Whether I was dancing along or on the brink of tears, I loved the fact that Bookends engaged me emotionally from start to finish.īy the end of the album, the feeling that this record and I were old friends was only intensified, and with further listens I realized that I had an even deeper connection to the album than I wanted to admit. But luckily, the album kept rolling and the upbeat tone of "Fakin' It" and silly lightheartedness of "Punky's Dilemma" almost immediately lifted my spirits. If I had been listening to it on vinyl, I don't think I would have been able to muster the wherewithal to cross the room and flip over the record. In fact, it kind of scared me how much of an impact the first seven tracks of Bookends had on my psyche. Simon & Garfunkel hit on so many elements of music that I am naturally drawn to - simple instrumentation, thought-provoking lyrics with narrative leanings and arrangements that allow both to shine.Īnd that's what I've come to discover that I love about Simon & Garfunkel - they are absolute masters of emotive, transformative lyricism. Listening to Bookends was like reuniting with an old friend I didn't know that I had: only after hearing the album start to finish did I recognize that these songs have been around me all along. "America" breezed right by me in Almost Famous, and I never quite understood why the song surrounding a particularly poignant scene in 500 Days Of Summer was called "Bookends."īut now, my narrow cinematic context of Simon & Garfunkel has been broadened. Robinson," I've never seen The Graduate in its entirety. From there, my knowledge of Simon & Garfunkel continued to be informed solely by incomplete pop culture encounters with the duo. The song was used in the 2009 film (500) Days of Summer.My musical relationship with Simon & Garfunkel began with an influence that any self-respecting, music-loving twenty-something would now be ashamed to admit: The Garden State soundtrack. The piece closes the entire suite with the "resigned admonition" to "Preserve your memories / They're all that's left you." In popular culture "The text refers to the passage of time, and to memories of a loved one, and thus fittingly concludes the series of intervening songs, which address interpersonal relationships at times of life that progress from song to song," wrote James Bennighof, author of The Words and Music of Paul Simon. The “Bookends Theme ( Reprise)” contains vocal accompaniment from the duo. The “Bookends Theme ( Reprise)” is preceded by " Old Friends", which segues into the song with a single high, sustained note on the strings. The song is a brief acoustic piece (once compared to English rock band the Moody Blues) that evokes "a time of innocence." The "Bookends Theme" that opens and closes side one is played on the acoustic guitar, with no additional instruments. A "clean" version of "Bookends" (without the segued string from " Old Friends") was featured on Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits. Robinson" single, issued on Apby Columbia Records. " Old Friends" and “Bookends” were placed on the B-side of the " Mrs. It appears twice on the track listing, as the first (shortened version) and last (known as the Reprise) songs on side one of the original vinyl LP. " Bookends", also known as " Bookends Theme", is a song by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel from their fourth studio album, Bookends (1968).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |