I comment on songs about once every ten years... but I have to say that this song is one of the most moving songs that I have EVER heard. I'm probably showing my age (59) and I am beyond grateful to have been up close at the Central Park Concert, with something like 500,000 human beings who I hope were as moved as I was.  It's sort of funny, because I went to U of Michigan from 83-87, and of course the UMich stadium has a max capacity of like 115,000 people, so you'd think I'd be sort of blah about the concert.  I'm NOT a sports fan, and the football games were spectacular because just sitting in a place with that many people is an experience you can't describe - you have to live it.  BUT... it pales in comparison to what music does for my particular soul (and I'm a JuBu so I use that term loosely).   I can't think of another male duo that I've EVER heard that could move me to tears.  So, yeah, godlike - or in my case, Buddha-like.  

I think people shouldn't argue about music and say negative things about opinions - because there IS no right or wrong about music, just like art, food, wine, beer or anything that can't be looked at analytically or empirically. It's ridiculous to put someone down or argue. 

It's just one little human being (me) with an emotional response.  I really haven't had time to sit around commenting on the songs that Bill and Alanna play....

What I do is send money several times a year  - a very modest amount because I own an independent shipping store with my wife and we barely earn enough to live where we live in Westchester County, NY. 

And what I do is occasionally write to Bill and tell him how much I love and value him for changing my life for the last 20++ years with RP... and I share the gift of it with my customers by playing it nonstop in our store in Katonah, NY.  And a few listen to me raving about RP.  One medic who sits in an ambulance all day said I gave him the greatest gift. 

Bill gave me the greatest gift.  Period.  I believe that there is not a SINGLE other station that is even in the same universe of greatness.  I don't 'know' Bill, but still there is a kind of love I have for him because he is giving this to us.

Please appreciate it and please support it..... other than Bill, thankfully I have my wife of 33 years and I am 'blessed' to both live and work with her in our store. Never, ever been apart for more than 2 days in 33 years. And I have my parents and brothers (and their families). That's IT. 

So that's how important Bill and RP are to me. 

I LOVE you Bill... and thankfully you are (I hope) creating a legacy that your daughter will continue. 

Sorry for the digression... but you won't hear from me again for another 10 years, so I had to say all of this... somehow the Simon & Garfunkel song just had this effect on me after an almost IMPOSSIBLY busy day shipping hundreds of packages for the amazing people who live in the greater Katonah, NY area.

Love and compassion are really the most important things that we can do and give in our VERY short lives.  So sometimes I need to write it down....

Warmly
Matthew Peretz
Croton on Hudson, NY
Katonah, NY

Simply beautiful...

Whoa, relevant. 

Lovely music set this evening. 
I thought I was listening to My Favorites, but nope, I'm in the Main Mix. Much love, RP! 

 sfoster66 wrote:

Let's hope the white supremacist concept goes to hell along with its current "leader."  

The PERFECT song to follow Randy Newman's "Political Science".  A satire on US politics followed by a an absolutely gorgeous anthem.  Rather than listen to all the "talking heads" blathering commentary on today's political climate on the news, I much prefer hearing the same message in brilliant songs curated by a master "host".

i think back in october i watched the whole concert again on tv, maybe PBS station. it was so fun.

Love it..

always wonder  how much practicing they did for this show

they really nail it

This may be my least favorite Simon and Garfunkel song. But most of them are 9 and 10s for me so a pretty high bar. 

I just couldn't listen to Arts biography

love Simon and Garfunkel
But  The ship that sailed the moon
The Mayflower Yuck Wasn't that the begining of the end  sis-boom-bah-ekk

 boober wrote:
 
No he doesn't. Unless one missed a few years of school and can't be bothered to read.

this is terrible, and I apologize in advance, but it still cracks me up.

Q- What's the definition of art?

A -The lame half of Simon and Garfunkel

I know, I know, sorry!

I love a lot of S&G, and a lot of Paul Simon's solo work - some of it is among the best.

For me, this particular song is nowhere near in that league - it's a bit cheesy for my taste.

Paul Simon often seems to get overlooked as one of the best songwriters ever but I think he deserves the recognition for songs such as this.

That Magic.

 Businessgypsy wrote: 
But originally written in the Nixon Administration

For me, the original Paul Simon solo version captures a feeling that this just doesn't.

 vandal wrote: 
That's a funny way to put it, but I agree.  I think many of their tunes are fantastic - or even transcendent - but never felt that so much about this one.

I think that it starts out a bit rusty, but, wow, it gets going well soon enough, and then settles right into their peerless quantum harmony!

Doensn't get much better than S&G.

 joelbb wrote: 
Bach used an existing melody for his music. It's an old hymn.

He uses a lot of big words

Do we need this today or what.  I do.  Thank you.

Just turned on RP at work, this song is the first I'm hearing, right from the beginning... it's gonna be a good day.  

 xkolibuul wrote: 
Well, Phil Collins lives half the year in Switzerland so I suppose that would be Suisse Genesis.

What? 

I love these guys,

 Businessgypsy wrote: 
Oh, gosh, you're right. I'd forgotten the time period and this did fit it well.

So good. 

