Added: 4 years ago
From: 2dannyc89
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  • OK, Art have an amazing voice, and an extraordinary music talent. I can understand that. But how can Paul sing the two-part song without any mistake, while playing that amazing guitar, and still have time to give a "sexy look" to the camera, that remains the great mistery to me.

  • raises the hair on my arms

  • When Art sits on the stool, he and Paul are the same height. Was that deliberate?

  • This is poetry, it's honestly art.

  • I love Paul's tapping on the guitar at the end of the song.

  • FUCK was the poem

  • somehow, Simon and Garfunkel's music, though largely acoustic and "soft", is heavy, both in harmony and lyrics. its beautiful.

  • I have this recording on cd. Its apart of a live set they played in Amsterdam. Great bootleg

  • lÖl_Í_feêl_sO_lõnÉly_tOÐay

  • simon got that 60's swag

  • BEST TIMES OF MUSIC...GUITAR AND POETRY...NO SHIT JACKSON MOON WALK ..NO FUCKING SHIT WHORES LIKE BRITNEY SPEARS, SHAKIRA, PINK, MADONNA AND ALL THE OTHERS

  • always thought this was the coolest song since I was like 6 years old

  • the ending always gives me shivers

  • A work of musical genius!

    Thank you Paul and Art, so much, for this great song. I have enjoyed it for 45 years.

  • they're so cool. so ahead of their time

  • BRILLIANCE!!

  • That album was magical....Parsley Sage Rosemary and Thyme...bad ass to the bone.

  • the GREATEST synchronized voices ever seen or heard in a duo. There was a magic that followed them and radiated boundlessly forth becoming sound and an impercievable light, while they were on stage. they could never be replicated nor should they be, the attempt would be futile and in vain truly it would be Insulting. No two men could ever have reach such a state of perfection singing Folk music again and never before was it seen and certainly never recorded. Flawless.

  • ..............No Words can convey

  • Magical. :)

  • *grin* I was sooo pleased with myself when, as a teen, I figured out the poem... Ran into the kitchen to tell my folks (who turned me on to the music...) that I'd solved the mystery (they always claimed to not know what the song meant) and asked if I could tell them... I think they are still laughing about it to this day.

  • well, just work of a genius really. They say that a genius is born not made, and Paul showed his early enough.

  • check my dubstep channel xoxox

  • They were so YOUNG! And they are so talented. It just stuns me.

  • @CaitlinHeaneyMusic babies, really. 23 0r 24? wow

  • if didn't kno this was simon&garfunkel i would hav geussed this was written by conor oberst lol sorry foo the spelling s the hp itternet thing on my netbook

  • They were such beatniks when they were young! It's quaint. I like the simple passion and emphasis on great writing.

  • I LOVE THIS SONG!!!!

  • simon is high hehehe.... love these guys so much. so groovy.

  • You can almost see the train approach the platform, hear the clattering of the tracks; the indecision of the would be vandal about to write grafftiit

  • paul simon is unreal. is it me or does garfunk come across very irritating. on 30 seconds where paul cuts him out of the picture. haha. art you glake!

  • "From the tunnel's stony womb the carriage rides to meet the groom"

    "To seek the breast of darkness and be suckled by the night"

    Oh wow. And he was what? 21 when he wrote that?

  • My favourite song by them!

  • Haha @ Art @ beginning @ 0:20-0:30

  • I dont believe it gets much better than this right here. These Cats saved my life way back when. Thanks for posting

  • just as certain people you meet can leave huge impacts on your life, good and bad, music can do the exact same thing. Who knows, maybe a song can save your life, only you know for sure, no one else.

  • Man what a talent they had

  • Such a shame they broke up. Look at Art and his crazy little hair do. :)

  • I should have been alive then

  • Delicated Art...true art!

  • i'm not sure but i think i have this on cd. i think its apart of a live from amsterdam concert. and this was a song they performed which was for something else but i can't remember.. not much help i suppose.

  • To seek the breast of darkness and be suckled by the night.............  wow!

  • yeah man, I know what you mean :-) what a line

  • "A single worded poem comprised

    of FOUR letters": simply perfect, resumes it all...

  • I love graffiti!!!

  • I do not think you understand what living "thru" the 60's mean..yes it was love and peace and hate and war and finally National Guard troops killing kids on college campus's.We were armed with flowers.................

  • i would give everything i have to go through time and attend that performance....

    damn the 60's had all the good music, its interesting how it was so focused on love then and now its on hate and depression

  • Although what you say is true there is nothing about love in this song and not all modern songs are about hate but nobody can match thes 2

  • nothing about love? the four letter word that also constitutes a poem would almost have to be "love."

  • They explianed in the version on the old friends album that when they shot he pictures for thier first album in the subway they found the word fuck was was writen on on the wall behind them thats the four letter poem.

  • if you check out my video "northern line" he goes into greater detail about it.

  • Thanks for the vid man, it's awesome.

  • yes I think so too, but when I was younger I thought it was a curse word lol.

  • the phrase "a four letter word" generally means that the word is profane.

