2. Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream (E. McCurdy) (2:08) - The tempo is moderately slow, in 3/4 time. This song, which features a banjo, is the only song on this album that includes any instruments other than acoustic guitars. No drums play on the whole album. The night before the setting of this song, the narrator dreamed that representatives from all countries of the world agreed never to go to war again. While it would be nice for such a thing to happen in real life, I doubt that it ever would, much less that the agreement would be kept.
3. Bleeker Street (2:43) - This moderately slow song is set at a street in New York on a foggy day. This song contains a few religious elements: the poet's sacrament, the church bell, and the land of Canaan. In those days, $30 was enough to pay rent for some apartments, but due to inflation over the past few decades, most rents are now 10 to 20 times as much.
4. Sparrow (2:47) - The tempo is moderate. The first word in each verse, "who," is sung over 2 1/2 measures. The cold, hungry sparrow has difficulty finding hospitality. The oak tree blatantly refuses to offer shelter, the swan refuses to befriend the sparrow for fear of being teased by other swans, and the golden wheat cannot feed the sparrow without dying. Finally, the Earth offers to "write [the sparrow's] eulogy." This song is probably an allegory lamenting people's lack of compassion for those who are less fortunate.
5. Benedictus (P. Simon/A. Garfunkel) (2:38) - The tempo is moderately slow. Apparently this song was originally a Gregorian chant, as it is sung in Latin and some syllables are sung over one or two measures.
6. The Sound Of Silence (3:04) - This moderate-tempoed song would later become the duo's first hit. The narrator dreams that he sees a crowd of people who give no thought to what they hear or say. The narrator warns the people that silence is cancerous, but they don't heed his words. Instead they pray to an idol, whose neon message is, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls / And tenement halls."
7. He Was My Brother (P. Kane) (2:47) - "Paul Kane" was an alias under which Paul Simon wrote this song. The tempo is moderately fast. The narrator, an 18-year-old black man, laments the murder of his older brother by a white mob during a civil-rights protest.
8. Peggy-O (Traditional) (2:23) - This song has a slow swing tempo. The captain of the narrator's army regiment falls in love with a young, blond-haired woman and takes her for a carriage ride. Then in the last verse, he reveals his dark side: if he ever comes back to the city, he will burn it and kill all the women who inhabit it.
9. Go Tell It On The Mountain (Traditional) (2:03) - This is one of two Christmas tunes on the collection. The narrator tells people to shout from the peaks that "Jesus Christ is born!"
10. The Sun Is Burning (I. Campbell) (2:46) - This soft, moderate song illustrates the horrors of a nuclear bombing. Just before the literal sun sets, all is paradise. Trees and flowers abound, little children return to their homes after playing in the park, and couples hold hands while awaiting the sunset. But just before it is completely dark, a nuclear bomb falls from the sky; the bomb is the "sun" that comes to earth. In the last verse, everyone disfigured, angry, and fearful.
11. The Times They Are A-Changin' (B. Dylan) (2:50) - This song has a moderately fast 3/4 tempo with hard plucking of the guitar strings. The narrator entreats people throughout the United States to gather together and hear what they must do to adapt to the changing times. I see plenty of antithesis here, though most of it is in the last verse. "The loser now will be later to win," "the slow one now will later be fast," "the present now will later be past," and "the first one now will later be last."
12. Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. (2:12) - The pendulum has swung completely from the beginning to the end of the album--from the realm of religion to the realm of sexual pleasure. As the narrator gazes intently at his lover, he realizes that in a few hours the sun will be up and he will have to leave, apparently for the filming of a movie in which he plays a man who robs a store that sells alcoholic beverages.
14. Leaves That Are Green (2:21) - This fast song features a harpsichord or some similar instrument. The mood is somber, however. The narrator used to have a girlfriend, whose love for him is now gone. Now all he hears is hello and goodbye. "And the leaves that are green turn to brown."
15. Blessed (3:13) - This song has a slow, 12/8 tempo. The drums, loud and clear throughout the song, roll on the first two lines of each verse. This song satirizes the Biblical saying, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit."
