“Bookends” at 50

You're in for a real treat. The mono versions of "Save the Life of My Child" and "Punky's Dilemma" are quite different and really are the versions that they labored over.

 

Did Lou Reed ever comment on Bookends?

 

He called it "S-Ends"

 

More reformed than orthodox, more tuna than lox.

 

not even close for me. bookends is pretty much perfect

 

Best album by them ever, Bridge Over Troubled Waters be damned! In fact I rank them thusly:
Bookends
Sounds Of Silence
Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
Wednesday Morning 3 A.M. (although I prefer the non-dubbed Sounds Of Silence over the rock version found on the 2nd LP)

 

"Honey, they're on pot..."

 

Nope. Can't say that I have. That much different? Better?

 

Very different. I, like you, never warmed to the song--then I heard the mono....

 

Great lp...Old Friends/Bookends Theme is simply beautiful. Overs is a favorite also

 

It's close for me Bridge is a brilliant album - but like Bookends it has a dud track ("Bye Bye Love") Prefer Bookends but not by much.

 

never really got into Cecilia....Only Living Boy made up for it though. Paul Simon was on another level there for awhile

 

Bookends was a brilliant concept album. Paul Simon is a gifted lyricist. If you grew up in the 60s and 70s, these songs were so important to your education in maturity.
“Time it was, and what a time it was, it was. A time of innocence, A time of confidences. Long ago, it must be, I have a photograph. Preserve your memories; They're all that's left you” Everyone can relate to this.

 

I want it. Hope it come out someday.

 

How do I love Bookends? Let me count the ways...

1. The fat Moog synth on "Save the Life of My Child." I can only imagine how mindblowing this sounded in 1968, because I wasn't alive then. Anyone care to speak on that?

2. On the same song, they sample themselves doing "Sound of Silence." Outrageous.

3. "America" - straight up one of the greatest songs ever written. Chills down the spine at "Counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike/They've all come to look for America"

4. Garfunkel's angelic vocals on the bridge of "Overs"

5. Paul Simon was 26 when he wrote "Old Friends"

7. "Fakin' It" - minor hit that should have been a major one. Funky, ultra-catchy, with that bizarre spoken-word bridge.

8. "Punky's Dilemma" - Pure surrealist whimsy. Pot so strong you literally can't stop smiling.

9. At. The. Zoo. The most fun you can have in 2:22.

10. Oh yeah, "Mrs. Robinson" is on this album too.

11. The whole album is 29 minutes long and is more daring and engaging than many artists' whole careers.

 

11 likes for this.

 

Agree and I love "The Only Living Boy In New York" with it's references to Art's acting career. Sad in a way as I don't think he reached the same levels as a solo artist. On the other hand I love Art's solo work, a lot of which would fit nicely on a Simon & Garfunkel album.

 

I love S&G and I own several copies of this album (including a mono) but t never clicked with me. America is awesome but the rest of it is just meh.

Not to say that anyone on this thread is off base or nuts for liking it...I just think I'm missing something.

 

Seems a no brainer, but first Bridge(not cheap).

 

really? link please...

 

Hmm, I think it looks forward to his solo work, which moves a step further, if anything

 

Paul Simon made a cracking debut album, but I wouldn't be surprised if the songs were written for a possible S&G album in mind.

 

Some of the final album does, but it doesn't do much for me (solo that is). Shows how important Art was to the overall S&G sound.

 

I agree. Without Art: no SnG, but I personally prefer Simon consistently up to Graceland and less consistently beyond that - but that doesn't mean I don't like SnG and also think Bookends is their most solid work (but love Only Living Boy, Bridge and Cecilia from Bridge).

 

There's a lot to be said about this album (much of it said here). But the one comment I have:

"Overs" is the only breakup song I know that captures what it's like when a relationship awkwardly/painfully grinds to a halt. No big blow-up, no drama, no tears. Just boredom and dissatisfaction, no communication. Which, in my experience, is really how it is. "We might as well be apart. It hardly matters...we sleep separately."

Or "I'm habitually feeling kind of blue, but each time I try on the thought of leaving you, I stop - I stop and think it over."

Yep.