Disquieting? I took the lyrics as the antithesis of the Robert Frost poem. Paul is at pains to emphasise that, unlike Frost, he has no promises to keep, and he could just go to sleep there and then if he wanted to.
A common interpretation of Stopping by Woods is that 'sleep' is 'death'. I agree with that view, that the poem is a meditation on life and responsibility. It certainly lends itself to that view with the metaphors in the tableau it presents. 'His (God's) house (church) is in the village', etc. 'Ready to sleep' almost suggests ending it all, though I'm not certain I want to go that far.
I saw Paul live in Portland, OR, on his farewell tour in 2018. He made some sort of mistake in the process of playing "Cool, Cool River." I don't remember what it was—maybe forgetting a line? But he chatted for a bit after the song and said something to the effect of "ok, because I messed that up, I'll punish myself." And he proceeded to play a verse of "59th St Bridge Song." It was his first time playing the song live in 25 years!
Didn't get Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme until late 1967, tho I did hear it at friend's houses in 1966. It was the Harpers Bizarre version of "59th Street Bridge Song (feelin' groovy)" that made my ears perk up. I bought all of their albums and was sad to see them go. I even got to see them live on the Anything Goes tour in early 1968. Give Harpers Bizarre version the 5/5. The Simon & Garfunkel take a 4/5.
Anyone remember the Stephen Colbert/Paul Simon "non-naive" reboot of this one? youtube.com/watch?v=ZI2PXkXZPfk
Feelin' Groovy I never really liked this one as I was growing up but, now, as an old guy, I kinda dig it. It's a trifle but an appealing trifle. 3.5/5
A classic "Feel Good" song (of course) I think it's just the right length, not too short like some people are saying. Only slight issue I have is that their vocals are a bit too loud in the mix. You can wake up the neighbors in my apartment with the singing on this one haha 4/5 all the way
GROOVY The charm is high with this one, and the performances and arrangement are both excellent, as is virtually everything else on the album so far. That being said, I think the Harpers Bazaar version takes the song to its logical groovy extreme, everything played to the hilt, an extreme I much appreciate. Btw my favorite bit of the song is that wonderful flurry of triplets on the last verse. And somewhere in Swindon a young Andy Partridge must have been taking notes... 4/5
"Homeward Bound"- The first Simon and Garfunkel song I fell in love with. 5/5 "The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine"- This always seemed forced to me. Like they needed another hip tune in the same vein as "Somewhere They Can't Find Me". I'm only really familiar with the album version, but I enjoy both versions for different reasons. It may not be a great song, but it adds some diversity to the album. @mark winstanley I would love to hear Wilco do a cover. It does have a hint of The Monkees and makes me want to put on some green pants and an orange shirt. 3.5/5 "59th Street Bridge Song"- A bit silly and lightweight, but it's over in under 2 minutes and never outstays its welcome. The world is a better place for these happy little songs. "Life, I love you, all is groovy", these are words that we all need to hear sometimes. 3.5/5
59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)... Another classic tune. It's not that deep, but for lack of a better word, it's groovy. Very enjoyable song. 4.5/5
This probably wasn't picked up by audiences at the time, but the Grateful Dead would drop instrumental Feelin' Groovy quotes into their long Dark Star jams in live shows. One example's in this excerpt (a 1970 show, from 1:40-4:50). Did they try singing it? -- hell no.
Hard to believe the same guy wrote this and “Still Crazy After All These Years”. And they’re *both* great. 5/5
I love it, great chord progression and good vibes, captures a feeling of lightness and joy. 5/5 Incidentally the Grateful Dead loved to jam on these chords and the “feeling groovy jam” was a highlight of many a set (and this in turn evolved into Uncle John’s Band). EDIT - missed Mr Rain’s comment above, but there you have it.
Today's song is "The Dangling Conversation", written by Paul Simon; produced by Bob Johnston; engineered by Roy Halee. Simon & Garfunkel – The Dangling Conversation Lyrics | Genius Lyrics Background: Another of Paul's new songs from 1966, the recording date for the basic track is listed as June 21st, 1966 and the next song ("Scarborough Fair") was not recorded until July 26th. This song was important to Paul and he labored on it for a long time. Thus Bob Johnston championed it to the label for release as a single. At the time of release, Paul said it was the best thing he and Art had done yet. However, Art did not like the song and has called it his least favorite Paul Simon song and in an interview circa 1990, Paul Simon dismissed "The Dangling Conversation" as a "College kid's song." LIne Up: Paul Simon: vocal, acoustic guitar Art Garfunkel: vocal Other personnel unknown. "The Dangling Conversation" was released as a single in July or September 1966 (two dates of release given on Wikipedia . ) It charted at #25 in the USA and #27 in Canada, breaking the duo's string of Top 10 hits. "The Dangling Conversation" has been included on 20 Greatest Hits (1991) Old Friends (1997) The Best of Simon & Garfunkel (1999) Tales From New York (The Very Best of Simon & Garfunkel (2000) The Essential Simon & Garfunkel (2003) Live Versions: Live from New York City 1967 (2002)
Live in New York City 1967 (May not stream in North America). Art calls the song "our favorite amongst the songs" in the intro.