Interesting little artifact of the Carter administration malaise.

 joelbb wrote: 
And exactly which music is sui generis?  

this song makes me cry....

Paul Simon went all the way back to J. S. Bach to steal this tune.  In the end, for all his ability, he's a whiny, musical klepto.

 Queue wrote: 
That's a Fender Rhodes electric piano through a phaser effect.

 CMax wrote: 

Yep — that was me there too, age 18...

I'm generally not a fan of live shows, especially these huge ones.  Good tune, but I prefer the studio version.

Simon - Garfunkel = listenable

Simon + Garfunkel  = The Folksmen (minus one)

 eswiley2 wrote: 
American Tune isn't even within the same realm of existence as Bridge Over Troubled Water. . . 
 

 Queue wrote: 
With the electric piano, think of the concert in central park as the largest Bar Mitzvah ever . . .

I love S&G, and appreciate the significance of this concert,  but I can't stand that "piano" that pervades throughout. 

Give me the original recordings any day over this Central Park stuff.

One on my favorite concerts. 18 in new york, with new university friends.. getting cozy with the girls on the next blanket over.  great memories.. an american moment.

 catnip wrote: 
Thanks for sharing this lovely memory! It made me grin, and also gave me a new appreciation for Simon and Garfunkel, because some of their music can still give me shivers, too - in the best possible way...  to a "kindred spirit."

One of my very, very favorites!
 

Second only to Bridge Over Troubled Water.

"Words by Paul Simon music by JS Bach" I thought I recognized that tune. O Sacred Head Now Wounded. "Pas­sion Chor­ale, Hans L. Hass­ler, Lust­gar­ten neu­er teutsch­er Ge­säng, 1601; har­mo­ny by Jo­hann S. Bach, 1729."

 TanteJensen wrote: 

Cool!
Many hymns are borrowed from an older traditional melody.  

beautiful melody, beautiful song

The Concert at Central Park was such an important album for those of us coming into musical maturity in the early 80s. I believe it was also given away as a free cassette when you bought a Betamax video player so that it was the only pre-recorded video in a lot of households around then.

I too had it on double cassette and fell in love with those live versions of classic songs. Thanks for playing this. 

seiferth wrote: Hardly, but it did capture the malaise of the Carter Administration perfectly. We've moved on.

I'm surprised they didn't have the decency to look back and realise they had been treated to potentially the best ever live album by way of Concert in Central Park

I'm not a great one for live versions, but this one does it for me. My sister (hello Fishtank Lady!) and I used to have a cassette version of the Concert in Central Park which we took on holiday with us aged twelve or so, and forced our parents (classical music lovers mostly) to listen to it almost constantly over the course of a two-week car tour of south-western France. I am surprised that they still talk to us, and I'm also surprised that I can still listen to it, but the first thing my sister and I did before going on a road trip in southern Spain more than twenty-five years later was stop by the record shop and pick up a CD copy. Worth every centimo (even if I still have the cassettes).

Still sends shivers down the spine...

I remember listening to this song a few years back, in my car just coming off the freeway, and how it hit me so hard. It was one of those moments that comes along every once in a while.

 bhudevi wrote: 

Yes she does.  Eva has some gems in her collection.  This song
American Tune kept me going when I lived overseas.

Still a great tune

The anthem of those under 50 despite when it was released. Yeah there are oblique references to WWII and it ignores the recent more imperialist America but basically, it's what it's like nowdays.  What a beautiful song.

 On_The_Beach wrote: 
I would love to hear the studio version on RP. TGRS is such a great album.

a great song, performed with all the musical excitement you'd expect in the lounge of the holiday inn on the highway just outside of town.

snore.

Okay, there is a big part of this that is taken from an old hymn, 'Oh Sacred Head, Now Wounded*.  The 'Come on the ship they call Mayflower' part is where I can hear it.... 

  okay, just saw where pyro and bokey were talking about this earlier.... Note to self, read back-posts before commenting....

I usually like Art's vocals but in this case I prefer Paul's version on There Goes Rymin' Simon.

 vit wrote:  I'm a West coaster born and bred and have to agree that NYC is one helluva place. This song is beautiful, too.

how appropriate a song for our times... odd, especially considering it's 36 years old.

I'm an American and I love Simon and Garfunkel.

These guys provide some of the same good vibes for me as good classic Brooklyn hip hop. I think it's the culture of the city of New York just steeped into every verse. Subdued vivacity? Some sort of wisdom? Exceptions as the norm? Hell I don't know, but love or hate NYC as a place its culture has put out some awesome music.

 oldsinger wrote: 

Let me refrain that: How can you?

Sometimes I just want to retreat from the workaday world and listen to Simon & Garfunkel all day long.

Ok, this is being very smartassy, BUT the church song (by Paul Gerhardt) is a cover as well. The original melody and text were written bei Hans Leo Haßler around 1600, and it was a love song: "Mein G'mÃŒt ist mir verwirret, das macht ein Jungfrau zart" ("Dazed and confused, and the reason is a girl" roughly). Sry, but I can't stand the christians getting any credit they don't deserve. Still great.

