# Simon & Garfunkel Lyrics

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simon-garfunkel-lyrics/113723>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [June 12, 2002, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simon-garfunkel-lyrics/113723 "2002-06-12T21:23:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Scotticher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Scotticher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotticher)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2002, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simon-garfunkel-lyrics/113723/21 "2002-06-14T02:21:42Z")

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Um…I think that might have been “On SEVENTH Avenue,” sorry. I’m not sure, and I was never able to find the CD so I am not sure of the exact title.

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**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2002, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simon-garfunkel-lyrics/113723/22 "2002-06-14T03:36:27Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Miss Mapp \*  
> **"A Most Peculiar Man" is actually on the album _Sounds of Silence_.**

_runs upstairs to see if she still has the album covers…_

_runs back downstairs to post_

Er, yep…you’re right…[:smack:]

[slight hijack]  
Has anyone ever figured out what Me (no, not me, Kiz) and Julio were doing Down By The Schoolyard?  
[/slight hijack]

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**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2002, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simon-garfunkel-lyrics/113723/23 "2002-06-14T04:49:16Z")

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Well, this is what Paul Simon said about [Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard](http://www.medialab.chalmers.se/guitar/me.and.julio.html)

> [@](#):
>
> Paul Simon Solo TV Documentary  
> With ‘Me and Julio’, which I think is certainly one of the most distinctive records of its day, how did that come about ? How was that born ?  
> You know, I don’t remember that one, very clearly. I think I wrote that rhythm ( … ) and I think I really liked the idea of getting the name ‘Julio’ into a pop song, and as for the rest of it, it was just a fantasy song. I’m not sure that it meant anything, although there was a sort of a famous interpretation of it here by Truman Capote that said it was all about homosexual experience in the schoolyard.
> 
> That you’d had or he’d had ?
> 
> Certainly not that I’d had. I don’t know the reason, but that’s what he thought the song was about.

So, I guess they were doing whatever you want them to be doing. (Though I also always thought it was about a homosexual experience…)

[/hijack]

Anyway, I am a huge fan of Simon and Garfunkle, and Simon in his solo years. Seriously, Paul Simon is part of my Troika of Musicians (the other two are Paul McCartney and Sting.) The Troika is basically the musicians I absolutely had to see in concert. I’m proud to report that my goals have been met.  
I saw Paul Simon last year on my honeymoon. It was quite the amazing coincidence, and I am so happy I got that chance. He is absolutely great live. It was so much fun. I hope he tours again, because he’s definitely worth seeing again.

Though this thread got me thinking; why exactly _did_ they break up?

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**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2002, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simon-garfunkel-lyrics/113723/24 "2002-06-14T11:37:07Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by kiz \*  
> \*\*_runs upstairs to see if she still has the album covers…_
> 
> _runs back downstairs to post_\*\*

That’s exactly what I did last night! 🙂

Scotticher, it is “Second Avenue,” and it’s one of my favorite of Art’s solo songs too.

Back in 1983, the summer that I was 19, Simon and Garfunkel had a reunion tour. It started in Akron, Ohio–when, coincidentally, I had just finished my freshman year at Kent State–and ended in Boulder, Colorado–where, also coincidentally, my father had just gotten a new job, so my parents were about to move out there. I followed the tour, and saw both of those concerts as well as a handful of others in cities where I had friends or relatives.

It was a lot of fun. The concerts had enough variation from show to show to keep them interesting. All the old songs, plus some new songs as duets (that later showed up as solos on Paul Simon’s _Heart and Bones_ album).

Also, since I had a friend who worked for a Cleveland-area newspaper, I got to follow her around on a press pass before the Akron show. She introduced me to Art Garfunkel then; I had an awful crush on him at the time, but he was very sweet to me, even though I was pretty much incoherent. And he remembered me when I saw him again in either LA or San Diego.

_Sigh_

I remain fond of him to this day for that.

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**Author:** ![Jerrybear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8c91f0/32.png) [@Jerrybear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jerrybear)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2002, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simon-garfunkel-lyrics/113723/25 "2002-06-14T13:33:25Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \*  
> \*\*
> 
> BTW, what IS a “Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine” referring to? \*\*

I think that song is just a general spoof on the advertising industry. The BBGPM could be any product that Madison Avenue tries to portray as the newest, greatest most wonderful thing that you just can’t possibly live without.

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