Bleecker Street –

Sound of Silence –

Wow, fifteen of these posts! I knew I couldn’t make it much farther without mentioning another artist who had a significant impact on me since I was a kid.

Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. (1964), by Simon & Garfunkel. The debut and initially unsuccessful album by the famous folk duo.

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel had performed music together since they were both 13, originally under the stage names Tom & Jerry (Art & Paul respectively) even releasing a few singles that met with minor popularity. They both shared a deep admiration of the Everly Brothers, which would help shape the similar two-part harmonies of their music. After they left to go to different colleges, they got back together and played in a few clubs under their now famous duo title.

This album was the result of Tom Wilson (famous producer for Bob Dylan, The Animals, and several others) hearing the duo one night. The album would feature five songs written by Simon (sometimes misprinted as 4 songs, but there is a fifth song credited to “Paul Kane” one of Simon’s many pen names) and a few other popular folk staples. However Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. would ultimately flop, not even selling more than 3,000 copies. Why? It was 1964. The British Invasion was in full swing and Beatlemania had officially swept the nation.

Following this failure Simon moved to England to travel between clubs and play folk music. However something fairly interesting happened while he was gone. Wilson had taken “The Sound of Silence,” overdubbed some drums and electric guitar over the track, and distributed it to several radio stations. This new version shot all the way up to the No. 1 spot on the U.S. pop charts. Encouraged by this success the two got back together and went on to pursue what would be become a legendary career.

Both of these songs are more like fine poetry than just another pop or folk song. Like a strong poem, there is beauty just to their rhythm, but there is also more to be found if you dive into what they mean. I am a firm believer that art can take on different interpretations to different people, but I also think that our understanding of the works becomes deeper and more complex when our personal “meanings” are shared with others. Most of my interpretations are very heavily influenced by Garfunkel’s notes on the back of the album, but I will attempt to write up a little something extra.

“Bleecker Street” really stands out to me with its musical harmony and simple imagery. There is this beautiful symbolism of the “fog covering Bleecker Street” depicting this stifling of creativity and the “poet writing his crooked rhyme” selling out to pay the rent (“30 dollars” mirroring Iscariot’s pieces of silver for the betrayal of Jesus). “The Sound of Silence,” another striking poetic endeavor, is much more difficult to pinpoint its complex meaning. While this is a fine example of a work that you should find your own meaning, I agree with Garfunkel’s idea of “miscommunication.” Garfunkel mentions, “There is no serious understanding because there is no serious communication” citing the song’s line “people hearing without listening” and the poet’s failed attempt to “reach out.” I think there are also themes of loneliness, oppression, death, morning, and a warning are found here as well. Some have interpreted it as a response to the Kennedy assassination, and Simon’s performance of it at the Ground Zero memorial also casts in a different light (as well as Disturbed’s excellent cover).

Most people might say that Paul Simon really made his significant impact as a songwriter after the duo split up, like his landmark album Graceland. Personally, I preferred the work of Simon and Garfunkel. I don’t mean to downplay the importance of his solo years, but there was always something about their harmony parts that was just so……perfect 😀