Dear Friends,
I wonder how many of these blogs have started with something along the lines of this:
I love it when I learn something new about myself.
When you write as much about yourself as I do, you learn a lot of new things about who you are. I suppose it is either the sincerest form of masturbation I have ever embarked upon or just a coping mechanism for hectic, beautiful, tormented, and tangential life I have created for myself. So, what have I learned now?
Get to it, smart guy. What is the valuable yet random thing you have learned?
Well, I’ve learned that I am ready to be organized and as I start a new venture, I’m going about it with a solid, strategic plan. I’m also not going into it alone. I’m going to build a team. I have enough of “me” stuff on my plate to have more “me” stuff. I get way more out of being part of a collective.
We shall see how it goes.
*****
Yesterday ended up being pretty relaxing. I did some writing and made a new friend thanks to the Fbook. I also reached out to some friends about doing something creative and helpful with me. That felt really good, too.
We cleaned up a bit after the 4th fun and that felt good, too.
Around 4pm, we went for a nice boat ride on the lake. It was really nice, and the water was excellent. We swam for a good long while. It helped me sleep, I’m sure.
*****
Simon & Garfunkel seem like they have always just been there. A constant, really, and a group who have created music that will live throughout time. There is a quality to their music that reaches the highest level that music can reach, in my opinion. It’s something to strive for, I suppose.
You have to love Walmart for people watching, but I used to love it for the bargain bin of CDs, too. I’ve made some great scores from the $5 bin over the years, especially when it comes to a band or artist’s Greatest Hits collection. I know some folks out there are not in favor of these types of collections, but for me, sometimes I want to drive around, listen to the hints, and sing along.
On one such trip, I found a $5 copy of the Simon & Garfunkel’s greatest hits. As I mentioned, they have always been there throughout my life, but I didn’t own anything by them at that point. Why? Who knows. For a long time, I didn’t buy any records that I didn’t really want because my funds have always been somewhat limited for these types of purchases and I thought out each record quite a bit.
Either way, I got the CD at Walmart, and like many of my CD purchases from there, it lived in my CD player for a long time. The craftmanship of these songs, which has been written about for the last fifty years, is outstanding. I shared “The Boxer” the other day on a group text that keeps me sane every day and my brother, Brian, mentioned how he was hoping to keep things light that day.
An artist’s ability to add emotional weight to their music is a true measure of their greatness in my book. On the 1972 collection of their Greatest Hits, Simon & Garfunkel gave us a master class in how to convey feeling through music. Even the simple and sappy “59th Street Bridge Song” (AKA “Feelin’ Groovy”) can’t help but put a smile on your face.
Of course, they follow it up with “Sounds of Silence” on Greatest Hits and that one is a full-on emotional powerhouse. At a summer camp I used to work at, they would do a thing about empathy that was set to the song where a blind child is made fun of by some other kids. I always think about the feeling in the room when this was done when I hear “Sounds of Silence.”
The idea of being able to hear empathy is pretty darn powerful.
I wonder if Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel have ever sat back and thought about the profound impact their music has on the people of this planet every day. Seriously, as I write this, someone is sitting in their kitchen or bedroom or in a closet somewhere, probably weeping to a song like “Homeward Bound” or “Bookends.”
On the other hand, there is someone gleefully and powerfully singing along with “Mrs. Robinson” as well. I mean, I get a charge from singing along with that one on a regular basis. Sure, I liked the Lemonheads version, too. Everybody liked it because it is a great fucking song.
I’m also partial to “Cecelia” and “El Condor Pasa.” Both of them are so fun to sing along with and just admire, again, how well these songs are made. I wish I didn’t know as much as I do about why the two men who made these songs stopped making music together, because it does taint it a bit, but even then, what they made together is just beautiful, powerful stuff.
For me, the one that brings a tear to my eye, but also puts a little git in my gittyup is “Scarborough Fair/Canticle.” The harmony they created is mesmerizing in all the best ways. It’s maybe the most haunting pop music I’ve ever heard. I never get tired of it.
The best thing about Greatest Hits by Simon & Garfunkel, though, remains that it is just jam packed with all kinds of feeling. I can listen to it in almost any mood and feel better. Music is medicine.
*****
See you tomorrow.
You can figure this one out.
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