16. Kathy's Song (3:18) - This moderately fast ballad consists only of guitars and Paul's voice. He had a girlfriend named Kathy at the time, and that name appears again later in the S&G discography. Apparently Kathy is in England, where the narrator says "[his] heart lies." He wonders why he wastes time writing songs that don't make sense to him; he is now disillusioned with all he once believed in, except for Kathy.
17. Somewhere They Can't Find Me (2:25) - This moderately fast song opens with a soft guitar solo. Lyrically this is a variation of "Wednesday Morning," and the focus is on the narrator's search for a hideout from the police after his liquor-store robbery.
18. Anji (D. Graham) (2:14) - This instrumental, consisting only of guitars, has the same tempo as the previous song. Some parts are similar to the opening guitar solo in the previous song. Other parts are musically similar to the title lines of "We've Got A Groovy Thing Goin'," which appears four songs from now.
19. Richard Cory (2:55) - The tempo is moderately fast. I really like the guitar that plays the very low notes. This song was based on a poem by E.A. Robinson. The narrator, an overworked and underpaid laborer at a factory owned by Richard, wishes he could have the wealth that Richard has. On the other hand, Richard is not happy despite having so much wealth. A short drum solo in the last verse provides the sound effect of Richard committing suicide.
20. A Most Peculiar Man (2:30) - This moderate-tempoed song features a tambourine and a drum that makes a similar sound to a washboard. The subject of this song is very reclusive; like the subject of the previous song, he commits suicide.
21. April Come She Will (1:48) - A guitar is the only instrument in this moderately fast song. Art's breathy, falsetto voice provides all the vocals. The setting starts in April, when the narrator's girlfriend returns to him. By June, however, her love flickers out; in July she leaves him again; and in August she dies. The song ends as autumn approaches and the narrator realizes that "a love once new has now grown old."
22. We've Got A Groovy Thing Goin' (1:57) - This fast song features a tambourine and a horn. A drum solo fills the first several seconds. The narrator, having done his best to make his girlfriend happy, wonders why she is leaving him and throwing away the "groovy thing" they have going.
23. I Am A Rock (2:50) - This song starts and ends with a slow, rolling guitar solo, but the prevalent tempo is moderate. The narrator, having been hurt by love and friendship, now disdains both. He now prefers solitude, using the rock and the island as metaphors for himself.
2. Patterns (2:42) - The tempo starts moderately slow and gradually speeds up, although the African drums play rapidly. The lowest guitar string is plucked aggressively a couple of times during the opening; the higher strings play in a way that evokes confusion and agitation. The narrator finds patterns in every aspect of his life, patterns over which he has little control.
3. Cloudy (2:11) - This song, featuring a bell, starts very slow, then becomes moderately fast. The sky above the narrator has been cloudy for a long time. The narrator's mind is also cloudy; his thoughts are confused and limitless. He begs the sun to show itself and clear both the sky and his mind.
4. Homeward Bound (2:28) - This song opens and closes with a short guitar solo. During the verses the tempo is moderately slow; during the chorus it's moderately fast. This song is autobiographical, and Paul is the "poet and one-man band" in the first verse.
5. The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine (2:41) - This fast song features an organ. This is probably a satire, for the narrator advertises this "big bright green pleasure machine" (probably an army tank) as the ultimate stress-reliever.
6. The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) (1:40) - The tempo is slightly faster than moderate. After several measures of a guitar solo, the drums enter. This carpe-diem song was probably titled after a bridge on New York's 59th Street.
7. The Dangling Conversation (2:36) - This moderately slow song features a bell and a string quartet. The only drums are the ones that pound between the lines of the third verse. The narrator and his girlfriend grow distant as the song progresses. They are "verses out of rhythm, couplets out of rhyme, in syncopated time" because they are not suitable for each other like they once thought they were.
8. Flowers Never Bend With The Rainfall (2:10) - This song has a fast tempo. A tambourine plays in this and the next song. The narrator can't tell fact from fiction, and he doubts that what he sees in his mirror is himself. He decides to cope with this situation by pretending that he'll live forever and rain will never bend flowers. I like how he says that he'll "continue to continue."
