Follow TV Tropes

Following

YMMV / Simon & Garfunkel

Go To


  • Adaptation Displacement: "Richard Cory" (the song) is much more well-known these days than "Richard Cory" (the poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson that the song is based on).
  • Covered Up:
    • "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" from Bridge Over Troubled Water, which is just Simon's lyrics sung over the Los Incas version of the Peruvian folk song "El Cóndor Pasa" by Daniel Alomía Robles. Robles' son sued Simon and Garfunkel in 1970 to gain a writer's credit for "El Cóndor Pasa", but noted that the court case itself was friendly since the oversight was the result of Simon being misled to believe it was a traditional folk song, and has stated he bears Simon no ill will. Los Incas similarly did not mind the fact that their instrumental backing had been used without permission, and even became friends with Simon and had him produce their first English-language album.
    • Similarly, "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" adds new lyrics sung in counterpoint to the original folk ballad, and the particular arrangement of Scarborough Fair (the guitar backing melody etc.) was indebted to English folk singer Martin Carthy, who taught it to Simon. The original release didn't even say it was a traditional song to begin with, let alone credit Carthy for the arrangement, which is why people outside the UK tend to think the song was created by Simon and Garfunkel instead of being centuries old.
    • Happened in the other direction with "Hazy Shade of Winter" after The Bangles' version became a Breakaway Pop Hit.
    • Also with Harper's Bizarre and "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)".
    • "You Don't Know Where Your Interest Lies" was released as the B-Side of "Fakin' It", then was promptly forgotten; it was 30 years before it even got released on an album. But a version recorded around the same time by Dana Valery (with Simon briefly showing up to replicate his "You don't begin to comprehend" line from the S&G version) become a hugely popular song among Northern Soul enthusiasts in the UK.
  • Eclipsed by the Remix: In the past, the 1965 remix version of "The Sound Of Silence" completely overshadowed the original version of the song. It took years for the original version to be more well known again.
  • Ensemble Dark Horse: "April Come She Will" wasn't released as a single, and yet it's one of the duo's most popular and beloved songs, also thanks to its massive inclusion in movies and media overall.
  • Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory: Tons of interpretations of "The Boxer" say that its refrain of "Lie la lie" means something significant (e.g.: that the singer is actually lying about his whole tale). Paul Simon has gone on record as saying that he just couldn't think of any words to sing there.
  • Memetic Mutation:
    • "Hello darkness, my old friend..." is now a catch-all expression to describe despair after its use in Season 4 of Arrested Development.
    • It's also been associated with various dark creatures from various corners of media, such as Dark Matter from the Kirby series.
  • Most Wonderful Sound: Art Garfunkel's voice. If Paul Simon was the brain of the group, then Art Garfunkel was certainly the soul with how he sang songs like "Bridge Over Troubled Water". Also applies to his solo work, most notably on "Bright Eyes".
  • Nightmare Fuel: "The Sun Is Burning", "Save the Life of My Child" (Also verges on Tear Jerker).
    • "Anji" is a rather unsettling instrumental.
    • How about the next three songs after that, where all three title characters (Richard Cory, the Peculiar Man, and whoever "She" is) die in very gruesome ways? It doesn't make it any less unsettling that the latter two songs— especially "April Come She Will"— are sung eerily soft. Though in April's case, it's strongly implied it's the month that is passing by.
  • Older Than They Think:
    • To modern audiences, "Save the Life of My Child" might sound like an early example of Industrial and Sampling.
    • Many people don't realize "Scarborough Fair" is an English ballad a few centuries old, or that it has an even older version of the original called "The Elfin Knight".
  • Refrain from Assuming:
    • "Feeling Groovy" is actually "The 59th Street Bridge Song," but few people remember that.
    • That song where Simon wishes he could be a hammer rather than a nail or a forest rather than a street? It's called "El Condor Pasa", not "If I Could".
  • Signature Song: "The Sound of Silence", "Mrs. Robinson", and "Bridge over Troubled Water" have become the main contenders as the duo's song most people are familiar with today. By album:
    • For Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. and Sounds of Silence it's "The Sound of Silence", as it is on both albums. The second best-known song on the latter is "I Am a Rock" (though there are also massive fan favorites such as "April Come She Will" and "Kathy's Song") - or "Homeward Bound", if you count the UK edition of Sounds of Silence.
    • Parsley, Sage, Rossemary and Thyme: "Homeward Bound" or their interpretation of "Scarborough Fair".
    • Bookends: "Mrs. Robinson", although "America" is also very well-known.
    • Bridge Over Troubled Water: the title track, "Cecilia" and "The Boxer", with their English interpretation of "El Condor Pasa" and "The Only Living Boy in New York" as runner-up songs. Notably, the latter hasn't been released as a single yet is one of their most popular tracks, pretty much their quintessential album track.
  • Stoic Woobie: The unnamed narrator from "I Am a Rock" admits in an Ode to Apathy that they've found solace in being a complete shut-in, and has relinquished all emotion and relationships in favor of isolating themselves. However, it appears as though they've only reached this point due to a prior negative experience, due to their recounts of "friendship causes pain", and the reason why they prefer this state of a complete lack of caring is that, "a rock feels no pain, and an island never cries."
  • Stuck in Their Shadow: Art Garfunkel, former Trope Namer for "Lesser Star".

Top