What is the best Simon and Garfunkel Song (1 Viewer)

[Zack Lee]

Don't dismiss the "e"! Garfunkel.

it was not the angelic vowel. I was just giving it more funk per square inch.


but noted

 

[t_rav_82]

Too hard to pick. So many good ones. A few that haven't been mentioned, 59th bridge street, Bookends, For Emily.

 

[sonicboom]

Don't know the band extensively, but always liked this song.

 

[Cage1]

I love several and for different moods and places. Gun to my head, probably something like this:

1) Sounds of Silence
2) America
3) The Boxer
4) Kathy's Song
5) Only Living Boy in New York

Leaving out a ton of greatness. This is impossible.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

The Boxer has the most sustained impact on me
that was one of my major bean bag/corded headphones songs

but Kathy's song also has particular resonance for me
i did a farewell concert when i left TWU - one of my best friends was an amazing singer
i had him planted in the audience and right before the coda of the piece, he starts singing these stanzas from the audience (no one knew it was going to happen):
And a song I was writing is left undone
I don't know why I spend my time
Writing songs I can't believe
With words that tear and strain to rhyme
And so you see I have come to doubt
All that I once held as true
I stand alone without beliefs
The only truth I know is you

it was an amazing experience being on an empty stage with his beautiful voice and the haunting lyrics floating through the audience

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

The Boxer, as has been mentioned, is definitely up there for me.. it’s a great song to have come up on your headphones when you’re working out or running, and thIs part starts: “In the clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade...”

I saw that America was mentioned, but i didnt see American Tune, unless i missed it.. American Tune might be my favorite S&G song of all time, followed by Old Friends/Bookends - actually they’d be 1) and 1a)... followed very closely by America.


Also, i always have a hard time remembering which songs were S&G, and which were Paul Simon solo songs.. the ones that I’m pretty sure are Simon solo songs that i love (even though the OP didnt ask), are: Mother & Child Reunion, Late in the Evening and 50 Ways.. unless American Tune was solo, then that’s my favorite by him.. told yall, its hard for me to keep them straight... and i have to say that seeing Paul Simon live at Smoothie King Ctr about two years ago was a life highlight for me.. he was great.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

also
I was in NY for the simon & garfunkel reunion
i had just started dating this chinese woman and we were going to meet at the 86th st entrance to Central Park
later in the relationship, she told me of the mild panic she had waiting or me having a 'dang all these white guys look the same' moment

it was a great concert

 

[tenordas]

The Boxer, as has been mentioned, is definitely up there for me.. it’s a great song to have come up on your headphones when you’re working out or running, and thIs part starts: “In the clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade...”

I saw that America was mentioned, but i didnt see American Tune, unless i missed it.. American Tune might be my favorite S&G song of all time, followed by Old Friends/Bookends - actually they’d be 1) and 1a)... followed very closely by America.


Also, i always have a hard time remembering which songs were S&G, and which were Paul Simon solo songs.. the ones that I’m pretty sure are Simon solo songs that i love (even though the OP didnt ask), are: Mother & Child Reunion, Late in the Evening and 50 Ways.. unless American Tune was solo, then that’s my favorite by him.. told yall, its hard for me to keep them straight... and i have to say that seeing Paul Simon live at Smoothie King Ctr about two years ago was a life highlight for me.. he was great.

American Tune is from Simon's third solo album; it's not a Simon and Garfunkel piece, so it's your favourite Paul Simon song - and it is a great one.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

also also
this is more a Paul SImon memory
my dad had always been a big S&G/Paul Simon fan
i did vaguely remember him saying something about 50 ways to leave your lover - something like, i was never in a position where i could do that (something nice and ambiguous like that)

but right before i left for NY, my dad, uncle and I had a night of drinking and saying things but not really saying things
Slip Sliding Away came on, and when we got to:
And I know a father
Who had a son
He longed to tell him all the reasons
For the things he'd done
He came a long way
Just to explain
He kissed his boy as he lay sleeping
Then he turned around and headed home again

he said something to the effect of "man, you don't know **** until you know what he's trying to say here"

and now that stanza always chokes me up
like it's doing now

 

[Bill]

Sound of Silence is just brilliant - it's hard to deny. America is one of my favorites, I always enjoy it. The Boxer also has that sort of quiet intensity that marks their best work.

I love the harmonies in Bridge but have to be in the right mood for it. The whimsical melody lines in Mrs. Robinson are also fun to sing. Great vocals in that catalog.

Scarborough Fair is great to listen to in your college apartment with Christmas lights on the wall and a bong.

I agree that a lot of their catalog means more to me when the mood is right. But generally when I start listening to one of their songs on YouTube, I just keep listening to the next S&G song that gets served up. But I'm probably the most partial to Sound of Silence. I'm always in the mood for that one.

 

[nolaspe]

Well you are also a degenerate, so...

I honestly haven’t listened to Distrubed’s version, but I did hear the story how Paul Simon called the singer for Disturbed and said that it was really cool that he covered SoS.

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

also also
this is more a Paul SImon memory
my dad had always been a big S&G/Paul Simon fan
i did vaguely remember him saying something about 50 ways to leave your lover - something like, i was never in a position where i could do that (something nice and ambiguous like that)

but right before i left for NY, my dad, uncle and I had a night of drinking and saying things but not really saying things
Slip Sliding Away came on, and when we got to:
And I know a father
Who had a son
He longed to tell him all the reasons
For the things he'd done
He came a long way
Just to explain
He kissed his boy as he lay sleeping
Then he turned around and headed home again

he said something to the effect of "man, you don't know **** until you know what he's trying to say here"

and now that stanza always chokes me up
like it's doing now

Hearing 50 Ways on the radio is one of my earliest memories as a human.. the rhymy lyrics: “Slip out the back, Jack.. Make a new plan, Stan” were very appealing to a 3 yr old.. i also remember Slip Sliding but to me it was a song about sliding around my grandmother’s linoleum floor in my socks.. Yeah.

Other very, very early in life songs that were my favorites were Dream Weaver, and Rhinestone Cowboy.. I haven’t looked it up, but i would guess each of those songs were released in either 1976 or 1977.

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

also
I was in NY for the simon & garfunkel reunion
i had just started dating this chinese woman and we were going to meet at the 86th st entrance to Central Park
later in the relationship, she told me of the mild panic she had waiting or me having a 'dang all these white guys look the same' moment

it was a great concert

I cant tell you what i would have given to be at that concert, even though i would have been about 7 or 8.

i mean, I’m glad i got to see him once before i die, but that Central Park concert... i wore that album OUT.

 

[Bill]

All I can say is...

He sure does seem to be disturbed.

 

[Dago]

Didnt see anybody mention The Dangling Conversation....love that one

And this live version of For Emily is one of the few times where (IMO) the live version of a song is far superior to the recorded version