Simon & Garfunkel: “The Sound of Silence” and more

The sound of silence is the sound of harmony in music. Paul Simon and

Art Garfunkel, the American music duo of the mid-sixties celebrated it in their song “The sound of Silence” in 1964. They specialised in soft rock and folk.
They came into prominence when their songs were featured in the 1968 Academy Award winning movie “The Graduate”. Dustin Hoffmann and Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson were in the movie. The songs “Mrs. Robinson”, “The Sound of Silence” and “Scarborough Fair” and two other songs of Simon & Garfunkel were in the movie. The movie was hit and songs were widely popular. It marked a trend in American life.
Simon & Garfunkel started as school mates in Kew Garden Hills neighbourhood in Queens, New York City in 1953. Simon was songwriter and singer and Garfunkel was a singer. They started composing their own songs and in 1957 recorded their first song “Hey, Schoolgirl”. It sold 100,000 copies. Onwards their career was faltering and in 1963 they recorded three songs as a part of Greenwich Village music in folk style: “Sparrow”, “Bleecker Street” and “He Was My Brother” in memory of their friend Andrew Goodman who died as a civil rights activist in Mississippi. The songs also flopped.
Simon & Garfunkel's partnership was marked by break ups and reunions. In 1965, Simon went to England. The mixture of electric backing as used by Bob Dylan in the folk style song “The Sound of Silence” of Simon changed the very genre of the song into folk-rock. It was popular and his compositions started drawing appreciation. He ultimately left for America. The duo was united and they released “The Sound of Silence” on January 17, 1966. It rose in the popularity chart. The songs in “The Paul Simon Songbook” were re-recorded; some with electric backing. “I Am a Rock” had such stimulating beat, the song reached to Number 3 in the chart. There were others “Leaves That Are Green”, “April Come She Will”, “A Most Peculiar Man”, and “Kathy's Song”. “Scarborough Fair” has the genre of English ballad.
While waiting at Ditton railway station on the outskirts of Widnes in North West England, Paul Simon was inspired to write “Homeward Bound”. Simon is quoted as saying “if you'd ever seen Widnes, then you'd know why I was keen to get back to London as quickly as possible.”
Mike Nichols was making the movie “The Graduate” with then little-known actor Dustin Hoffman; Simon & Garfunkel contributed heavily to the soundtrack. Mike Nichols became so fascinated with the music of Simon & Garfunkel that he requested for three more songs in addition to the one they have contributed. They were working on a song “Mrs. Roosevelt” but Nichols wanted it to be “Mrs. Robinson”. So, it was the popular song “Mrs. Robinson”, in 1968.
Afterwards, their relationship started deteriorating. They were working on the album “Bridge over Troubled Water”. It turned out to be their final album and not without tension. Simon declined to record a Bach chorale while Garfunkel objected to “Cuba Si, Nixon No”. Ultimately, the album was released on January 26, 1970. Garfunkel's soaring vocals were huge hits. “El Condor Pasa” (“If I Could”), “Cecilia” and “The Boxer” were mega hits. Their “Greatest Hits” sold over 14 million copies in the US and became the largest ever selling album in US by a duo. But Simon & Garfunkel had parted.
They temporarily met at a June 1972 benefit concert at Madison Square Garden for Presidential candidate George McGovern. Later, they sang a new song “My Little Town” together at NBC's Saturday Night Live. Simon & Garfunkel re-united again at New York's Central Park on September 9, 1981. 500,000 people attended the show and the live album was brought out under a cover “Wake Up Little Sussie”. The Coliseum hosted Simon & Garfunkel for a concert in 2004 that drew 600,000 fans.
The songs of Simon & Garfunkel have had a profound effect on the American social life. The title of the songs has such intimacy with life and the pictorial element that they take people down memory lane. “Mrs. Robinson” is such a familiar name that people readily identify, almost as if she is around in the next block. “Cecilia” could be our girl in the neighbourhood blooming in her engaging youth. “Are you going to Scarborough Fair” is like a plea that heart produced with its finest elements - as if every society knows the humming tune. “El Condor Pasa” (“If I Could”) has one of the finest imagery in songs - the song speaks your heart: “I would rather be a far standing tree; yes I would if I could”. It speaks of the inner thoughts of men. “The Sound of Silence” is the epitome of harmony in melody.

The writer is a film and music buff.