(For a recent post about Coronavirus, please see Reading Roundup below)
This is a song for every generation of a silent or ignored group of people (performed below by Pentatonix)
From this critical analysis of this song, when it was first released:
...The poem can be interpreted as a bitter satire towards the materialistic tendency of the people in the modern world. People have forgotten the real meaning and value of life....The poem presents a frightening picture of the modern world doomed by the lack of spirituality and true meaning of life. It is the voice of a visionary asking such people to be serious towards the true meaning and goal of life.
Read the entire essay HERE.
Today, in the 21st Century, interpretations of the song may differ: the "words of the prophets" are written elsewhere besides "the subway walls and tenement halls" — or may be actions ("people talking without speaking"), both actions and words ignored or twisted by the media.
Consider the entirety of the lyrics HERE, and come to your own interpretation of "The Sound of Silence."
What is your present-day interpretation? If you care to share it, that is.
Following my philosophy of "if it can't be done as a metal song, it sucks," here's Disturbed's goosebumps raising cover.
ReplyDeleteI've always heard the song as full of rage, so I lik this cover.
...the subway walls and tenement halls are covered with graffiti...
ReplyDeletePaul Simon, originally wrote this song for Art Garfunkel. Given Artie's Angelic voice; I don't think that you can really compare any cover to the original.
ReplyDeleteI like the "Pentatonix" cover, they did a good job, and dislike the "Disturbed" cover as pretentious animal farts.
Western Hero featured Disturbed's version back in 2016, and I think Warren had a similar assessment back then! I have to say I share TC's love for that version, and the video.
ReplyDeleteWe also featured the original Sound of Silence as it was originally recorded, with no drums or backing instruments, other than Paul Simon's acoustic guitar. It is haunting.
Gotta give Pentatonix credit. They are crazy talented.
The Pentatonix version is slick, like a Toyota commercial.
ReplyDeleteI never truly liked Simon and Garfunkel and I know I may get hate for that. I did like some of their songs, however. I went to their concert on a date just before I graduated high school. The Beach Boys opened for them, and I loved the Beach Boys. They really know how to put on a show. It was awesome. The "Pentatonix" cover is great and actually in all truth I prefer them way more than Simon and Garfunkel. :)
ReplyDeleteI was never a big fan of the Beach boys, other than their hits. They were pretty much over by the time I was in high school anyway.
DeleteDo you have Amazon? You have got to see Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road. I do admire that man's artistry. "Girl Don't tell me" was an angsty emo song decades before emos became a thing. Anyway the documentary is excellent. Wilson is famously reclusive and hard to talk to, but the man talking with him is a reporter who somehow gained his trust years ago to the point they could make the documentary. I found it very touching.
I was not a fan of the Beach Boys until I married Mr. AOW, who was from Southern California and a surfer. I think it's mandatory for a surfer to be a fan of the Beach Boys.
DeleteI went to a Beach Boys concert about 14 years ago. Not the original group, of course, but great fun. The concert was at the Wolf Trap Filene Center; even those of us under the shelter were tossing around beach balls.
When I had my Mustang convertible, I used to blast the Beach Boys while driving. I blasted Credence Clearwater, too.
Elizabeth,
DeleteI like several of Simon & Garfunkel's songs. Never went to one of their concerts, though.
SF,
DeleteWarren and I have Amazon Prime, so we'll watch Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road. I'm sick of watching the news! Every hour or half hour, Fox News plays footage from Ukraine set to dramatic music, as if what's going on there is entertainment. **frown**
@AoW: soundtracking the news is disgusting. :(
DeleteJez,
Deletesoundtracking the news is disgusting
And it infuriates me. Trivializing war is a fool's errand -- to the max.
AOW,. I hope you won't be disappointed by the documentary. They do a good job conveying his artistic brilliance, but just seeing him now and listening to him talk is touching. His humanity really comes out, and you can also see why he was such a heartthrob, even as he is now old. It's weird, he was always such a guarded person, but his charisma can't help but shining through
ReplyDeleteSF,
DeleteBoth Warren and I were absorbed in the documentary. Didn't miss a single second!
Early on, in the footage showing Brian Wilson as a young man or teen, it was obvious to both Warren and me that Brian Wilson is on the autism spectrum. For one thing, he avoided eye contact like the plague!
Later on -- and now -- he is clearly on psychotropic medications. I noted the rather severe tardive dyskinesia (I had a bout with that myself when I was taking Lyrica).
All the above said, the documentary clearly brought out both triumph and the tragedy of being a burdened genius. And, yes, his humanity is accurately and sympathetically presented without sinking into being maudlin.
Thank you, my friend, for the recommendation to watch Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road! There is so much free stuff on Amazon Prime that neither Warren nor I often search the rental options.
I'm glad you guys enjoyed it.
DeleteI watched the Brian Wilson biopic "love and mercy" recently, a really nice movie intercutting scenes from two periods (late 60s & early 90s), different actors playing the young and oldish Brian Wilson. It's well acted and if you like nerding out over studio minutiae there's plenty of that in the 60s scenes. (I'm particularly fond of their album "Wild Honey")
ReplyDeleteI had a S&G phase but I find Paul's solo work to be more enduring. Also I love Paul Simon interviews: he speaks so carefully, it's one of my favourite youtube rabbit-holes to go down. As a pretentious student (as he had every right to be at that age) he most likely had all that stuff about alienation on his mind when he worked on it. But I like the story about his habbit of writing in the bathroom with the lights turned off; the opening line occurred to him because he was excited and happy at the start of a writing session.
It's funny to consider whether the Disturbed treatment was really much more radical -- allowing for the period -- than the famously overdubbed (without S&G's knowledge or consent) rock instruments that were put on the original.
Jez,
DeleteI saw Love and Mercy at Amazon Prime -- I think. Maybe I'll take a look!