An In-depth Analysis of Select Songs by Simon and Garfunkel and Paul Simon, Study notes of Music

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The Sound of Silence:

An Analysis of Selected Songs by Simon and Garfunkel

Diplomarbeit

zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades

eines Magisters der Philosophie

an der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz

vorgelegt von

Georg LUKAS

am Institut für Anglistik

Begutachter: Ao. Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. phil. Hugo Keiper

Graz, 2016

Acknowledgements

There are many people who supported me throughout the process of writing this diploma thesis. First and foremost, I want to thank my professor Dr. Hugo Keiper for his patience and support throughout my writing process. It was his passion for songwriters and song lyrics that inspired me to write this thesis. Obviously I am also very grateful to my parents, who were willing to listen to my occasional complaints and encouraged me to continue my efforts in this thesis. My parents were also the ones to introduce me to the music of Simon and Garfunkel in the first place. Finally, I want to thank my sisters, Emma and Elisabeth, who have become quite the experts on Simon and Garfunkel by now.

Table of Contents

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Paul Simon
• 3. Simon and Garfunkel
• 4. Introduction: Song Analysis
• 5. “The Sound of Silence”
  • 5.1. Historical Background
  • 5.2. Impact
  • 5.3. Music and Structure of “The Sound of Silence”
  • 5.4. Analysis and Interpretation of “The Sound of Silence”
• 6. “Mrs. Robinson”
  • 6.1. Historical Background
  • 6.2. Impact
  • 6.3. Music and Structure of “Mrs. Robinson”
  • 6.4. Analysis and Interpretation of “Mrs. Robinson”
• 7. “The Boxer”
  • 7.1. Historical Background
  • 7.2. Impact
  • 7.3. Music and Structure of “The Boxer”
  • 7.4. Analysis and Interpretation of “The Boxer”
• 8. “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
  • 8.1. Historical Background
  • 8.2. Impact
  • 8.3. Music and Structure of “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
  • 8.4. Analysis and Interpretation of “Bridge Over Troubled Water”
• 9. “You can call me Al”
  • 9.1. Historical Background
  • 9.2. Impact
  • 9.3. Music and Structure of “You can call me Al”
  • 9.4. Analysis and Interpretation of “You can call me Al”
• 10. Conclusion
• 11. References
• 12. Appendix
  • 12.1. English Abstract
  • 12.2. German Abstract

1. Introduction

There are many artists throughout music history who have had an enormous impact on the music of their time and subsequently on other artists. Some of these artists have gone on to be landmarks in music history, while others do not quite get the attention and admiration they would deserve. There is, however, no doubt about the fact that Simon and Garfunkel belong to the former group of artists. Simon and Garfunkel are amongst the rare phenomena in pop music that have helped to define and shape an era. The continuing fame and admiration of this folk-rock duo speak for themselves. Even if people are unfamiliar with Simon and Garfunkel as such, they most likely know their songs or have heard them at some point. The reason for this lies in Simon and Garfunkel’s ability to create melodies and convey lyrics that have resonated with many people and continue to do so to this day. Undoubtedly, the musical genius of Paul Simon played a major role in the lasting success of Simon and Garfunkel. After all, he was the songwriter of the duo and has continued to write songs after Simon and Garfunkel. The main focus of this diploma thesis will be on the examination of the lyrics of a number of representative songs by Simon and Garfunkel and Paul Simon.

In order to be able to analyse the songs I will first, examine who Simon himself was and where he came from. This is done in order to achieve a deeper understand of the musical force behind Simon and Garfunkel. The biographical section about Paul Simon is also provided, to illustrate that Paul Simon still continues to be an influential singer and songwriter today. I will shortly discuss his life, his importance within “Simon and Garfunkel”, his influence on contemporary music and the impact he has had on the music scene in general.

Similarly, I will outline the history and impact of “Simon and Garfunkel” in the next. I will discuss the beginning of the band and their rise to fame and finally the band’s breakup. There will also be a short discussion of the impact Simon and Garfunkel have had on the music scene during their time and their continuing influence on our present music, as well as their presence in contemporary pop culture. Again, the purpose of this section is to provide historical background in order to facilitate the analysis done in the main part of my thesis. Historical contexts are often crucial to understanding the content that the artist is trying to convey. This is particularly true of the singers and songwriters active in the folk genre of the 1960s and 70s, who would make political or social statements in their songs rather frequently.

The main part of my thesis will consist of the analysis and interpretation of the songs. I have selected five representative songs by Simon and Garfunkel and Paul Simon: “The Sound of Silence”, “Mrs. Robinson”, “The Boxer” and “Bridge over troubled Water”. These four songs were created and performed by Simon and Garfunkel during their active career in the second half of the 1960s. I have chosen these particular Simon and Garfunkel-songs is because they provide rich lyrical content and therefore, many different ways of interpreting them. Moreover, the songs represent the active years of Simon and Garfunkel and thus, reflect their entire career. Furthermore, the songs mentioned above are among the most famous songs ever created, which makes the content of the lyrics easily accessible for any reader. In addition, I will also analyse and interpret the song “You can call me Al” by Paul Simon, which he composed as a solo artist in the 1980s. As mentioned above, Paul Simon was the musical head of Simon and Garfunkel and did most if not all of the composing. Therefore, it seems fitting to examine a song by Paul Simon that was not composed or sung within the context of Simon and Garfunkel.

