From their " Sounds of Silence" album from 1966, this is a masterpiece and a fabulous live performance. Their harmonies are above and beyond anything you could imagine as being earthly possible. Paul on the acoustic guitar, a beautiful accompaniment. Paul wrote this song while living in England and wishing he could get back to America. He was stuck in between train stations and wrote this bit of genius. This was their 2nd hit after "Sounds of Silence". Great reaction Harri. Thanks Harri and Cosmo. Brilliant. My favourite Simon and Garfunkel song. Cheers from Canada 🇨🇦
Simon & Garfunkle were a part of my youth in the 60s. Your reactions capture the way I felt as a boy, hearing them on the radio and my record player. Thank you! ❤️
In about 1971 or 2 my dad bought a reel to reel tape recorder. We tried our best to wear it out listening to Simon and Garfunkel, CCR, and Johnny Cash.
Paul Simon is one of the best lyricist in the history of music. Together with Art Garfunkel, they’re two in one total harmony when singing together. Incredible voices. Thank you brother Harri 🌟🌟🌟
Love this tune, brings back a lot of memories, this was a fascinating time in America, which of course is another excellent tune by these two. Thanks Harri
Worth checking out... Simon and George Harrison sang this as a duet on SNL in the 2nd season. Just two guys on stools with acoustic guitars. Easy to find video.
Unfortunately, my Intro was shrunk and cropped. But you can still sort of see in it that I've ID'ed the date and venue as Carnegie Hall in NYC from 1972.
this was written while paul simon was touring england on his own when their is a beleived he wrote the song travelling through widnes railway station. Home was London where he was staying with his girlfriend Kathy.
Totally agree with everything said about these two. No auto correct or autotune.So much good harmonising back then. Have you listened to the Righteous Brothers? I would love to hear your reaction if you haven't.
Having been a travelling musician for years, this song perfectly portrays that ' stranger in a strange land' feeling. Since Simon wrote the song in England, that was the homesick feeling of the lyric. Good song.
Paul's voice is warm and inviting, like the pond at the edge of the peat bog at my father's, and Art's voice is like the crystal clear drops of warm summer rain. Their music, like that of so many others, has been part of the soundtrack of my life. So many of the early songs still speak to me . . . and I hope they always will. A great request, and your reaction, as always, priceless!
Paul wrote this on the platform at Widnes Station whilst on a tour of northern England. The love who was waiting silently for him was his English girlfriend Kathy Chitty, so the ‘home’ wasn’t in America.
I feel really lucky that I had a chance to see them on their Reunion Tour back in the 80's, while I was in the Navy in San Diego. An unforgettable experience!
On the last line of the chorus, "silently for me," they drop the harmony and join on the same note. At that point, you can hear that Garfunkel's voice dominates. It has a beautiful timbre.
A few more songs written by Paul Simon. "At The Zoo", " Dangling Conversation", "Hazy Shade of Winter", "The Leaves That Are Green", "59th Street Bridge Song", "Bookends", "America", and "Sparrow".
This was their second big hit, after "Sounds of Silence", and at this time, we knew they were something very special. We were certainly proved right. S&G were in England trying to "make it" when they got a call that "Sounds" had reached #1 after a producer had added electric guitars to their folk sound. They quickly flew home.
I once came by taxi into Barcelona at sunrise after spending the night on a train floor and the radio played this… 🧡 I really appreciate your reactions Harri - hugs from Sweden!
Here again is proof that the 60's and 70's (and i will even give a nod to the 80s) produced the best music and talent in modern times. Also makes me so sad for what passes as popular music today. Something has happened to music. My heart and ears can tell it in spades. Sigh.
They were a good combo. It was a sad day when they split up. A touch of acrimony had crept in which was a shame. They left a great legacy of music though.
there’s something about the cadence in this that’s different. The title phrase in the verses almost comes “early,” and the verses sort of spill out even as they rhyme.
I saw S&G on their reunion tour in 2003. Hard, when you said it's "like angels" and live. They had a cracking band, a few of the musicians that played on some original tracks. When they performed "Bridge over troubled water" the whole Area in Chicago sat in rapt attention, and stood in ovation. Sure their voices were getting weatherd -but still great. They had The Everly Brothers come out, and two of their songs, as a four part harmony and guitar, and I was so glad to see the EB's perform, as a fan.
Harri's correct, they could have performed this without musical instruments, and it would still glow like a lighthouse beacon. That's the mark of stupendous songwriting.
For a live performance by them that's at least as stunning, listen to their November 1969 St. Louis, Missouri, performance of "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her."
HEY HARRI 😊 YOU MAY WANT TO HEAR THE ( GLEN CAMPBELL ) VERSION, I KNOW HOW MUCH YOU WERE AMAZED BY GLEN SO. IT'S ON HIS GREAT ALBUM ( BY THE TIME I GET TO PHOENIX ) BY THE WAY, THAT'SSSS A GREAT SONG TOO 😊 BUT OF COURSE GLEN WAS INCREDIBLYYYY WAYYYYY AHEAD OF THE TIMES MUSICALLY!
If you want to hear some of the best harmonies ever, any Linda Ronstadt/JD Souther song will do, but especially Prisoner in Disguise, which is the title track of the album, and also the song Silver Blue off Prisoner In Disguise as well. Stunningly gorgeous harmonies.
This is the version I grew up with because I had this iconic Greatest Hits album. And since I paid for the reaction, I got to choose. Just to make sure my memory served that this live version was indeed better than the studio cut, I listened to them back-to-back, and I was right: this live version is far better.
I was about to comment how this sounded so different than I remember. But it finally dawned on me that I'm thinking of Glen Campbell's version. Which frankly I like better. This is beautiful though.
