Paul Simon’s favourite Simon and Garfunkel songs
When Simon & Garfunkel first rose to fame in the 1960s, they looked like many other bands making a name for themselves. Their folk music had an ornate honesty, and they had fun playing live, reeling off the hits and being admired by their peers. However, there was a lot more to the band than that, and their differences as musicians would eventually set them up for an incredibly successful career, one that was filled with highs and lows and, most importantly, great music.
The band brought a sense of originality into an established genre. It was set in stone for them to do this right from age 15 when they scored a top 50 single with their Everly Brothers knockoff ‘Hey, Schoolgirl.’ This wasn’t the move that would set them up in the long run, but to gain traction at such a young age gave people a glimpse into what was to come.
Throughout their career, the duo won seven Grammy Awards and were inducted into the Grammy and Rock and Roll Halls of Fame. They are the most popular and successful folk duo of all time, with fans from various generations still listening to their music today despite it being released decades ago.
Popular songs include the likes of ‘The Sound of Silence’, ‘Cecilia’, and ‘Mrs Robinson’, but as tends to be the case with musicians, their favourite songs might not align with the public. This list will look at what Paul Simon has said are his all-time favourite Simon & Garfunkel songs.
Paul Simon’s favourite Simon & Garfunkel songs:
‘The Sound of Silence’
Not unlike the public, ‘The Sound of Silence’ ranks highly on Paul Simon’s list of favourite songs by the duo. The track appeared on their debut LP Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., released all the way back in 1964. The album didn’t do well; in fact, it was a commercial failure, but the song rose to popularity after being featured in the movie The Graduate.
“I think about songs that it’s not just what the words say but what the melody says and what the sound says,” said Simon, “My thinking is that if you don’t have the right melody, it really doesn’t matter what you have to say, people don’t hear it… Really, the key to ‘The Sound of Silence’ is the simplicity of the melody and the words, which are youthful alienation.”
‘The Boxer’
Released in 1970 on the LP Bridge over Troubled Water, ‘The Boxer’ charted well, reaching number seven on the Billboard Hot 100. Paul Simon has since confessed that he sees himself as the boxer, and he wrote the song after getting fed up with what critics were saying about his music.
“I think the song was about me: everybody’s beating me up, and I’m telling you now, I’m going to go away if you don’t stop,” he said. “By that time, we had encountered our first criticism. For the first few years, it was just pure praise. It took two or three years for people to realise that we weren’t strange creatures that emerged from England but just two guys from Queens who used to sing rock n roll.”
‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’
Also on that album and one of Paul Simon’s favourite songs was the title track ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’. The album was incredibly successful, winning five Grammy’s that year, including Record and Song of the Year.
The song was a hallelujah moment for Simon, as he said he didn’t know how he thought of it but recognised the potential right away. “I have no idea where it came from,” he said, “it came all of a sudden. It was one of the most shocking moments in my songwriting career. I remember thinking, ‘This is considerably better than I usually write.’”
