Favorite Simon & Garfunkel Songs

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Houdini

Well-Known Member
Aug 15, 2014
295
1,418
USA
Old friends, old friends
Sat on their park bench like bookends
A newspaper blown through the grass
Falls on the round toes
Of the high shoes of the old friends
Old friends, winter companions, the old men
Lost in their overcoats, waiting for the sunset
The sounds of the city sifting through trees
Settle like dust on the shoulders of the old friends
Can you imagine us years from today?
Sharing a park bench quietly
How terribly strange to be seventy
Old friends, memory brushes the same years
Silently sharing the same fears
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

Old Friends/Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel
Now that I'm staring squarely at the age of 70 this song has more meaning for me. I don't spring out of bed in the morning anymore but it beats the hell out of a dirt nap.

Houdini in Omaha
 

Spideyman

Uber Member
Jul 10, 2006
46,336
195,472
79
Just north of Duma Key
Indeed that age of 70 .
Bridge over Troubled Water
"Bridge Over Troubled Water"

When you're weary, feeling small,
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all;
I'm on your side. When times get rough
And friends just can't be found,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

When you're down and out,
When you're on the street,
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you.
I'll take your part.
When darkness comes
And pain is all around,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

Sail on silvergirl,
Sail on by.
Your time has come to shine.
All your dreams are on their way.
See how they shine.
If you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.

So Many more.
 
Last edited:

Spideyman

Uber Member
Jul 10, 2006
46,336
195,472
79
Just north of Duma Key
Second Fav:
Sounds of Silence"
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
 

Grandpa

Well-Known Member
Mar 2, 2014
9,724
53,642
Colorado
Heck, by Sunday, Homeward Bound will be running through my mind:

Homeward bound,
I wish I was,
Homeward bound,
Home where my thought's escaping,
Home where my music's playing,
Home where my love lies waiting
Silently for me.

There's another portion of that song that strikes a recognizable if jarring note for me, but exploration for that will be in the "Self Doubts" thread that may happen someday:

But all my words come back to me
In shades of mediocrity
Like emptiness in harmony
I need someone to comfort me.
 

Houdini

Well-Known Member
Aug 15, 2014
295
1,418
USA
Old friends, old friends
Sat on their park bench like bookends
A newspaper blown through the grass
Falls on the round toes
Of the high shoes of the old friends
Old friends, winter companions, the old men
Lost in their overcoats, waiting for the sunset
The sounds of the city sifting through trees
Settle like dust on the shoulders of the old friends
Can you imagine us years from today?
Sharing a park bench quietly
How terribly strange to be seventy
Old friends, memory brushes the same years
Silently sharing the same fears
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

Old Friends/Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel
Now that I'm staring squarely at the age of 70 this song has more meaning for me. I don't spring out of bed in the morning anymore but it beats the hell out of a dirt nap.

Houdini in Omaha

Just found found an error in a Wikipedia Post (imagine that!). Wikipedia claims the following song was recorded live at a Simon & Garfunkel concert in Ames Iowa in 1969. Nope! It was recorded live at a Simon & Garfunkel concert in Des Moines Iowa at the old KRNT Theater in 1969. I know because I was there. Who does their writing? Winston Smith of 1984? Anyway I know the recording that was used on the album "Bridge Over Troubled Water" because of the big "Yeeha!" towards the end of the song and NO that wasn't me. I'm sure there are 3,000 young males in attendance that night who are making that claim. This song was recorded as a tribute to Don and Phil Everly from Shenandoah Iowa who were an early influence on Paul & Simon:
Bye bye love
Bye bye happiness
Hello loneliness
I think I'm-a gonna cry
Bye bye love
Bye bye sweet caress
Hello emptiness
I feel like I could die
Bye bye my love goodbye
There goes my baby with someone new
She sure looks happy, I sure am blue
She was my baby till he stepped in
Goodbye to romance that might have been
Bye bye love
Bye bye happiness
Hello loneliness
I think I'm-a gonna cry
Bye bye love
Bye bye sweet caress
Hello emptiness
I feel like I could die
Bye bye my love goodbye
I'm through with romance, I'm through with love
I'm through with countin' the stars above
And here's the reason that I'm so free
My lovin' baby is through with me
Bye bye love
Bye bye happiness
Hello loneliness
I think I'm-a gonna cry
Bye bye love
Bye bye sweet caress
Hello emptiness
I feel like I could die
Bye bye my love goodbye
Bye bye my love goodbye
Bye bye my love goodbye
Bye bye my love
Songwriters
B BRYANT, F BRYANT
Published by
Lyrics © HOUSE OF BRYANT PUBLICATIONS

Houdini in Omaha
 

Grandpa

Well-Known Member
Mar 2, 2014
9,724
53,642
Colorado
Revisiting.

I am a rock
I am an island

That was my anthem before all the true love and family stuff happened. Not that I'm complaining.

(I still want my alone time now and then. Very alone time.)
 

The Nameless

M-O-O-N - That spells Nameless
Jul 10, 2011
2,080
8,261
42
The Darkside of the Moon (England really)
Sound of Silence - to play on the guitar it is played Capo 6, and normal people need to be castrated to reach the high notes. Beautiful song though.

2nd would be Mrs Robinson, then Scarborough Fair.

I was channel hopping a while ago and saw Paul Simon live, I thought it would be rehashed country style music (I'm not too familliar with his music, or as a duo) but I was pleasently surprised, he was playing some very good blues rock.