I will devote one section of my thesis to each song. Besides the analysis and the interpretation of the songs, I will always shortly outline the specific history, impact and the music and structure of each song. The exact procedure of the analysis and the interpretation will be outlined in the main part of my thesis.

2. Paul Simon

Paul Simon was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1941^1. He grew up in a musical family, his father being a bass player. His musical endeavours started when he met Art Garfunkel at the age of 11 in school. Art Garfunkel would turn out be an integral part of Simon’s career from an early stage onwards. Together they started singing and performing at school dances and Simon started writing songs for the duo. In 1957 the duo, then known under the name Tom and Jerry, landed their first hit “Hey, schoolgirl”, written by Simon, which reached No. 49 in the charts. After graduation from High School he studied English at Queens College in New York and earned a degree in English literature.

In the following years until 1964, he wrote several songs and sometimes worked together with Art Garfunkel. This cooperation would later lead to the formation of Simon and Garfunkel. The band Simon and Garfunkel will be discussed in further detail in the next section of this thesis.

After the breakup of Simon and Garfunkel in 1970, at the height of their success, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel went on to pursue separate paths. Garfunkel tried to get a foothold in acting, while Simon was focussing on his solo career. He released his album Paul Simon in 1972, which was quite successful in the USA and the UK. In this album the experimental nature of Paul Simon can be seen quite clearly, especially in the song “Mother and Child Reunion”. This particular song made Simon one of the first white men to be influenced by reggae in his song-writing. Generally the first half of the 1970s proved to be a very productive and successful period for Simon. After this great success with the album Paul Simon in 1972 he released There Goes Rhymin' Simon in 1973 and Still Crazy After All These Years in 1975. These last two albums also proved to be immense successes, both commercially and critically, containing some of Simon’s most popular songs, such as "Kodachrome", "Loves Me Like a Rock" or "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover", the latter even reaching number 1 on the Billboard Charts.

(^1) Biographical information taken from: “Paul Simon” (n.d.). [Online]. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Simon [17th May 2016]. “Simon and Garfunkel” (n.d.). [Online]. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_%26_Garfunkel [17th May 2016]. “Biography” (n.d.). [Online]. The Paul Simon Official Site. http://www.paulsimon.com/about/ [17th May 2016].

In the second half of the 1970s and the first half of the 1980s there was a considerable decline in Simon’s career and productivity. Even though he was involved in several projects, none of them became major hits. Noteworthy in this context is the album Hearts and Bones, released in 1983. The album was initially intended to be a collaborative effort between Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, which would have been the first real reunion of “Simon and Garfunkel” since their breakup. However, the project failed when Garfunkel left early on. This lead Simon to release Hearts and Bones as a solo album, and none of Garfunkel’s contributions were included. The album itself was a commercial flop and is considered a low point of Simon’s career.

In an attempt to overcome the stagnation of his career, Simon began to work on a new project the mid-80s. This project later became the highly acclaimed album Graceland. In order to do the recording he travelled to South Africa to draw inspiration from the culture. Graceland turned out to be mixture of many different styles, which made Simon’s record label doubt that it would a mainstream success. However, the album became Simon’s greatest success in over a decade. Mark Vinet states in his book Evolution of Modern Popular Music: A History of Blues, Jazz, Country, R&B, Rock and Rap:

A landmark […] was the 1988 award-winning album Graceland, by American musician Paul Simon, which represented a widely successful collaboration between Simon and black South- African musicians. Graceland played an important role in exposing ethno beat to audiences in Europe and North America. (Vinet 2004: 163)

The impact of Graceland was immense. The most lasting and recognised song of this album was probably the hit single “You can call me Al”, which was major success in the 1980s.

Simon’s next album was called The Rhythm of the Saints and proved to be a similarly successful as Graceland. In this album Simon focussed more on the Brazilian tradition. Vinet explains:

Four years later, Simon delivered The Rhythm of the Saints, which did for Brazilian music what Graceland had done for South-African music and was another multi-platinum seller. […]. In working with instrumentalists outside the Euro-American mainstream, these artists appear to have been inspired by an interest in fresh sounds as well as by a search for music that seemed authentic and uncontaminated by the commercial music industry. (Vinet 2004:

Simon’s willingness to bring in new elements from different genres and cultures is quite evident in these two albums, which, as already mentioned, had an enormous impact on the music scene to this day. Generally, it can be said that Simon was going through a rather

experimental phase in the 1980s in which he included all the influences mentioned above in his music. This goes to show Simon’s eagerness to broaden his musical horizons.

In the early 1990s Simon was heavily involved in writing a musical called The Capeman , which opened in 1998. Before the opening of the musical he released the album Songs from The Capeman. Both the musical and the album were commercial failures. Critical reviews were not particularly good, especially regarding the musical. The musical and the album proved to be one of the greatest flops in his career.

After the commercial and critical failure of his musical, Simon found himself in a crisis again in the late 1990s. However, this time he managed to quickly regain his success with the release of his album You’re the One in 2000. The album was considered a comeback for Simon and was his first successful album since The Rhythm of Saints. Simon found himself again on a successful path. His next album Surprise was another commercial success. Simon’s success has lasted to this day. His latest album is called So Beautiful or So What , which was yet another major success, both critically and commercially.

