Walking home across campus late at night last week, I found myself enjoying one particular pair of artists more than ever before—Simon & Garfunkel. One of the most productive duos in rock history, Paul Simon’s legendary songwriting and Art Garfunkel’s angelic voice provided a number of emotional, timeless classics. Between playing their songs on piano and guitar and appreciating their seamless harmonies, I decided it was time to devote a full post to these two geniuses.
The first song I want to feature was written by Paul Simon. In general, that’s true of all Simon & Garfunkel tunes, but this one specifically was sort of written for a solo Paul Simon project during the same years he was working with Garfunkel… I suppose it’s all too unnecessarily complicated to discuss, and they have performed it live as a duet, so here we are:
A 60s protest song, “A Church is Burning” details exactly what the title suggests, and a brief look at the lyrics makes it clear that the fire is the result of an act of arson by the Ku Klux Klan. In an era when such acts of terror against black churches was common, the song has an upbeat, unbreakable spirit that defies its antagonists, repeating, “You can burn down my churches, but I will be free”. The guitar work is impeccable, especially in this live rendition, and the energy and hopefulness makes it a valuable show of solidarity with black worshippers during the Civil Rights movement.
This next song is very personal for me; it’s one of my favorites to perform on piano (if you watched the Schreyer talent show at the start of the semester, there was a clip of me playing this song in there), and I think the message coincides wonderfully with my goals in life. It’s also one of Simon & Garfunkel’s most famous songs: “Bridge Over Troubled Water”.
Simple in instrumentation, the piano and Garfunkel’s voice drive this track. Simon only harmonizes briefly towards the end of the song. Honestly, I barely know how to analyze this one; it’s beauty and kindness in a musical form. The titular track of their last ever album together, when Simon presented Garfunkel with “Bridge Over Troubled Water” for him to sing, Garfunkel initially protested it was too beautiful a gift for him to be the singer on. And yet, as you’ll hear in the track, few voices could have performed the song as beautifully, which really summarizes this partnership more than any other song could. You may be disappointed to learn that, while both Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel are still alive today, their friendship has deteriorated over the years, and after their breakup after this album came out in 1970, they’ve never managed to reunite for any extended period of time. The music they’ve left the world with has comforted and eased the minds of millions over the years, and I hope and believe it will continue to do so as long as someone’s reaching for the classic songs of this legendary duo.
I sang a simon and garfunkel song in chorus in middle school and you’re right their music is beautiful. It’s sad that they’re not still friends.
I do remember that from the talent show! It’s amazing how you can carry your passion from listening to music over to creating music.
It’s always so sad to hear when duos or bands break up. I do think their music is really good and has definitely spoken to a lot of people.
I really like your music taste and the songs you introduces as they’re nothing something I would usually listen to.