by a popular British Guitarist Davey Graham who was known for his finger style guitar playing ability.
Bridge over Troubled Water was the 5th and final studio album of the duo. The title track, though written by Paul Simon, is sung by Art Garfunkel alone. It is probably what you could call a signature song for the duo. For me, it is a great song to dedicate to someone you care about who is going through a tough time. Paul Simon had to turn to gospel music to get inspired to write this. More about that in this article - Story Behind The Song: Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel. This album also has my favourite song by S&G - The Boxer. What is funny is that my favourite part about the song is the musical arrangement for the placefiller words "lie-la-lie" which gives me goosbumps every time I listen. The original version of Cecilia and cover of Bye Bye Love add to the value of this lovely set of songs.
The other songs that I enjoy from this duo are Mrs. Robinson, Scarborough Fair/Canticle & Homeward Bound. Songs from S&G have been covered by artists all over the world some of which are extremely enjoyable too. Search for their songs on YouTube and you'll see all the different versions that exist. There is even a great playlist on Spotify called Best covers of Simon & Garfunkel. Artists such as Joan Baez, Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin etc have cover versions of S&G songs. This was undoubtedly one of the greatest musical duos to have graced the music scene. While Paul Simon continued to have a flourishing career in music even after they split, Garfunkel faded away only making appearances once in a while to performance a couple of songs here and there. Their last blow out concert was The Concert in Central Park in 1981. Videos from this concert are available as a Playlist on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDvOofCbFGeqp3-qvhOB1W_b3NwQx_RML. One of the recipients of this email was actually present at this concert. What a treasure of a memory to have for life!
Ironically, the two artists who gave us such great songs about friendship, communication etc had a very acrimonious split. Paul Simon has said on record that Arthur and he can almost agree on nothing. During their time together, they may have been the most unhappy duo but the magic of music that bound them did not suffer for it and for that, I for one am forever grateful.
Albums & songs from S&G available for download here: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AiYwJm3Pb8i9gpdazCJ4Gr9EoqB75w?e=TsZOms
My entire music collection available here: https://1drv.ms/u/s!AiYwJm3Pb8i9gpERwAPLpYGKDZor2w?e=AkXJra
Cheers!
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