hedgehog
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Sun Sep-11-11 07:18 PM
Original message |
Sound of Silence? Apparently, Paul Simon was scheduled to |
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Edited on Sun Sep-11-11 07:18 PM by hedgehog
sing Bridge over Troubled Water today at the memorial service, but sang Sound of Silence instead. I am surprised that there hasn't been an uproar. When that song came out, it was associated with a discontent with the status quo. It's not quite anti-racist, anti-war, but it ran in the same crowd.At the very least, it is a bit ambiguous for the occasion, but it seems to have touched many.
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aquart
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Sun Sep-11-11 07:22 PM
Response to Original message |
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The silence is what anyone who was in Manhattan will mention. Unimaginable, a silent Manhattan. Burst into tears when I heard traffic again.
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hedgehog
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Sun Sep-11-11 07:24 PM
Response to Reply #1 |
2. OK - I wasn't aware of that. Wow. That song is a killer at the |
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best of times. If I wasn't clear, I liked the song and felt it appropriate today, but am surprised that there hasn't been grumbling from the Right accusing Simon of some sort of political agenda.
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Chorophyll
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Sun Sep-11-11 07:28 PM
Response to Reply #1 |
4. Here's a hug from Westchester. Just 'cause. |
aquart
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Sun Sep-11-11 10:54 PM
Response to Reply #4 |
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I have to say that the outpouring of love and concern and boots on the ground help from people who drove all night...we felt all of it. The virtual hugs really mattered in those weeks when we were so...we didn't know what. But very delicate and kind with each other, because no one knew what anyone else might have lost.
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Chorophyll
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Mon Sep-12-11 07:02 AM
Response to Reply #22 |
26. I worked on 26th Street up until that summer, when I had my son. |
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Lots of city connections. I hear you. Here's another. :hug:
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msanthrope
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Sun Sep-11-11 08:14 PM
Response to Reply #1 |
11. Yes. Times Square was quiet. For the first time. It was quiet. nt |
kentuck
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Sun Sep-11-11 07:26 PM
Response to Original message |
3. Paul Simon is America's troubadour... |
chollybocker
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Sun Sep-11-11 08:45 PM
Response to Reply #3 |
demtenjeep
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Sun Sep-11-11 07:28 PM
Response to Original message |
5. why does there have to be an uproar? |
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I am tired of everyone looking to find something wrong in everything
Really it is quite depressing
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hedgehog
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Sun Sep-11-11 07:31 PM
Response to Reply #5 |
6. I find that the smallest suggestion that maybe the people |
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Edited on Sun Sep-11-11 07:35 PM by hedgehog
who protested the VietNam war were right to be concerned tends to place liberals in a time warp as right wingers pounce on them to attack their patriotism and accuse them of not supporting the troops. I'm not saying there has to be an uproar; I'm saying I'm surprised that apparently this song was sung without causing an uproar.
Edit - I run into people who condemn all folk music as hippy-dippy Kumbaya junk left over from the 60's.
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digonswine
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Sun Sep-11-11 07:45 PM
Response to Original message |
7. Can Simon sing the notes required? |
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Bridge Over Troubled Waters is way tougher than the Star-Spangled Banner. We need a Garfunkel for that shit!
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Recursion
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Sun Sep-11-11 10:10 PM
Response to Reply #7 |
20. That was my guess -- he warmed up and called the audible |
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BOTW was at the limit of his range 30 years ago
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Frank Cannon
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Mon Sep-12-11 04:53 AM
Response to Reply #20 |
24. Art Garfunkel didn't even want to do the solo on BOTW... |
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because he thought it was too hard for HIM. Simon insisted that he was better suited to do it. The rest, as they say, is history.
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unblock
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Sun Sep-11-11 10:34 PM
Response to Reply #7 |
21. required? there are no requirements. it's his song, and he's a musician. |
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if he wants to adjust or even completely change the rhythm or melody to fit the situation or the mood or his vocal capabilities at the moment, he certainly has the ability and license to do so.