As can be seen, Paul Simon has been and still is very active, influential and successful in the music business. Despite the fact the he is and will remain to be better known for his work within Simon and Garfunkel, his solo career was certainly just as successful and influential as his career within Simon and Garfunkel. He received 12 Grammy Awards and also received an Oscar nomination for his song “Father and Daughter” in 2002. This goes to show that Paul Simon is a highly active singer and songwriter even to this day. He has remained a prominent and successful songwriter over several decades, which is something not many artists have achieved in their lives

3. Simon and Garfunkel

The early beginning of Simon and Garfunkel can be traced back to the childhood friendship of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. They began making music together at a very early stage^2. They wrote songs and performed under the name Tom and Jerry and they were even signed on to a record label. The duo began writing their own songs in 1955, and made their first

(^2) Information taken from: Simon and Garfunkel” (n.d.). [Online]. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_%26_Garfunkel [17th May 2016]. “Biography“(n.d.). [Online]. The Official Simon Garfunkel Site. http://www.simonandgarfunkel.com/biography/ [17th May 2016].

professional recording, "Hey, Schoolgirl," for “Big Records” in 1957. Their first major hit was "Dancin' Wild," which sold over a 100.000 copies. The duo tried to keep on being as successful, which, initially they could not manage to do.

In the year 1963 they started working on their debut album having already adopted the new name Simon and Garfunkel. This album was called Wednesday Morning, 3 AM and was recorded for Columbia Records and released in 1964_._ It contained several songs written by Paul Simon. One of those songs was called “The Sounds of Silence”. This was the early version of the later popular “The Sound of Silence”. The album itself did rather poorly on the commercial level. One of the reasons for this might be the rise of The Beatles at that time, which put Simon and Garfunkel in their shadow. Soon after the release of their debut album Simon and Garfunkel split up to go their separate ways. While Simon was in England that summer of 1965, an increased interest in „The Sounds of Silence" was noted by their management. The song also began to receive radio airplay in Boston. As a reaction to that the duo’s producer, Tom Wilson dubbed electric guitars, bass and drums onto the original "Sounds of Silence" track, thus turning the original folksong into a folk rock song.

Neither Simon nor Garfunkel were happy with the changes Wilson had made but due to the immense success they accepted it. They reunited to record more songs in the new style. They released their second album called Sounds of Silence in 1966 now with the slightly changed title “The Sound of Silence”. The new version of “The Sound of Silence” had reached number 1 in the billboard charts by New Year’s Day 1966. The album itself reached number 21 in the album charts. Furthermore, Wednesday Morning, 3 AM was re-released and reached number

30. Since the duo did not have too much time to come up with new songs after they reunited, Sounds of Silence was mostly a compilation of songs they had already made.

The next album was released in October 1966 and was called Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme , which included mostly original songs written by Simon and the album was named one of the 500 greatest albums by Rolling Stone Magazine. The name comes from the second line of the album's first track, "Scarborough Fair/Canticle".

Another important stage with Simon and Garfunkel is the film The Graduate^3. In the year 1967 they were working intensely on the soundtrack for this film. This would prove to be a major boost in the duo’s career and popularity. The movie was released in early 1968 and the movie soundtrack album rose to number one of the charts almost immediately. Soon after

(^3) Nichols, Mike, Director (1967). The Graduate [Film]. AVCO Embassy Pictures.

that Simon and Garfunkel released their new album Bookends which also became a huge success. The most famous song on that album is certainly “Mrs. Robinson”. However, the version used in the film is slightly different from the one on the album, which most people are probably familiar with. The soundtrack of the film also used “The Sound of Silence”. Originally “The Sound of Silence” was only used to determine the pace of the scene. It was supposed to be replaced by music that had been originally composed for the movie. However, they decided to buy the rights for “The Sound of silence” and put it into the movie. Nowadays it is commonplace to put music in movies that is already popular, which was quite revolutionary at the time. This is certainly one of the many reasons for Simon and Garfunkel’s long-lasting fame and on-going popularity.

They started working on their next album briefly after the release of Bookends. However, the release was delayed several times for various reasons. Garfunkel began pursuing a career in acting, which put quite a strain on the working schedule. Furthermore, the personal relationship between Simon and Garfunkel started to fall apart. Thus the recording of their final album called Bridge Over Troubled Water was not without tension. This can be seen in the fact that the album only has 11 instead of 12 (as originally planned) because the duo just could not agree on what to include. Since the work on this album was rather intense and time- consuming they had to turn down an invitation to perform at Woodstock-Festival in 1969. The album itself was released in 1970 and was hugely successful, including songs such as “Bridge over troubled water”, “Cecilia” and “The Boxer”. This album marked the very height of the popularity of Simon and Garfunkel. However, later in the year 1970 they decided to split-up again. Garfunkel moved more towards films while Simon stayed in the music business. In the next couple of years there were several shorts reunions of Simon and Garfunkel mostly for charity. Important to mention here is their 2003 tour in the USA called Old Friends.

All in all, it can be said that their influence was enormous and wide-reaching. From the very beginning of their fame, through the present time years after their break-up, Simon and Garfunkel have had a considerable impact on the popular culture. This becomes quite apparent in the numerous references made on TV in music etc. Their songs continue to be played on radio stations and many of their songs have been covered over and over again. One of the more recent examples is the TV-show “How I met your mother”^4. In the 22nd^ episode of the 4th^ series Marshall (one of the main characters) presents two over-lapping circles. One of

(^4) Lloyd, Stephen (2009). How I met your Mother (Right Place, Right Time) : Season 4 episode 22. CBS Broadcasting, Inc.

the circles represents the "people who are breaking his heart" while the other represents "people who are shaking his confidence daily". The overlapping section is labelled “Cecilia”. This is quite clearly a reference to the song “Cecilia” by Simon and Garfunkel, which is also part of their album Bridge Over Troubled Water. References and parodies of any kind are always a sign of the vitality and endurance of what is being referenced or parodied. It goes to show that the music of Simon and Garfunkel is alive and wide-spread, even several decades after its original release; otherwise such references would not be understood.

4. Introduction: Song Analysis

In this main part of my diploma thesis I will, interpret and analyse the following songs in the introduction. Each analysis of each song will follow the same basic two-part structure. In the first part I will provide historical background for the song including its origin and development over the years to the present. This is done in order to achieve a better understanding of the song in question and the various ways its lyrics can be interpreted in. Another aspect of this “Historical Background”-segment of my thesis will include the impact the song in question has had or still has on the contemporary culture and music. This is done in order to show the influence “Simon and Garfunkel”, in particular Paul Simon as the main writer and composer, have had in the music scene over the last decades. Furthermore, I will discuss and interpret the relationship between the lyrics and the melody and examine the overall structure and the rhyme scheme of the song. This is done because the melody oftentimes contributes greatly to the meaning of the song and it helps facilitate the analysis. Therefore, one has to consider the melody and the music to which the lyrics are set to in order to fully understand the meaning behind them.

In the main part of my analysis I will discuss the songs’ potential meaning and the message of the lyrics. In order to do this, I will provide the lyrics of the verses and choruses/refrains and subject each one of them to a critical analysis. Different possible meanings and interpretations are examined to find the most plausible explanations.

5. “The Sound of Silence”

5.1. Historical Background

“The Sound of Silence” is the first song in my analysis. It is the first great hit by “Simon and Garfunkel” and one of their most famous songs.

As with all of the Simon and Garfunkel songs the writing and composing of “The Sound of Silence” was done by Paul Simon. The song “The Sound of Silence”, as already mentioned in the previous section of my thesis, was originally part of the album Wednesday Morning, 3 AM , which initially was a commercial failure. However, their producer, Tom Wilson, noticed that this particular song was receiving more airplay. Therefore, he decided to remix the song and turn it into a folk-rock piece, unbeknownst to Simon and Garfunkel, who had split up at the time. The remix became immensely successful, prompting Simon and Garfunkel to reunite. “The Sound of Silence” became one of the duo’s most successful and famous songs and became their definite break-through in the music scene. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the remix version of “The Sound of Silence” is the one that most people are most familiar with.

“The Sound of Silence” did not only have a great influence on the career of Simon and Garfunkel but on other areas as well. As a result their success they were asked to write songs for the movie The Graduate. In this movie songs of the duo were used rather than a film score. However, the most revolutionary part was the decision to include “The Sound of Silence” in the movie. Before that only original music had been used for movies. As can be seen in later movies, the strategy of including songs that are already immensely successful in films has become a standard in film making.

The biography on Simon and Garfunkel’s official homepage states: “To say that the soundtrack started a lasting trend would be an understatement”^5. [The Official Simon and Garfunkel Site: 11th^ April 2016]

(^5) “Biography” (n.d.). [Online]. The Official Simon and Garfunkel Site. http://www.simonandgarfunkel.com/us/content/biography [11th April 2016].

5.2. Impact

“The Sound of Silence” is arguably one of the most famous songs of all time and remains so to this day. This is certainly due to the fact that it deals with issues that are still relevant today and will certainly continue to be relevant in the future. The on-going popularity of the song can be shown in numerous references, covers and parodies ever since its release. One of the more recent examples is an episode of The Simpsons , season 5, episode 21 ( Lady Bouvier’s Lover )^6 , which includes a parody of “The Sound of Silence” at the end. The entire episode pays homage to the film The Graduate. The inclusion of “The Sound of Silence” in The Graduate redefined the way music is used in movie and contributed greatly to the continuing popularity of the song. Due to the wide-spread use and impact of “The Sound of Silence” most people have heard the song at some point, even if they are unfamiliar with the duo Simon and Garfunkel.

5.3. Music and Structure of “The Sound of Silence”

There are many things to be said about the music and structure of this particular song. Generally speaking, songs by Simon and Garfunkel always tend to have a strong emphasis on the lyrics rather than on the melody. The melody is always in the background and kept simple and accessible. However, the words “simple” and “accessible” should not be confused with “cheap” and “clichéd”. Despite the fact that the melody is kept accessible, it can still be complex and multi-layered. The main function of the melody in “The Sound of Silence”, or indeed most Simon and Garfunkel songs for that matter, seems to be to support the lyrics and convey the message of the song. This is also a common feature amongst other artist of that time, especially in the folk-genre. Most of the singers and songwriters of that time were essentially poets, who placed a much greater emphasis on the lyrics than on the melody. This seems to be the case in “The Sound of Silence” as well. This becomes particularly obvious, when we take a look at the original version of “The Sound of Silence” on the album Wednesday Morning, 3 AM^7 , before it was commissioned for the remix by Tom Wilson. In this early version of “The Sound of Silence” only Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel are singing

(^6) Mirkin, David (1994). The Simpson: Season 5 episode 21 ( Lady Bouvier’s Lover) [TV- Series]. Fox Network. (^7) Simon and Garfunkel (1964). Wednesday Morning, 3AM: “The Sound of Silence“. Columbia Studios, New York.

and they are exclusively accompanied by guitar. The music is remains almost the same for all the verse and so the changes throughout the entire song are minimal. Generally, the music is kept much more in the background than in the remixed version, although it should be noted that even in the remixed version the lyrics and the vocals of Simon and Garfunkel are at the centre of attention. This is so despite the fact that the addition of drums, electric guitar etc. make it more difficult to understand the words at times. In my analysis of the song’s meaning I will proceed with the remixed version of the song in mind, since it is the one that most people are familiar with. However, I do think it makes sense to briefly point out the major differences between the two versions. This will help to reach a deeper understanding of the meaning of the lyrics and the artist’s intentions. It seems the main intent was to convey as much of the lyrics as possible to the audience, without the melody interfering too much with the comprehensibility of the words. For this reason only an acoustic guitar was employed, which allows the artist to accompany a song in an effective way while at same time avoiding overpowering the singing or distracting from it. This effect is held up for the duration of the original song, in fact the song ends as unspectacularly, in terms of melody, as it begins. This, however, is not entirely true for the remixed, albeit famous, version of “The Sound of Silence”, which was included in their second studio album, Sounds of Silence^8. The remixed version begins with the same acoustic guitar introduction as the original version, however, increasingly throughout the song electric bass, guitar and drums are added and their volume gets higher bit by bit. This process reaches its climax in verses 3 and 4 where the background music becomes loudest and most prominent. In the last verse the added background music retreats slowly until it fades out. The remixed song concludes with an electric guitar outro, which is the same as the original song melody-wise. This adds a slightly different, more dramatic spin to the song, especially when looking at the middle verse of the song. The song still focusses on the two singers and the lyrics but the added music here appears to push itself into the foreground at times, and thus slightly distracts from the content and the meaning of the lyrics. This can be seen in the remixed version in the refrain of verse 4 (“and echoed in the wells of Silence”) in which Simon and Garfunkel reduce the volume in their singing but the background music more or less stays the same, thereby nearly overpowering the two singers. This might not be of great significance in this instance, since it is the refrain, which the listener should be familiar with by now. However, in general, at least some of the listeners’ focus is drawn away from the singing and the lyrics to the accompanying instruments. As to whether or not the added background music helps to convey the intense and dramatic content

(^8) Simon and Garfunkel (1966). Sounds of Silence: “The Sound of Silence”. Columbia Studios, New York.

of the lyrics better or simply distracts from it, is a difficult question to answer and would probably exceed the limits of this thesis.

As I have mentioned above, most singers and songwriters of that time were essentially poets, which means that the lyrics of their songs can also to be treated as poems. When looking at the general structure of the lyrics, we see that they can be divided into 5 verses with the first three verses containing seven lines. The fourth verse contains only six lines and the fifth verse contains eight. Concerning the rhyme scheme there is a general pattern to the verses. The first six lines of the first three verses are rhyming couplets followed by a single non-rhyming line to conclude the verse. This would result in a rhyme scheme for the first verse of AA, BB, CC and D. This rhyme scheme applies to all but the last two verses. Since there are a different number of lines in these particular verses, it follows naturally that there must be a different rhyme scheme. Another interesting aspect of this particular song is the lack of a chorus. Usually it is quite common for a song to have a chorus that marks the transition from one verse to the next. However, in this case there is no such thing as a chorus; in fact there is hardly any pause or musical interlude between the individual verses at all. The only repetitive element in this song is the constant reference to the “silence” at the end of every verse. In this case what we are looking at is indeed a refrain. Whitesell writes in his book The Music of Joni Mitchell : “A refrain occurs when a portion of each verse always has the same lyrics. In contrast to a chorus, a refrain is not musically self-contained; it begins or ends incompletely”. (Whitesell 2008: 148). However, it should be noted that “The Sound of Silence”, as will be shown, does not have a “perfect” refrain, meaning that in each verse the refrain slightly varies and is therefore never identical with the one that came before. The only real constant is, as mentioned above, the word “silence”. Whitesell writes:

It should be mentioned in passing that the difference between refrain and chorus is not always cut-and-dried; both refer to passages of unchanging music and text providing a periodic sense of return. As I use the terms, the distinction between the two is based on notions of structural coherence; a clear – cut chorus will consist of a complete, closed musical section, markedly distinct from the verse that is itself a complete section. But in practice, of course, songwriters may wish to explore ambiguity or interdependence rather than clarity of formal division. (Whitesell 2008: 151).

5.4. Analysis and Interpretation: “The Sound of Silence”

The first thing the audience realises is the fact that there is obviously a first person speaker in this song. This can be seen quite clearly by the frequent use of the words I and my throughout the entire verse.

Verse 1^9 : Rhyme Scheme:

1. Hello, darkness, my old friend A
2. I've come to talk with you again (A)
3. Because a vision softly creeping B
4. Left its seeds while I was sleeping B
5. And the vision that was planted in my brain C
6. Still remains (C)
7. Within the sound of silence X

As we can, see the speaker addresses “the darkness” directly as an “old friend” in the first line. So it appears that the speaker has a tendency to frequently seek refuge in the darkness from the world around him. This indicated by the word “again” at the end of the second line. This seems to entail a form of escapism in the mind of the speaker. He apparently runs from the world and seems to find comfort in the dark with his own thoughts. In lines 3 and 4 the speaker mentions the reason for his urge to talk to the darkness, as he is referring to a “vision” in the third line. Apparently in this case the speaker has a special reason for wanting to talk to his “old friend”. From the way it is described, the “vision” that is referred to in line 3 could be a dream the speaker has had. This is apparently stated in line 4, pointing out that he was in fact “sleeping”. However, they wording in line 4 suggests that the dream was only the starting point of this vision and is now capturing his entire mind and is growing into something bigger (“left its seed”). It is also apparent that the speaker seems to think that the “vision” he refers to is not of his own making but “was planted in my brain”. This could refer to ideas and concepts which are not the concepts and ideas of the speaker but someone else’s and now captivate him entirely. This becomes clear when he states that the images of said “vision” are still present in his mind, as can be seen in lines 5-7. In this first verse it is most likely that the narrator is talking about a dream he has had, perhaps even a nightmare. It is suggested that an outside influence induced this dream/nightmare. In order to process the events of the dream/nightmare he seeks refuge in the darkness. It is of course also possible that the speaker

