Timeline of Simon and Garfunkel

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Song Analysis

People sometimes have problems talking to each other and communicating with each other. But silence was not heard before Simon and Garfunkel wrote about it. The Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel was written in 1965, is about the miss-communication between people. It also talked about the emotions people felt in that time, which was right after President Kennedy was assassinated, and the anti-war periods I can connect these lyrics to the life of the artist, the times in which they were written, and the themes of the novel.

I can relate this song to this song to the novel Small Steps by Louis Sacher with its quote. “In restless streets I walk alone.” At one time in the story least all the characters in this novel experience loneliness. Ginny is alone when her dad abandons her and her mom, her disability makes her and outcast that others pity.

When my eyes were stabbed by a flash of

A neon light

That split the light

That neon light is Theodore her one friend. Theodore also has loneliness, his relation is the fact that everyone around him treats him like a criminal, because of his race or because of his record. No one will listen to him, or stand by his side. His own parents test him for when he comes home instead of trusting him. Even the he likes talks behind his back and expects the worst of him. The “neon light” for Theodore is Kaira. Kaira is the opposite of Theodore, she experiences loneliness because the people around her wished for it. There is no one her age and no one that wants to talk to her. One time there is someone she finds she can talk to and he is disposed of because of that. Theodore is her “neon light.”

I also believe that the lyrics were based on the times in which they were written. In 1965 the Vietnam War was going on and there were many anti-war rallies. I think that “People writing songs that voices never share” is about how you may have an idea about something and you should share it. Even though some people may not tell any one and so cannot be heard. Also there are times when people have good ideas and things to tell while another being is telling them not to speak. Also there are those cases when someone is speaking , but people refuse to listen.

People talking without speaking,

People hearing without listening,

That is about lack of communication between people. How even if someone was talking others refused to hear what they were saying.

This world today is also like these lyrics. There are still people that go against things they believe in now like global warming, and though there are something’s that are trying to be done about it just a couple years ago it was thought of as a myth and something made up by fools.

And no one dared

Disturb the sound of silence.

I can connect that to the school life today, or conversation. Sometimes when someone is in trouble you are asked to speak about something. There is one person that speaks up and then people come out with what they were thinking about, before no one dared to disturb the silence. Then like the very last line.

And whisper’d in the sounds of silence.

Before conducting this analysis I didn’t think too much about this song. I knew that it was deep because of the soft and slow tone and I got some of the words meanings but I never really thought about it. Now that I’ve really thought about it and specifically what it was talking about. It really gets the message of communication across. Now I think I will still listen to the beat, but I will listen more carefully to the words and what they mean.

Author Bio

Making a Bridge over Troubled Water

A Simon and Garfunkel Story

Simon and Garfunkel are #40 on Rolling Stones list of 100 greatest artists of all time. They started out in 1957 but are known for their popularity in the 1960's. They have been know as Tom and Jerry and both Simon and Garfunkel have had successful independent careers. Many of their songs have made it to #1, including Bridge over Troubled Water (1970), Sounds of Silence (1966), Mrs. Robinson (1968).

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel were born 3 weeks apart from each other in Kew Gardens, Queens, New York. They met when they were kids and went to school together. That is where they learned how to harmonize. They spent a short time singing doo-wop, a style of music sung with repeated nonsense syllables and a vocal lead. They were signed to Big Records at that time. There first hit was “Hey, Schoolgirl ” in 1957. Their songs were mostly folk rock, they wrote many songs about love, , friendship, and solving world conflict. Influenced by the Everly brothers there songs were slow and graceful but in the later times the music started to become more upbeat.

The most unique thing about them is that they've broken up so many times and been brought together again and again. They were active in 1957-1970, 1975, 1981-1983, 2003-2004. But in all the other years they were pursuing their personal careers. Simon has done helped many other bands, he writes and sells songs to other people too. Garfunkel went after a dream he had when he was young. He acted in many movies: Catch 22, Knowledge, Bad Timing, Good to Go, and Boxing Helena.

The last time they performed was in 2004 for a reunion concert, they did many concerts for charity and one for free in Central Park. They were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990. And until they die they will remain “Old Friends.”

Pop Music #2

I'm doing Sounds of Silence by (Paul)Simon and (Art)Garfunkel. To see other songs go to the Center Hubb.

Lyrics: Sounds of Silence

Hello darkness, my old friend,
I've come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
'Neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of
a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.

And in the light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one deared
Disturb the sound of silence.

"Fools" said I,"You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you."
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the signs said, The words of the prophets
are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls.
And whisper'd in the sounds of silence.