"Bookends"

This is another post I prepared for the fine blog [and-your-bird-can-swing].  Please check it out.

1968's Bookends

Bookends, released by Simon & Garfunkel in 1968, is the album where they shed the "folk duo" label, not only in sound, but in content.  It's an odd album, challenging and frustrating, but blessed with amazing highs.  Only In hindsight does it appear as a logical progression between their earlier folk music and the more polished craftsmanship of Bridge Over Troubled Water.

The iconic black and white cover photograph suits the somber material on the first side perfectly, where reflections on aging and mortality are well represented by the “Bookends Theme,” [which appropriately enough bookends the side], “Overs” and “Old Friends.”  The joker in the pack is called “Voices Of Old People,” which describes exactly what it is: voices of old people.  Using a slice of audio verite served them well on their previous album, 1966’s Parsley, Sage, Rosemary And Thyme.  In that instance, a news report juxtaposed perfectly with their angelic rendition of “Silent Night.”  It stands more jarring here, lacking the subtlety of Simon’s ruminations on aging; perhaps Art Garfunkel just needed a writing credit.

The highlight of side one, and indeed one of the highlights of their entire catalogue, is the classic “America.”  Simon’s literary-quality attention to detail sets up the songs penultimate line perfectly: “I’m empty and aching and I don’t know why.”  It’s a great line and one that can be taken different ways.  From a first-person perspective it perfectly represents the listlessness felt in early adulthood while searching for a niche in life.  From a larger perspective, it seems a subtle, heaving sigh [again with the subtle: Paul’s best work seldom hit with the force of a hammer], commenting on the state of post-Summer Of Love America, the ensuing acid hangover and the realization that in fact we did need more than “love.”  If “America” were the only song on this album it would still be a wise purchase.

Side two I’m a bit conflicted on, mostly because the epic “Mrs. Robinson” had already appeared on the soundtrack to The Graduate three months prior.  In fact, three other songs from this LP were written with said soundtrack in mind but ultimately were rejected.  Those songs all share the general feeling of side one, but I always have a hard time divorcing myself from the knowledge that they were meant for another project.  Despite that, it all seems to cohere.

“Fakin’ It” continues the theme of psychic exhaustion, of living in a place but not inhabiting its’ reality. There’s not much to say about “Mrs. Robinson;” everybody certainly knows the song by now and it’s still great.  As someone who was in high school in the late 80’s, I’m embarrassed to admit that when I first heard the Bangles’ “Hazy Shade Of Winter,” I had yet to discover that it was actually by S&G.  The original may lack the Bangles wattage, but it clearly is the definitive reading.  The album closes with “At The Zoo,” Simon’s jaunty attempt to place the confusing world around him in some identifiable Orwellian context.

 

Start to finish, Bookends is a fun listen.  It’s not their best and it strains at times, but it remains a great snapshot of 1968 America.  The remastered CD now includes the B-side “You Don’t Know Where Your Interest Lies” and a demo of “Bookends.”  Both are pleasant but non-essential additions to the canon.