(^9) Lyrics taken from: Amsco Publications (1990) Paul Simon Anthology. New York: Amsco Publications (217-221).

has had an actual vision of the present or future. However, reading the lyrics, especially in the second verse, it seems plausible to conclude that it was in fact a dream/nightmare. Paul Simon himself said about the beginning of the song that he liked to play and try out new things in a dark environment, especially his bathroom^10. Now being with his “old friend”, the speaker apparently tries to uncover the meaning of his “visions” and what to do with them.

The second stanza starts setting the scene of the dream/vision the narrator had.

Verse 2:

8. In restless dreams I walked alone A
9. Narrow streets of cobblestone A
10. 'Neath the halo of a streetlamp B
11. I turned my collar to the cold and damp B
12. When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light C
13. That split the night C
14. And touched the sound of silence X

The overall theme of this second verse is the description of what the speaker has seen in his visions/dreams. In the very first line the speaker states that he had “restless dreams”, which sets the mood for the rest of the song. This confirms the suspicion that the “vision” mentioned in the first verse was in fact also a dream. Generally, the entire verse conveys the feeling that the speaker was not really comfortable in this dream. When it comes to the feelings the speaker has in the scenery he seems, at best, uneasy. Many different factors contribute to this atmosphere in this setting, which can be described as uncanny and ambiguous. For example in line 9 there is a mention of “narrow streets”, which conveys a feeling of constriction to the reader and it becomes clear that the speaker is not in a place he wants be in. Furthermore, the location in which this dream takes place seems to be a rather cold and dark one as it says in line 11 “ I turned my collar from the cold and damp”. This is another indicator of how unpleasant a place this must be for the speaker. More and more, the reader gets the impression that the dreamer is living through a rather desolate and bleak scenario. In addition to that there is a mention of a flash of “neon light that split the night” in lines 12 and 13, which seems to disrupt the night. Considering the unnatural origin of the neon light and the previous tone of the verse it is safe to assume that the disruption caused by the neon light was not a pleasant and welcome one. In fact the beam of light seems rather alien and hostile towards the speaker, since he describes the experience as his eyes being “stabbed”. Initially, the speaker is in a very dark and cold place in which a spark of light would be a welcome

(^10) “The Sound of Silence” (n.d.). [Online]. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sound_of_Silence [12th April 2016].

change. However, when the light finally does come, it is essentially as unpleasant and uncomfortable as the solitude in those dark narrow streets. The speaker might be out in the streets looking for something but what he finds instead is not really what he had hoped for. All in all, it can be said that the dream described by the dreamer in this verse is a rather unpleasant, in some ways, even disturbing one. As a reader one gets the impression that the dreamer does not really want to be there and would rather leave but for some reason cannot do so.

Verse 3: Rhyme Scheme:

15. And in the naked light I saw A
16. Ten thousand people, maybe more (A)
17. People talking without speaking B
18. People hearing without listening B
19. People writing songs that voices never shared C
20. No one dared C
21. Disturb the sound of silence X

In this verse the dreamer goes into more detail about the dream he had. It is shown that he is in fact not alone but there are “ten thousand people, maybe more”, as is revealed in line 16. This is contrary to what we have seen so far. Up until this point the speaker has always appeared to be by himself, with no other person present. It seems that the “flash of a neon light” that was mentioned in the last verse, made it possible for the dreamer to see the others. The dreamer goes on to describe the people in this setting. What becomes clear is that the people in this dream seem to take little to no notice of each other, or of the speaker for that matter. They seem to ignore each other or rather not dare to acknowledge each other, as is suggested in lines 20 and 21. It seems as though the people in this dream apparently lack the ability to communicate successfully or, as mentioned above, no one really dares to communicate successfully with each other. When we read through the lyrics it seems very likely that the people mentioned in this verse are afraid of something or someone. It is unknown what it is that frightens the masses, so much so that they apparently remain completely non-interactive. However, it turns out that they are not entirely non-interactive. They do “talk” and “hear” and “write songs” but any possible meanings behind these conversations are unvoiced. Instead of talking to each other or listening to each other they decided not to engage in any serious conversation, thus keeping it superficial and trivial.

It is very likely that Simon is here criticizing society and its members for not listening to each other or not speaking out against certain social or political ills. This was a common thing to do amongst singers and songwriters at that time and, depending on the genre, it still is today. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that there is a social and political dimension to this song. Interestingly, the situation of the people described in this dream is very much reminiscent, in way, of the situation German-speaking countries were in during the Biedermeier. In this era people retreated into their private lives and did not dare to discuss openly any matters of importance or substance out of fear of prosecution.

