Got a groovey thing goin'

The first time I ever heard the name (they have to be spoken without pause, written without space...for they may be two names, but are one person to me), I almost believed they were another comic-duo on television, like the likes of Laurel&Hardy, Tom&Jerry...to be frank, the two even looked the part...only to discover in them my first ever musical sweethearts...Simon&Garfunkel (and I bow down in reverence).

My generation would roughly be the one that grew up with the Backstreeters, thought Nirvana was so 'cool' (kool?) and swore they woke up to heavy Metal every morning (I did too!)...oh, and even Britney was around then (as she is now. Only then, she was a teen-ier sensation).

Confession:
a) I never found a single backstreet boy, 'cute'

b) I have never heard 'Smells like Teen Spirit'

c) and I could NEVER make sense of metal (I tried, though!)

What I did listen to (and consequently made sense of) were The Carpenters, Abba, Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, THE King (Presley, ofcourse), Cindy Lauper, Jim Reeves, Paul Anka...someone who sang 'L.A.International Airport'...and every song that came out of a tattered, old 1968 diary...Grandfather's Clock, Poor Old Joe, Top of the World, Barney O'Hea!, Seasons in the sun, Killing me Softly, Old Folks at Home, Something Stupid....The diary belongs to my mother, and the songs are my inheritance, so to say...along with a cake recipe, a hostel expenditure account, a timetable and tidbits of news items, dated 1975 (that's stuff for another post though)...

But one of the most precious find off those pages was...'Sounds of Silence'. Hello darkness, my old friend...still make my spine tingle...the first strum of the guitar...and those words...I've come to talk with you again...Oddly enough, I always (in a manner of speaking) thought 'Sounds...' was a Beatles song. Simon&Garfunkel were, to me, synonymous with - Mrs. Robinson, Boxer, Scarborough Fair, Bridge over Troubled Waters and (the less popular, though equally beautiful) Bright Eyes - but never their single most smashing hit! That was an orphaned entry on the yellow pages...people talking without speaking, people hearing without listening, people writing songs that voices never shared...till such time as I did not have google and wikipedia to enlighten me. Here's more of what wiki told me...the song was supposedly written in the "aftermath the assassination of J.F.Kennedy...as a way of capturing the emotional trauma felt by many Americans." Another interesting bit states, the song was "originally recorded as an acoustic piece for their [S&G] first album Wednesday Morning, 3 a.m."....and the album was declared a dud...leading the duo to their first split up. The song went on to become a hit in 1965, after Tom Wilson re-recorded it with electric guitar, bass and drums and released it as a single. I recently discovered a rather amusing version of the song, covered by (Bob) Dylan and (Paul) Simon...Dylan, growling and Simon bravely attempting to do the harmonies with him! Makes you appreciate Simon&Garfunkel (without pause, without spaces) all the more!

Anyway, trivia aside, what's so beautiful about the song is the haunting tenor that talks of, for me, a people snug in status quo, happily espousing the cause of antiquated traditions and neon gods...no one dared, disturb the sound of silence...of the human race that lies self-assured of its genius, yet writes its own doom every passing minute...in silence. The song is about us, the masses that go into the theatres to watch 'Rang de Basanti', clap and cheer and walk out feeling cleansed after the synthetically savoured catharsis...

I, for my part, think I absolve myself by writing socially critical blogs (bravo! bravo!). Thus can I sleep peacefully during the day. For, as in the words of me darlings...

I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail

Yes i would, if i could, i surely would

I'd rather be a hammer than a nail

Yes i would, if i only could, i surely would

Away, i'd rather sail away

Like a swan that's here and gone

A man gets tied up to the ground

He gives the world its saddest sound

Its saddest sound

I'd rather be a forest than a street

Yes i would, if i could, i surely would

I'd rather feel the earth beneath my feet

Yes i would, if i only could, i surely would.