9. A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara'd Into Submission) (2:12) - This song, like "Pleasure Machine," is moderately fast and includes an organ. The narrator was almost labeled as a Communist because of his left-handedness. Robert McNamara was the Secretary of Defense under President Lyndon Johnson. The narrator uses McNamara and many other famous people as metaphors for himself. In the last verse he even uses Art's name and that of Roy Halee, the engineer of the duo's studio recordings.
10. For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her (2:03) - The tempo is moderate most of the time, but speeds up sometimes. The volume also varies a lot. Guitars are the only instruments here. Here's another wonderful solo by Art.
11. A Poem On The Underground Wall (1:52) - This moderate-tempoed song starts and ends with a soft bass drum solo. In the right speaker I hear the distant sound of a tambourine. The man talked about in this song is waiting for the last train in the subway station to leave. Once it does leave, he scrawls graffiti with crayons, then ascends the stairs to the street.
12. 7 o'Clock News/Silent Night (arranged by P. Simon/A. Garfunkel) (1:58) - Here's the other Christmas tune. Paul and Art probably used it as a protest song, as in the background is a news report of events such as murders and protest marches.
14. Save The Life Of My Child (2:48) - This song has a moderate tempo. The boy sitting on the ledge is very depressed, apparently after trying in vain to find happiness through drugs. The sound effects following the chorus illustrate the cries of the boy's mother that his life be saved. Just before the verse about the helpless policeman, I hear the opening words to "The Sound Of Silence": "Hello darkness, my old friend." From the words "he flew away" in the last verse, I infer that he jumps from the ledge to his death.
15. America (3:35) - The fading from the previous song overlaps this one for the first 2 seconds. The tempo is slow and in 12/8 time. This is the song in which the name Kathy reappears. The narrator, having hitchhiked from Saginaw, Michigan, to Pittsburgh over the past 4 days, has "come to look for America," to attempt to realize his American Dream. He and Kathy buy pies and cigarettes, then board a Greyhound. However, he never mentions their destination.
16. Overs (2:08) - The only instrument in this slow song is a guitar. At first the narrator asks the girl that they end their relationship because they used up all their pleasure very quickly. In the end, however, he says that he thinks the situation over before calling it quits.
17. Voices Of Old People (compiled by P. Simon/A. Garfunkel) (2:07) - Paul and Art visited nursing homes in New York and Los Angeles to record these voices. The voices are a prelude to the next song.
18. Old Friends (2:35) - This song, slightly slower than moderate, features bells and violins. The narrator first talks about elderly people who sit quietly in the park, then asks his girlfriend to picture them years from now doing the same thing.
19. Bookends (1:19) - During the first 12 seconds, the last two long, vibrating violin notes from the previous song overlap the soft guitar solo of this song. The narrator advises us to maintain our memories of innocent times because the memories are all that life leaves us with.
20. Fakin' It (3:15) - This song, having a moderate tempo, features string instruments, horns, bells, and hand-clapping. The most interesting verse here is the one about the narrator's supposed previous life as a tailor. During that verse, a woman opens the tailor's door, greets him, and asks him if his day has been busy.
21. Punky's Dilemma (2:12) - This soft song has a swing tempo slightly faster than moderate. Instruments and sound effects include bells, finger-snapping, and, during the third verse, a door opening and closing. In the first verse the narrator imagines what life would be like if he were a Kellogg's cornflake; in the second verse he ponders what he would do if he were an English muffin. The narrator would rather live either of those two lives than fight in Vietnam.
22. Mrs. Robinson (4:01) - The guitar licks in this fast song are awesome. Guitars are the only instruments here. In most occurrences of the chorus, the narrator urges the title character to find salvation through Jesus. But in the final singing of the chorus, the narrator laments the retirement of Joe DiMaggio from the baseball field. This song was featured in the 1968 movie The Graduate.