Verse 4: Rhyme Scheme:

22. "Fools," said I, "You do not know A
23. Silence like a cancer grows A
24. Hear my words that I might teach you B
25. Take my arms that I might reach you" B
26. But my words like silent raindrops fell C
27. And echoed in the wells of silence X

This particular verse is interesting in many ways. First of all, the structure and the rhyme scheme differ slightly from the other verses. This verse only contains six lines whereas the first three all contain seven. Concerning the rhyme scheme we have two rhyming couplets followed by two non-rhyming lines. Furthermore, it is the only stanza to contain direct speech within the dream. Here the dreamer is addressing the people in his dream directly. He warns them about the “danger” of silence and urges them to listen to him and follow him. It is stated quite clearly that “silence” nurtures “silence”. Therefore, the more people remain silent the more people will become silent, which is a vicious cycle that needs to be broken. The dreamer tries to “break” the silence and makes an effort to get the people to interact with him. The dreamer presents himself as a sort of prophet or teacher trying to lead people out of their silence into a different age. This can certainly be interpreted as a reference to the political and social changes that took place in the 1960s. In that particular period of time people started to be much more vocal about their opinions and beliefs. This also has to be seen in the context of the on-going Vietnam War, which at the time started to lose more and more support in the general population. Writing these lyrics, Simon most likely wanted to encouraged his generation to take more initiative and not accept things as they are. However, in the song, the words of the dreamer remain unheard and without effect. In the end, silence wins.

Verse 5: Rhyme Scheme

28. And the people bowed and prayed A
29. To the neon god they made A
30. And the sign flashed out its warning B
31. In the words that it was forming B
32. And the sign said, "The words of the prophets X
33. Are written on the subway walls C
34. And tenement halls C
35. And whispered in the sounds of silence Y

As with the fourth verse, this one varies a little from the first three verses. Here we have eight lines and in terms of structure we have a different rhyme scheme. At first there are two rhyming couplets (lines 28-31) that are followed by one non-rhyming line (line 32). Then we have another rhyming couplet (lines 33 and 34) and as with the first three verses, one single non-rhyming line at the end of the verse. However, looking at the verse phonetically, it follows the pattern and rhyme scheme of the first three verses. Lines 32 and 33 just become one line which in turn rhymes with line 34.

In this verse the dreamer describes the effects and the causes of the silence at the same time. He describes how the people are “bowing” and “praying” to “the neon god they made”. Here the people are following their “god”, be it politics or social institutions without thinking and reflecting on why they are doing so, which in turn creates more silence. It is also made abundantly clear that the situation the people are in is entirely of their own making. The implication is that people could achieve quite a lot if they could get themselves to speak up and do something about their situation. Nothing can be achieved with people being silent and adhering to power structures. However, in the next lines it becomes evident that there will always be individuals who will provoke the public opinion and force people to think and reflect on their lives. This is apparent in lines 30 through 34. Here, people are made aware of the fact that new ideas are out there only waiting to be found. Usually these ideas start out as underground movements, which is why they are “written on the subway walls and tenement halls”. The very last line indicates that, regardless of how overwhelming the silence is, there will always be voices for change and new ideas no matter how quite they are. It is the fact that an idea, once it is unleashed and spreads amongst the masses, cannot be eradicated anyone, no matter how powerful they might be. This is indicated in the very last line with the words “And whispered in the sounds of silence”.

6. “Mrs. Robinson”

6.1. Historical Background

The second song I will be analysing is “Mrs Robinson”^11 , which was famously introduced to the masses by the movie The Graduate and is Simon and Garfunkel’s most famous song, second only to “The Sound of Silence”^12. The history of the song began when director Mike Nichols approached Simon and Garfunkel to write songs for his movie The Graduat e. Simon and Garfunkel had just had a great success with their album Sounds of Silence and had also been on tour quite successfully. Therefore, it made sense to Nichols to include these popular musicians. Simon eventually came up with songs for the movie; however, they did not resonate with Nichols. In the end Simon presented an early version of the song “Mrs. Robinson”, which Nichols liked instantly. The song went through several changes until the final version of the song was released on the album Bookends in 1968. Both the album and the single “Mrs. Robinson” became huge successes for Simon and Garfunkel. Much of the success of the album can be attributed to the success of the movie. Thus the new album and the movie further boosted the career and fame of Simon and Garfunkel, reaching a high point in the late 1960s.

The lyrics of the song, as we will see, actually have very little to do with the “Mrs. Robinson” portrayed in the movie. It appears that the song was chosen primarily because of the identical name in the title. The song itself went on to become one of the most popular songs by Simon and Garfunkel, being referenced and used many times in the media. Furthermore, many covers have been done by various artists. One of the more famous covers of “Mrs. Robinson” is certainly Frank Sinatra’s version. He recorded it in a different musical style and with slightly different lyrics on his album My Way in 1969^13. The impact the song has had becomes quite apparent, when looking at the numerous covers and references in pop culture.

(^11) Simon and Garfunkel (1968): Bookends. “Mrs. Robinson”. Columbia Studio A&B, Manhattan. (^12) “Mrs. Robinson” (n.d.). [Online]. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs._Robinson [14th April 2016] (^13) Sinatra, Frank (1969): My Way. “Mrs. Robinson”. EastWest Studios; Hollywood, Los Angeles.

6.2. Impact

As already mentioned, “Mrs. Robinson” had quite a considerable influence when it comes to how music is used in movies. Since “Mrs. Robinson” was not originally composed for the movie The Graduate (Simon had already been working on the song) it greatly propelled the idea to use non-original music, which has become quite the standard in modern film industry. Simon and Garfunkel thereby experienced the advantages of being part of a very popular movie, and in return the movie was boosted by two very popular musicians, thus creating a very advantageous symbiosis for both sides.

