The Dangling Conversation
by Simon and Garfunkel

It’s a still life water color,
Of a now late afternoon,
As the sun shines through the curtained lace
And shadows wash the room.
And we sit and drink our coffee
Couched in our indifference,
Like shells upon the shore
You can hear the ocean roar
In the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs,
Are the borders of our lives.

And you read your Emily Dickinson,
And I my Robert Frost,
And we note our place with bookmarkers
That measure what weve lost.
Like a poem poorly written
We are verses out of rhythm,
Couplets out of rhyme,
In syncopated time
Lost in the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs,
Are the borders of our lives.

Yes, we speak of things that matter,
With words that must be said,
Can analysis be worthwhile?
Is the theater really dead?
And how the room is softly faded
And I only kiss your shadow,
I cannot feel your hand,
You’re a stranger now unto me
Lost in the dangling conversation.
And the superficial sighs,
In the borders of our lives.

Paul Simon and Arthur Garfunkel

A Short Story About Two Guys From Queens, New York…
Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel grew up in the same Forest Hills neighborhood just blocks away from one another and were classmates at Parsons Junior High School and Forest Hills High School in New York City.

Close friends since childhood, they began performing together in their junior year as Tom and Jerry, with Simon as Jerry Landis (whose last name he borrowed from a girl he had been dating) and Garfunkel as Tom Graph (so called because he was fond of tracking (“graphing”) hits on the pop charts).

They began writing their own songs in 1955, and made their first professional recording, “Hey, Schoolgirl”, for Sid Prosen of Big Recods in 1957. Released on 45 and 78 rpm records, the song—with B side “Dancin’ Wild”—sold 100,000 copies, hitting #49 on the Billboard charts. Both Simon and Garfunkel have acknowledged the tremendous impact of The Everly Brothers on their style, and many of their early songs (including “Hey, Schoolgirl”) bear the mark of this influence.

They later performed their hit on American Bandstand, right after Jerry Lee Lewis’s “Great Balls of Fire”.

Subsequent efforts in 1958 did not reach near their initial success, and after high school the duo went to separate colleges, with Simon enrolling at Queens College and Garfunkel at Columbia University. While enrolled in college, they both joined the same fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi.

In 1963 they found prominence as part of the Greenwich Village folk music scene. Simon, who had finished college but dropped out of Brooklyn Law School, had—like Garfunkel—developed an interest in the folk scene. Simon showed Garfunkel a few songs that he had written in the folk style: “Sparrow”, “Bleecker Street”, and “He Was My Brother”—which was later dedicated to Andrew Goodman, a friend of both Simon and Garfunkel, and a classmate of Simon’s at Queens College, who was one of three civil rights workers murdered in Neshoba County,Mississippi, on June 21, 1964.

Reverting to their surnames, Simon and Garfunkel scored a folk-rock hit with “The Sounds of Silence,” one of the cornerstone songs of 1965 with its urbane, poetical lyrics and astute blend of folk and rock elements.

As their literate brand of folk-rock connected with listeners across the age spectrum, the duo became stars. In 1966 alone, they placed three albums and four singles in the Top Thirty, including such solipsistic singalong favorites as “I Am a Rock” (#3) and “Homeward Bound” (#5), Bridge Over Troubled Water, as well as their soundtrack contributions to the film The Graduate. Ultimately, Bridge Over Troubled Water – which featured the hymnlike title track, sung by Garfunkel in an arching tenor – topped the U.S. album charts for ten weeks and went on to sell 13 million copies worldwide.

You could probably take almost any song by Simon and Garfunkel and present it as a poem. Like a lot of songwriters in the sixties, they were extremely poetic. You could say that they wrote poetry set to music. They were very prolific writers. What I always found touching about their songs was their sensitivity. They were probably in their twenties went they wrote some of their more popular songs. At such a young age, their songs seemed to have a very mature perception about loneliness. In this song, it seems to be about a man going through the process of ending a relationship. You could almost feel like you are easdropping in on the actual breakup. ~ Laurita

The lines that touched me were:

 “Like a poem poorly written,
We are verses out of rhythem,
Couplets out of rhyme,
In syncopated time.”

Wow.

[mp3j track=”thedanglingconversation.mp3″]

…And here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson, who is the poetress hostess with the mostess, hey, hey, hey…

11 CommentsChronological Reverse Threaded

deletereply bostonsdandd wrote on Feb 19, ’08 Again thanks so much. Chuck loves Simon and Garfunkel. I think this could be his favorite song. If I have to come back you’ll know why LOL.

deletereply sanssouciblogs wrote on Feb 19, ’08 Hey, hey, ha, ha! Mrs. Robinson! Not sure if I told you but Rob Schwimmer, Rob’s cousin toured with Paul Simon last year! He’s the one who plays with Mark Stewart in their group the Polygraph Lounge–well Mark backed up all the groups when Paul Simon was televised, getting the Library of Congress Award recently. He was playing the whole time with almost every group–they were there honoring Paul by doing his songs. I know Parsons JHS–it’s in the district where I worked–across from Queens College! So many crossed paths. They are just 2 down to earth boys who grew up into wonderful men. Every song is great. Pure genius!

deletereply sandpearl wrote on Feb 19, ’08 “Aloneness” in togetherness. Good choice Laurita.

deletereply mntsinger wrote on Feb 19, ’08 I too love their music; thank so much for posting both of these. I do love this one.

deletereply starfishred wrote on Feb 19, ’08 Wonderful and like I always say most music is just poetry put to music.Thank you a wonderful presentation.Now I am of to see Mrs.Robinson heheheh.

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Feb 20, ’08 I found the lyrics to this song to be very profound and touching.

deletereply zafreud wrote on Feb 20, ’08 A famous and always welcome duet!!! Their music is so “soft” and sensitive, like a caress to ears…As for the verses, nothing less than poems!… Thank you for the soothing travel, Laurita!!!

Comment deleted at the request of the author.

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Feb 20, ’08 I think if they never wrote a single song, they still would have been known as poets.

deletereply philsgal7759 wrote on Feb 21, ’08 So appropriate for a Poetry Wednesday! BRAVO

editdeletereply lauritasita wrote on Feb 22, ’08 Thanks Narice ! They are really wonderful poets, aren’t they ?