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Recursion
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Mon Sep-12-11 09:00 AM
Response to Reply #21 |
27. As a composer who is sometimes roped into performing, I can assure you... |
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...that the musician side of someone is not always capable of doing what the composer side of that same person "requires".
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unblock
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Mon Sep-12-11 10:01 AM
Response to Reply #27 |
28. i meant it the other way around -- |
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if you know you're going to perform, and you know you can't hit certain high notes, you can rework the melody so that there's aren't any of the unreachable high notes. the obvious (albeit simplistic) solution is to lower the offending passage by an octave, though there are certainly more creative solutions as well.
there's a story (no doubt apocryphal) of a pianist who sits down for a concert and finds one of the keys is horrendously out of tune. finding no piano tuner in the house, he proceeds to give the full recital, seamlessly reworked on-the-fly to avoid the out-of-tune key. now THAT requires an enormous and rather particular talent. avoiding high notes is considerably easier.
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MagickMuffin
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Sun Sep-11-11 08:04 PM
Response to Original message |
8. I think it rather seems appropriate |
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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 naked 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 dared 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 sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls And tenement halls" And whispered in the sounds of silence
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enough
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Sun Sep-11-11 08:29 PM
Response to Reply #8 |
12. Reading back over those very familiar old lyrics, it seems absolutely appropriate for the |
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current situation.
"Silence like a cancer grows."
Simon made the right choice.
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housewolf
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Sun Sep-11-11 08:12 PM
Response to Original message |
9. I thought it was quite appropriate |
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and it's the one thing that that really moved me and turned on the faucets that hide behind my eyes.
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former9thward
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Sun Sep-11-11 08:13 PM
Response to Original message |
10. I never associated Sound of Silence with politics. |
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I think people project their own views into the words of songs.
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immoderate
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Sun Sep-11-11 08:51 PM
Response to Reply #10 |
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Means whatever you want to say about not communicating.
--imm
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patrice
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Sun Sep-11-11 09:45 PM
Response to Reply #10 |
17. Both that song & politics are about people, different perspectives on people. The Greek root of |
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the word politics is "polis" which refers the foundation of democracy at that time the CITY-state. Whatever more connotative meanings have been attached to that word, its semantic seed is people living together and the nature of that shared identity, which is also what The Sound of Silence is about, or, more precisely, one aspect/perspective/point-of-view on people-living-together.
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robinlynne
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Sun Sep-11-11 09:46 PM
Response to Reply #10 |
18. how old are you? If you are young, you may not remember the times we were |
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Edited on Sun Sep-11-11 09:48 PM by robinlynne
living when the song came out.
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bklyncowgirl
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Mon Sep-12-11 06:01 AM
Response to Reply #10 |
25. Like any great work of art a great song can take on many meanings over the years |
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It was a beautiful moment, the perfect song, elegant guitar work, music that pulled at the emotions as music should and frankly I found myself crying. It looked like Paul was fighting back tears himself.
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eShirl
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Sun Sep-11-11 08:50 PM
Response to Original message |
14. but his words like silent raindrops fell |
patrice
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Sun Sep-11-11 09:31 PM
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16. A brave cultural comment. We should thank him for his honesty. nt |
Recursion
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Sun Sep-11-11 10:10 PM
Response to Original message |
19. I liked that he sang The Boxer at the benefit a week or so after |
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Frankly I think he just doesn't have the range for BOTW anymore and made the call when he went up there to do SOS instead -- though there's something haunting about that piece without Art's harmony.
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Loudmxr
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Mon Sep-12-11 04:39 AM
Response to Original message |
23. It was the right choice and the guitar work was spectacular. |
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I have had many friends that have worked with Paul Simon. Either in the studio or on the road.
He has made some bad choices, mostly technically.
But those choices were always to advance the artistic vision and dimension of his work. Just sometimes it didn't work out too well.
This was the right choice and I have seen it perhaps a dozen times now. I start to weep when I see the woman singing along. Everytime.
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