23. A Hazy Shade Of Winter (2:17) - A tambourine, horns, and an oboe play in this moderately fast song. In the first verse, the narrator looks back on what has become of him as a result of the days in which he was hard to please. A Salvation Army marching band is mentioned in the second verse. In the third verse, the narrator tells the girl that if she loses her hopes, she should pretend she can rebuild them. Perhaps it is winter in the girl's mind as well as literally.
24. At The Zoo (2:21) - The tempo is fast. Chimes slide back and forth during the softer parts of this song. The narrator believes that all the excitement is at the zoo. He assures us that it's not a long way to the zoo; we can walk or, if the weather's bad, ride a bus. I find meaning in the line "Zebras are reactionaries" because reactionaries see everything as either black or white, and therefore don't want any change in the status quo. The remarks about other animals baffle me, but I find this wacky song amusing.
2. El Condor Pasa (If I Could) (J. Milchberg/D.A. Robles/P. Simon) (3:07) - My favorite S&G song was originally written in Spanish in the 1930s; Paul translated it into English. The song starts with a rolling Spanish-guitar solo. Once the singing starts, other instruments enter, including soft drums, a flute, and a clarinet. The narrator wishes he could be a sparrow instead of a snail, a hammer instead of a nail, and a forest instead of a street.
3. Cecilia (2:54) - This song, slightly slower than moderate, features a piano, hand-clapping, and chimes. For most of the song, the narrator begs Cecilia to stop breaking his heart and resume loving him. In the last verse, she answers his pleas and he is very happy.
4. Keep The Customer Satisfied (2:33) - This moderately fast song features a tambourine, an organ, and horns. From 1:26 on, the volume is loud; from 2:07 to the very last note, the horns play at full volume. The narrator is glad to be home after being harassed everywhere he has gone.
5. So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright (3:41) - The tempo of this soft song is moderate. African drums enter after the first half-minute. Other instruments include a string quartet and a flute. The narrator bids farewell to the late architect, with whom he used to sing for entire nights.
6. The Boxer (5:08) - Like "Bridge," this moderate-tempoed song starts softly and crescendoes near the end. However, this song ends with a soft guitar solo. One instrument here is probably a low-pitched harmonica or some kind of organ. A string quartet and bass horns play during the crescendo sequence near the end, during which the chorus is repeated 6 times. The narrator, the boxer, had left home as a boy. Cold, hungry, and unable to find work, he longs to go back home.
7. Baby Driver (3:15) - This moderately fast song features a tambourine. During the middle instrumental a sax plays lead over some horns. During the ending instrumental the key changes from D to E. During both instrumentals I hear the sound effect of a racecar zooming by. During the last several seconds I hear the voice of an announcer for a car race. In the first two lines of each verse the narrator tells what his father does and what his mother does. In the third verse his parents are out celebrating their elevations in socioeconomic status, so the narrator and his girlfriend have the house to themselves. They decide to go to his bedroom and satisfy their sexual urges.
8. The Only Living Boy In New York (3:57) - The tempo is slow. The narrator tells his friend Tom to get to the airport in time to catch a plane to Mexico. The narrator, meanwhile, will keep track of the weather by listening to the news. Wouldn't it be scary to be the sole surviving boy in the largest city in the United States?
9. Why Don't You Write Me (2:45) - This song, a bit faster than moderate, features a tick-tock drum; during the instrumental I hear either a horn or a sax--low-pitched, in any case. I like that bass voice in the second verse. But I have one question: how can the narrator get mail if he's in the jungle?
10. Bye Bye Love (F. and B. Bryant) (2:55) - This is the only live recording in this whole collection. This version of an Everly Brothers hit is slightly slower and one key lower than the original. The audience clap their hands on every second and fourth beat.
11. Song For The Asking (1:47) - Although this is a studio recording, the clapping and cheering from the previous song overlaps the first 5 seconds of this one. This moderate 6/8 song features a string quartet but lacks drums. The narrator will play a song for his girlfriend whenever she asks him to. This is also the "song for the asking" for all of us because it is the last song Paul and Art sing together before embarking on solo careers.