Sound of Silence? Apparently, Paul Simon was scheduled to

[hedgehog]

sing Bridge over Troubled Water today at the memorial service, but sang Sound of Silence instead. I am surprised that there hasn't been an uproar. When that song came out, it was associated with a discontent with the status quo. It's not quite anti-racist, anti-war, but it ran in the same crowd.At the very least, it is a bit ambiguous for the occasion, but it seems to have touched many.

[aquart]

1. The title is apt.

The silence is what anyone who was in Manhattan will mention. Unimaginable, a silent Manhattan. Burst into tears when I heard traffic again.

[hedgehog]

2. OK - I wasn't aware of that. Wow. That song is a killer at the

best of times. If I wasn't clear, I liked the song and felt it appropriate today, but am surprised that there hasn't been grumbling from the Right accusing Simon of some sort of political agenda.

[Chorophyll]

4. Here's a hug from Westchester. Just 'cause.

:hug:

[aquart]

22. Thank you.

I have to say that the outpouring of love and concern and boots on the ground help from people who drove all night...we felt all of it. The virtual hugs really mattered in those weeks when we were so...we didn't know what. But very delicate and kind with each other, because no one knew what anyone else might have lost.

[Chorophyll]

26. I worked on 26th Street up until that summer, when I had my son.

Lots of city connections. I hear you. Here's another. :hug:

[msanthrope]

11. Yes. Times Square was quiet. For the first time. It was quiet. nt

[kentuck]

3. Paul Simon is America's troubadour...

I trust his judgement.

[chollybocker]

13. Yes for this.

:thumbsup:

[demtenjeep]

5. why does there have to be an uproar?

I am tired of everyone looking to find something wrong in everything

Really it is quite depressing

[hedgehog]

6. I find that the smallest suggestion that maybe the people

who protested the VietNam war were right to be concerned tends to place liberals in a time warp as right wingers pounce on them to attack their patriotism and accuse them of not supporting the troops. I'm not saying there has to be an uproar; I'm saying I'm surprised that apparently this song was sung without causing an uproar.

Edit - I run into people who condemn all folk music as hippy-dippy Kumbaya junk left over from the 60's.

[digonswine]

7. Can Simon sing the notes required?

Bridge Over Troubled Waters is way tougher than the Star-Spangled Banner. We need a Garfunkel for that shit!

[Recursion]

20. That was my guess -- he warmed up and called the audible

BOTW was at the limit of his range 30 years ago

[Frank Cannon]

24. Art Garfunkel didn't even want to do the solo on BOTW...

because he thought it was too hard for HIM. Simon insisted that he was better suited to do it. The rest, as they say, is history.

[unblock]

21. required? there are no requirements. it's his song, and he's a musician.

if he wants to adjust or even completely change the rhythm or melody to fit the situation or the mood or his vocal capabilities at the moment, he certainly has the ability and license to do so.

[Recursion]

27. As a composer who is sometimes roped into performing, I can assure you...

...that the musician side of someone is not always capable of doing what the composer side of that same person "requires".

[unblock]

28. i meant it the other way around --

if you know you're going to perform, and you know you can't hit certain high notes, you can rework the melody so that there's aren't any of the unreachable high notes. the obvious (albeit simplistic) solution is to lower the offending passage by an octave, though there are certainly more creative solutions as well.

there's a story (no doubt apocryphal) of a pianist who sits down for a concert and finds one of the keys is horrendously out of tune. finding no piano tuner in the house, he proceeds to give the full recital, seamlessly reworked on-the-fly to avoid the out-of-tune key. now THAT requires an enormous and rather particular talent. avoiding high notes is considerably easier.

[MagickMuffin]

8. I think it rather seems appropriate

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

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
And 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

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"
And whispered in the sounds of silence

[enough]

12. Reading back over those very familiar old lyrics, it seems absolutely appropriate for the

current situation.

"Silence like a cancer grows."


Simon made the right choice.

[housewolf]

9. I thought it was quite appropriate

and it's the one thing that that really moved me and turned on the faucets that hide behind my eyes.

[former9thward]

10. I never associated Sound of Silence with politics.

I think people project their own views into the words of songs.

[immoderate]

15. It's about tripping.

Means whatever you want to say about not communicating.

--imm

[patrice]

17. Both that song & politics are about people, different perspectives on people. The Greek root of

the word politics is "polis" which refers the foundation of democracy at that time the CITY-state. Whatever more connotative meanings have been attached to that word, its semantic seed is people living together and the nature of that shared identity, which is also what The Sound of Silence is about, or, more precisely, one aspect/perspective/point-of-view on people-living-together.

[robinlynne]

18. how old are you? If you are young, you may not remember the times we were

living when the song came out.

[bklyncowgirl]

25. Like any great work of art a great song can take on many meanings over the years

It was a beautiful moment, the perfect song, elegant guitar work, music that pulled at the emotions as music should and frankly I found myself crying. It looked like Paul was fighting back tears himself.

[eShirl]

14. but his words like silent raindrops fell

[patrice]

16. A brave cultural comment. We should thank him for his honesty. nt

[Recursion]

19. I liked that he sang The Boxer at the benefit a week or so after

Frankly I think he just doesn't have the range for BOTW anymore and made the call when he went up there to do SOS instead -- though there's something haunting about that piece without Art's harmony.

[Loudmxr]

23. It was the right choice and the guitar work was spectacular.

I have had many friends that have worked with Paul Simon. Either in the studio or on the road.

He has made some bad choices, mostly technically.

But those choices were always to advance the artistic vision and dimension of his work. Just sometimes it didn't work out too well.

This was the right choice and I have seen it perhaps a dozen times now. I start to weep when I see the woman singing along. Everytime.