Collated ratings for Sounds Of Silence Sound of Silence 5 Leaves That Are Green 4.1688 Blessed 3.7059 Kathy's Song 4.6015 Somewhere They Can't Find Me 2.8871 Anji 3.0258 Richard Cory 3.545 A Most Peculiar Man 3.7862 April Come She Will 4.8556 We've Got a Groovy [sic] Thing Goin' 2.5455 I Am A Rock 4.6576 Sounds Of Silence 4.198 Average by song: 3.889 Homeward Bound 4.8531 Sounds of Silence (UK/International version) Average by song: 3.9693 Blues Run The Game 3.5839 Someday, One Day 2.7541 Red Rubber Ball 3.1966 I Wish You Could Be Here 3.504
"Dangling Conversation" is definitely another one that Simon felt a bit embarrassed about in later years. I remember an interview with him many years later in which he commented on this tune, saying of his younger self, "Forgive him. He was 25." He had a point. It does try way too hard to be Very Serious and comes close to being unintentionally funny. 2.5/5
The Dangling Conversation I think my first hearing of this song was seeing S&G perform it on some TV programme. I did not know what to make of it at the time. My mother commented on what a funny song it was, obviously not too impressed by the unorthodox chords and structure of the song. That probably played a part in getting me to like it more. Over the years I have to like this more and more. For a fairly short song, there is a lot to notice. The opening melody is repeated three times in succession - just enough to establish itself, without overstaying its welcome. And what is that thing you hear at the very end of the song? It sounds like a Chinese gong, played very softly. It's a tribute to Art's artistry that despite supposedly not liking the song he gave it his all. It's impossible to imagine it without Art doing the high parts in the second half of the verses - truly angelic sounding. One could discuss the lyrics at great length. What is Paul saying here? His frequent references to figures in literature marks him as an intellectual, but here he seems to take a jaded view of intellectual discussions. The lines "I only kiss your shadow" etc, suggest a rather formal conversation between two people that is really just filling up dead space, preventing them from saying things they really want to say, that display an emotional connection. Again, a song about alienation, though perhaps self-imposed. People who are shy are sometimes eager to talk a lot about non-threatening subjects with which they are familiar, as a way of steering conversation away from themselves and their own deep feelings. Oh, almost forgot to rate it. 5/5.
With this song, one can almost conclude that Paul Simon effectively invented Don McLean. Well, maybe not quite. That opening guitar lick is extremely close to the opening lick of Donovan's version of "Universal Soldier." From there, it immediately goes into the I vi/I Imaj7 vi/I progression that's featured in a lot of songs, going at least as far back as Buddy Holly's recording of "It Doesn't Matter Anymore." As good as this is, I can see why "Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine" was placed on the flipside, in case there were any program directors out there who were hesitant about adding songs to the playlist that are impossible to dance to. I'd like to know who was responsible for the fancy orchestral arrangement in which Emily Dickinson is represented by violins and Robert Frost is represented by cellos. It took a clever mind to think of that, as well as the timpani that punctuates "Things That Matter" and "Must Be Said." By the time of the final verse, one can actually visualize two people sitting in a parlor, reading their respective books, while the light and shadows cast by the windows move over the room with a sped-up time-lapse effect. It's difficult for me to imagine what this must've sounded like coming over a tiny transistor radio speaker, which I'm certain it often did in 1966, so I immediately went looking for the mono single version to get some idea:
Another of Paul's intellectual sounding anti-intellectual songs, which was a theme in this phase of his work. I think part of the reason it feels a little cringey is because he really was singing and writing about a deep-seated fear of his own latent intellectualism quashing the life out of things. Maybe he was thinking about the notoriously quiet and soft-spoken Kathy Chitty and imagining a life decades on. On the "Emily Dickinson/Robert Frost" bit, the one that everyone seems to hate, I always get a picture in my mind of that montage in Citizen Kane (one of Paul's favorite movies) where Kane and his wife go from lively conversation to reading the newspapers and magazines wordlessly and with a look of sullen resentment on their faces. The strings are beautiful -- maybe a bit too much, for me, though, their arching attempts at pathos almost too overwhelming. I think Paul was ambitiously attempting the ineffable with this song and didn't quite succeed. But I think it's much better still than many people do. It does not sound a hit single, though! Certainly not Paul Simon's worst song. 3.9/5