Eva Cassidy does an amazing cover of this song

pret-a-porter wrote: I'd say you're missing everything. This is a song about hope, facing the future with optimism and determination. In fact, I think it is ultimately about redemption. OBTW, wasn't Canada a colony at one point, too? I guess we just took two different paths to independence.

ruthless wrote: More so. Just brilliant.

philbertr wrote: Sweet and nostalgic...for both the America we expected and don't quite have yet, and for the sweet musical marriage that S & G once had

I started 2008 listening to Paul Simon, my vinyl There Goes Rhymin' Simon and Still Crazy After All These Years. Seemed to me like a great way to start a new year. I love this song, and the sweet harmonies.

bokey wrote: Wow, thanks for this! I had heard something familiar in the tune, but never pinned it down. Damn, these guys sound smooth in this concert!

Just as valid now as it was in the 70's.

steeler wrote: So well said!

stet wrote: I concur - I have their box set but only listen to the Central Park album.

The Central Park concert album that this comes from is total one-stop shopping for S&G.

Understated brilliance. Quiet dignity. Elegantly probing.

badabumm wrote: Hey I remember that(with the help of google) #172 in The Lutheran Hymnal. Wow. Elemenatary school flashbacks. (allright,I'll go stand in the corner again. All I did was ask how we could possibly know if the bible is true) 1. O sacred Head, now wounded, With grief and shame weighed down, Now scornfully surrounded With thorns, Thine only crown. Men mock and taunt and jeer Thee, Thou noble countenance, Though mighty worlds shall fear Thee And flee before Thy glance. How art thou pale with anguish, With sore abuse and scorn! How doth Thy visage languish That once was bright as morn!

Very nice.

My favourite S & G. I like the music as much as the lyric.

Classic White Boy Soul.....S&G can truly grasp your soul and tear it into very neat bite sized pieces.....

wah wah wah oh woe is me - it's so hard to be a united statesian am I missing something or is this song a very offensive apologist polemic for colonialism

How can you not love S&G music!

Mmmmm one of my most favorite bands of all time!

meower215 wrote: Unfortunately we're going to have to wait until after Xmas to see the sparks really fly. (Except for Rumsfeld.) Still, that just puts it closer to the 2008 elections, which can't hurt under the new CW.

I'm singing it, so it is from so many years

mojoman wrote: & now, with the possibility for change. . . possibility I say, not probability..... but there is finally hope

To put this song in it's cultural context, it was released at the height of the Nixon Watergate scandal, the bad end to the Vietnam War and other "downers." It was incredibly meaningful then. I wonder if that's why Bill has chosen it now.

Willie Nelson does an excellent cover of this song.

This song always brings tears to my eyes.

So corny it's good!

Daveinbawlmer wrote: You've lost your soul.

I heard this today and am still singing it after 11 hours. So perfect. Yes Edie is a lucky girl, and she's earned it too.

After 9/11 I listened to this a lot and drew comfort from it. Beautiful song.

eclipse601 wrote: Beatles did that as well, with "Michelle," I believe, having either the chorus or verses lifted somewhat from Bach

There are still some things that can bring a cynical codger to tears...almost

Tragically timely, and so many years after it was written.

We come on the ship they call the Mayflower We come on the ship that sailed the moon We come in the age's most uncertain hour And sing an American tune. But it's alright, it's alright You can't be forever blessed. Still, tomorrow's going to be another working day And I'm trying to get some rest That's all I'm trying to get some rest. Priceless.

Sigh. I don't care that he looks like a troll, or that he's about 4 inches shorter than me, or that he's already married to that large-mouthed Edie Brickell (they ARE still married, right?)... I would be Paul Simon's love slave, just to hear him strum his guitar and sing to me on a regular basis. Sigh. (Plus, we share the same birthday... we could celebrate together! Of course we'd invite all you RPeeps.)

It doesn't get any better than this.

Another Saturday night, stuck in front of the computer, writing the dissertation -- school's started and I'm a migrating teacher at two different universities. And I finally heard from my friend in NO and she and her family are OK. I'm just trying to get some rest ... I really needed to hear that song.

Posted 19 years ago by KitKat    [ Reply ]

As true today as it was 30 some years ago. Sad.

Mrs. Fish's favorite. She asked me to say thanks, Bill. Outstanding tune.

Clear, pristine beauty.

Especially a song like this makes clear how much they owe to The Everly Brothers, but in some ways they took it (much) further. Really beautiful for an incurable, inveterate romantic.

I agree, make it the national anthem! I saw them live in my town.....the songs were still profound and spoke clearly of all the things within the human spirit-it was and is timeless music and lyrics...it held up today as well as it did back in those days....it was awesome to hear such inspiration floating over the airwaves

I've thought for at least 20 years that this should be made the national anthem. It's truly beautiful and awe-inspiring -- and honest. Ditch that old English drinking song with the lyrics about the fort being attacked that nobody can sing.

Love this song, but prefer Paul's solo original. Willie Nelson also does a nice version of this and of Graceland on his great Across the Borderline CD.

skindy wrote: :nodhead: :goodvibes:

WOW!! Simon and Garfunkel really know how to rock!!!