Both born in 1941, Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel became an American music duo in 1957, though they first rose to fame & adoration in 1965, largely on the strength of the hit single “The Sound of Silence”. Their music was also featured in the landmark film The Graduate in 1967, further propelling them into the limelight.

Their increasingly rocky relationship led to their last album, “Bridge over Troubled Water”, being delayed several times, and as a result of this irreconciled strife the two disbanded in 1970 and went their separate ways. Somehow fittingly, this final album — possibly despite their disagreements, yet probably because of them — became their most successful album worldwide, reaching number one in several countries, including the United States.

Also a fitting metaphor for us all, Simon & Garfunkel DID eventually reconcile their differences, and have occasionally reunited over the years to perform and sometimes even tour together. Indeed, they have done so at least once in every decade since the 1970 breakup, most famously for 1981’s “The Concert in Central Park”, which attracted more than 500,000 people, making it the 7th-most attended concert in the history of music.

“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,
The borders of our lives.”

~ Simon & Garfunkel
(“The Dangling Conversation”)

Filed under: In LOVE with Humanity by Scaughdt