6.3. Music and Structure of “Mrs Robinson”

As with “The Sound of Silence” I will begin my analysis by looking at the relationship between the lyrics and the melody and music of the song. I will further look at the structure of the individual verses. In the end I will take a closer look at the lyrics and their meanings and their possible relationship to the character “Mrs. Robinson” from the movie “The Graduate”.

Similarly to “The Sound of Silence”, the music in “Mrs. Robinson” is kept mostly in the background of the song, in order to give the singers and the lyrics as much place as possible. This is of course much more extreme with “The Sound of Silence” than with “Mrs. Robinson”. In general it can be said that the song starts out rather secretive and mysterious way with an acoustic guitar, which is a similar style used in “The Sound of Silence”. The music continues to be in the background until the chorus sets in. It should be noted that in “Mrs. Robinson” we have an actual “chorus” as described by Whitesell [2008: 151]. The music and the tone of the song change considerably between verses and chorus and contribute greatly to the character of the song. The music accompanying the verses is much more in the background and leaves much more room to fully comprehend the lyrics of the song. As described, the song has a rather secretive and mysterious quality to it. This corresponds quite nicely to the lyrics in the song, as we will see in my further analysis. The chorus, on the other hand, can be characterised as rather optimistic, happy and to some extent even enthusiastic, unless, of course, the chorus is seen as sarcastic considering the rest of the lyrics. All of the qualities mentioned above make the chorus a very catchy, upbeat part of the song, which will almost instantaneously stay in one’s mind. Due to this the entire song becomes a rather happy song, despite the rather unpleasant content of the lyrics. All of this adds a certain layer of

irony to the entire song, which introduces an element of light-heartedness to the more or less serious message of the song. The technique of conveying a serious and/or unpleasant message by giving them a humorous, somewhat silly packaging is frequently employed by artists, especially in film and music. In doing so the artist can make the message of the song even more powerful and memorable for the audience and can thereby create a much bigger impact. Of course, this can only be achieved if the audience does pay attention to what is being said in the lyrics. All in all, it can be said that the music in this song manages to enhance the effects the lyrics have on the audience, which appears to be the main goal of Simon and Garfunkel. Generally speaking, Simon and Garfunkel seem to have a very balanced approach to lyrics and melody in their songs, especially in “Mrs. Robinson”. The music is not completely pushed to the background but at the same time it is never pushed to the foreground either. The song starts and ends with the same acoustic guitar solo. The same is true when looking at the individual transitions between the individual verses and chorus parts. Like in “The Sound of Silence” there are hardly any extensive interludes that separate them. There are very small portions of interlude played by acoustic guitar that follow the chorus before starting the next verse. However, there is no none following the verses. What we have here is a direct, immediate transition from the verse to the chorus.

Examining the structure of the song, we find that there are three verses and the chorus, which is repeated four times. The song begins with an acoustic guitar intro and leads directly into the verse melody. The only vocals heard in this part is Simon and Garfunkel singing “Dee” and Doo” as the verse begins. This could technically be seen as a verse, making it the first verse out of four however, since there are no actual lyrics in this part I will not count it as a verse. Generally, the chorus has five lines (when counting the “hey, hey, hey” section), the verses have four lines, with the exception of the last verse, which contains 5 lines. Looking at the rhyme scheme of the song we can see that we have a rather unusual pattern, which varies throughout the song. The chorus mostly adheres to the rhyme scheme of AXABB. The very last chorus is an exception to this rule, since it also involves changes to the lyrics. Here we have a rhyme scheme of AXYBB. The verses are less strict when it comes to the rhyme scheme. Each of the three verses has a different rhyme scheme, as I will show below.

6.4. Analysis and Interpretation: “Mrs. Robinson”

As I have already established above there are essentially 3 verses in this song and a chorus which changes throughout the song. I will deal with each chorus and verse individually and provide the appropriate lyrics to “Mrs. Robinson”^14.

Intro…

Verse 0: Dee, dee, dee…

Chorus 1: Rhyme scheme

1. And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson, A
2. Jesus loves you more than you will know wo wo wo X
3. God bless you, please Mrs. Robinson. A
4. Heaven holds a place for those who pray , hey hey hey B
5. Hey, hey, hey B

As can be seen the song begins with a short acoustic guitar intro and immediately changes into the melody of the verse. The two singers only start out singing filler words like “dee” and “doo” instead of actual lyrics. This is an interesting aspect of this song, since it is much more common to start a song with a verse and then transition to the chorus. The lack of lyrics seem to reflect the lack of backstory to the character “Mrs. Robinson” in this song, which not to be confused with the character “Mrs. Robinson” in The Graduate. This creates an atmosphere of ambiguity around the character, whom we will be introduced to in the chorus. It seems to have been a deliberate choice by Simon and Garfunkel to not properly introduce the main character of this song and leave the audience in the dark about her origin. The question of Mrs. Robinson’s origin and why she is in the situation that she is in seems to be of no importance at this point, but as we will see, in the following verses this particular question becomes much more intriguing and essential.

After the introduction and the first “verse” without any proper lyrics, the song moves directly into the chorus. As mentioned earlier, this is the first song by “Simon and Garfunkel” in my thesis that has an actual, proper chorus. This can be seen due to the fact that in this section the

(^14) Lyrics taken from: “Mrs. Robinson” (n.d.). [Online]. The Official Simon and Garfunkel Site: http://www.simonandgarfunkel.com/track/mrs-robinson-5/ (12th^ April 2016).