Bookends

by

Simon & Garfunkel

Edit

...I do agree that this album showcases both Paul Simon's extraordinary talents as well as those of the amazing Art Garfunkel (remember him? He was half the incredible folk duo). From the haunting "Bookends Theme" to the funky and socially conscious "Save The Life Of My Child" to the evocative refrains of "America", all of us who lived through this CD while in undergraduate school in the late 1960s hold this effort by Simon and Garfunkel close to our hearts. With this song cycle, Simon had us all considering what it meant to grow old and feeble, and consider what the arc of our lives would mean. This was heavy stuff for 22 year olds.

Fifteen years ago a close friend gave me a finely lithographed set of the "Old Friends" lyrics after I shared his troubles when his mother died, telling me I was the guy he wanted to share the other end of the bench with at seventy. He's gone now, too, certainly gone too soon. A lot of the rest of the CD is interesting and spunky, but represents another side of the duo than from the thoughtful excursion into aging and what time means to us all that the original "A" side of the album represented. "Faking It" was an inside joke, using the name of British poet, singer, and songwriter Donovan Leitch (Mellow Yellow) as the tailor at the end. Simon was really expressing his amazement regarding the turn in his own life circumstances; Simon is serious, though, when he says "I have a tailor's face and hands" (his grandfather had been a Jewish tailor in Germany). Punky"s Dilemma" is a satiric look at the times, a la "A Simple Desultory Philippic" on the Parsley Sage album.

The rest of the songs included, "Mrs. Robinson", "A Hazy Shade Of Winter", and "At The Zoo", were all released as singles, and provided the staying power for the album's long ride in Billboard's top 100 albums. Of course, the fact that the smash movie "The Graduate" with a Simon & Garfunkel soundtrack was released at about the same time didn't hurt. This is a terrific album by the duo when they were at the peak of their popularity, and it is one every true-blue fan of folk-rock should have on his or her shelf. Do me a favor, though. Listen carefully to the first seven cuts and Paul's take on growing old. It is painful, elegant, and timeless, something well worth listening to again and again. Enjoy.