For my mind is in a state of new obsession, I’m blogging surprisingly little. I had some ideas for posts, but most have left me already. Evaporated! …Poof…!
There are a lot of things I can say about either Paul Simon, or Art Garfunkel, or both at the same time, or maybe even a combination of neither. I don’t really want to. Whatever I have to say, or have an opinion on, has been said many times, in many different ways, by many different people. I don’t feel any need to add to that pile of 50 odd years of opinions on Simon & Garfunkel, or just Garfunkel, or Simon, or neither. I’ve got nothing, or I’ve got nothing new. Case in point, this piece of text.
I can say something about the people opining about said gentleman, be it together, separately or apart. It’s been an interesting introduction in what is generally accepted as classic popular music. I can say: “All people learning about my new obsession with Simon & Garfunkel have reacted in the same way”. I can, because it’s true. Of course I also could if it wasn’t true, but then, my dear readers, it would be a lie. However, that is exactly what happened; they all said, without exception: “Oh Simon & Garfunkel, that’s good music.” Not necessarily in these exact words, but let’s not dwell on that.
They also, almost all of them, later on reacted, after I went on a bit, like this: “They’re not that good.” Actually, that really is a lie; only one person reacted like that. Another person simply explained he thought some of their stuff was a little too sweet, and another was impressed with my endurance in my obsession. Other than that, I’ve been mainly keeping it to myself.
They’re interesting to watch. It’s interesting to listen to them, and that’s not (though mainly) their music, it’s also their talk. When it comes to musicianship and music, they say a lot of sensible things and can get rather passionate and lengthy about it. When it comes to emotions, they either don’t know or spout a lot of bullshit.
I noticed I have trouble staying nice when it comes to S&G. It’s so easy to get nasty about them. It’s something about them that pisses me off. On the other hand, I’m still thoroughly enjoying their music. It’s that irony that keeps hitting me, the messages in the songs versus the way they live their lives. Other people noticed it too. Quite a few times I saw the comment: “Can’t they build a bridge over troubled water?” to do something about that “..sound of silence…” between them? Well, anyway…
What I really wanted to say is that I don’t remember hearing their music for the first time. Their existence and music seems a fact of life; something you automatically learn. I mean, at some point you learn to talk, you learn to walk and you learn that Simon & Garfunkel do harmonies.
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