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You know, as opposed to The Velvet Underground...
Bridge Over Troubled Water. Four and a half stars.
1970, and Simon and Garfunkel walked away with no less than six Grammys for what ended up as their final album. That makes it sound like the greatest album ever made, but the hype doesn't quite hold water. Not to say that this is a bad record - far from it. It's just that if you take it on a song by song analysis, you'll find a fair amount of filler is included.
And a cursory glance at the liner notes leave me wondering: where the hell was Garfunkel? Was he just on board for the harmonies and production, or what? He's not even credited among the featured musicians, and Simon was the songwriter, so I ask myself...
Garfunkel does get to sing lead on the lead-off title track, a kind-hearted piano ballad. It rises to a gorgeous crescendo, he has a heavenly voice and the strings that join in (on this and other songs) are tasteful and unobnoxious. Pay attention to the gunshot drum; it will be used to far better effect later on.
El Condor Pasa (If I Could) is an old Peruvian song. Simon lifted the melody and wrote his own words to it. It's my own favorite and only suffers from being way too short (a trait most of the songs share). The lyric is one of Simon's best, as it walks the knife-edge between being a sweet sentiment on the one hand, and tipping over into cutesy pie on the other.
Cecilia sounds like it came from an entirely different studio session. It's buoyant and all in harmony...and rather silly if one pays attention.
Being a pop duo, Simon and G never ever rock. The best you can hope for is a jaunty toe-tapper, like Keep the Customer Satisfied, which features punchy horns. It's more fun than Cecilia, and one has to admit, even ignoring the lyrics, that Paul Simon is a very clever songwriter; he seems to avoid the common verse-chorus-bridge design that makes so many pop songs blend together. A lot is packed in a short amount of space.
So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright is a beautiful, quiet little number. I'm not sure why he wrote an ode to the architect in question, but there's a peaceful melancholy to it and it makes an excellent change of pace.
The Boxer is the true centerpiece of the album and maybe of their entire careers, together and solo. It's a production miracle, the gunshot drum returns and absolutely makes the "lie-la-lie" chorus, and the lyric holds up perfectly. It's epic, at five minutes by far the longest track included, and emotionally satisfying. The album would crumble into dust without this one.
Baby Driver cheapens the effect, more by its placement than anything else. It's comic and silly (includes car sounds, for instance). There's nothing wrong with it, but in the long run, it heralds the downslide of Bridge Over Troubled Water.
The Only Living Boy in New York is another standout. I believe Simon wrote it during one of Garfunkel's absences, which gives the words meaning. The harmonies included herein are breathtaking, even more so than all the others. It returns the album to greatness, but Baby Driver so clashes with the two serious songs that sandwich it, that this whole half of the record sticks in my craw.
Why Don't You Write Me? is another rather light trifle. It's one of the weaker moments, but the total despair in the lyric is completely at odds with the jaunty music surrounding it, and that makes it interesting.
Bye Bye Love is live (weird). Was Simon hard up for material? Its inclusion is a surreal twist. For those who might not have realised their similarity to the Everly Brothers, this will set them straight. The audience handclaps are nice, but Simon and Garfunkel bring nothing new to the song, and since Simon can write real good, I'm stumped as to how this got on here.
Song for the Asking makes an excellent coda. Guitar and strings while Simon breaks the fourth wall and finishes off with a tune equally as uplifting as the opener. The only problem is that, at less than two minutes, it's the shortest track on record.
I can't be too hard on it overall, as it is entirely pleasant and very well done. Even Bye Bye Love is a nice extra. If it weren't for the inconsequential filler, and the overall disorganized side two, and the fact that the last track should be called Half a Song for the Asking, this would be perfect.
Even with those problems noted, this is a wonderful little album, if you don't mind light music. It has left me with the desire to hear a lot more Simon and G.