  • It would be the word I would choose, if I were to write my poems in such a fashion.

  • @knoxrox167 The music is just based on reality now. That's the difference.

  • Comment removed

  • @greenbottle12in a realitiy just doesnt exist

  • Respectfully, what do you you call "Sound of Silence", "The Boxer", "I Am a Rock", "My Little Town"? In fact, I'd argue most of their songs embrace the essence of loneliness, hate, and depression... Of course there's love, too.

    I think the reason their music is so great is the tremendous though and meaning behind the lyrics, the outstanding complimenting vocals, and their unique repertoire of eclectic music. Each song is unique in melody, verse, and feeling, and speaks straight to the soul.

  • @knoxrox167 not necessarily. your only looking at the vague outlook on it. about hippies, and just because they were about peace and love, doesnt mean that the music was always about that.... if you really listen to all of the songs by an artist.you will learn to find that music was played and written through every emotion. it kind of irritates me that you would say something like that too, because it kinda shows me that you are stereotypically saying that. wierds me out.

  • @xXBlinDXx12

    oh, simon and garfunkel absolutely explored every crevice of emotion and expression. i dont remember, seeing that my comment is a year old, but the reference to "love" is mentioned because the meaning behind this song is expression of love. hopefully you didnt miss that.

    the difference between S&G's "hate and depression" and the modern interpretations is the fact that S&G's is well based and founded. compare their A Most Peculiar Man to Lil Wayne's I Feel Like Dying

  • @knoxrox167 haha yes, you are right i do suppose, sorry for harping on you like that. and i am glad to know that you know a good share of facts, i assume. i guess the comment itself was vague. and we could probably go back ad forth about the music world for days. haha. but yeah cool stuff though. too bad the mainstream of today is soo fake and is corrupting the lives of the generation that follows, and i just so happen to be a couple steps ahead than the others at my HS. Thank Goodness

  • @xXBlinDXx12 Good grief. Get a grip. We did have some beautiful music then but there are fine songs and singers today. We had Peace and Love but also OD's, bad trips and rip offs. We dug this soft and lovely but also rocked to Hendrix and Sly. They were great times and horrible times and I truly became a fan of S&G in Nam. If I had known I'd live this long, I'd have taken more drugs.

  • @knoxrox167 - I'm hearing the "expression of love" as being the song itself exposing a snapshot about the tyranny of homelessness. I could be wrong, but that's what I hear.

  • @knoxrox167 - ya, and what does that say for us? Was that love and peace we sang about, not real enough? Isn't that what we thought of our parents? For me, these songs remain iconic not only for the impressionable melodies, but for the poetry inside of them.

  • @knoxrox167 Yes and the people who now run the world and made it what it is are those people who focused on love. That generation from the 60s were the genertion in charge during the 80s and 90s. they gave us right wing governments and selfish people. How did that happen?

  • @knoxrox167 Well, I'd say it just focuses on money. Hate and depression songs started much earlier.

    I Am A Rock is a pretty depressful song

  • @knoxrox167 You are awesome.

  • @knoxrox167 I Am A Rock was quite depressing... But what an amazing song that was...

  • @knoxrox167 lucky it was filmed then ayy! lol

  • `sigh`... : )

  • This take really shows what a great guitarist Paul is. He takes on the full rhythm section flawlessly.

  • I fully agree. He has a great sense of rhythm. The chords and the picking pattern in this isn't that hard, but to make it flow so perfectly as he does is hard!

  • Garfy is an angel here.One of their masterpieces. Very fresh and young also sad.

  • my favourite simon & garfunkel

  • Fabulous song,fabulous couple,fabulous age,Garfunkel is wonderful,Simon is a genius,their music is ethernal.

    L.O.V.E. from Italy.

  • wow! many thanks for posting these videos!

  • ClassicManiac, your hunch is right. The "all familiar suggestion" is indeed the f-word. hence the laughter from the audience :)

  • haha, great. Thanks for making that clear :-)

  • Can anyone (who knows the Live in New York City 1967 version of this song) explain me what Art means in the little story about the cover shooting for "Wednesday morning, 3 a.m."? Maybe it's because English is not my mother language, but I just don't understand what he means there, espacially with "all familiar suggestion". Does that mean someone wrote "Fuck you" on the wall or something?

  • When they shot the cover-photo for "Wednesday Morning 3 A.M." they had to scrap some photos they took because there were obsceneties written on the wall behind them. Atleast I think that's what he's referring too?

  • this is such a good song-poem and reveals so much about so many things about what people had to say in these times!!!wow and so well written!!!

  • This may be my favourite all of this songs :)

  • As child i always sayd my higes wish was to see them preform, well know that that whould never happens.

    But suttenly i see the news paper telling Simon and Garfunkel will play together for one last tune, comming to Copenhagen Denmark.

    So i saw them preform, and i was stading on only 20 meters away from them.

    Best concert ever.

  • Imagine being there so up close and personal! My only regret is not having had the chance to see them perform.

  • Ah yes...poetry. It arouses feelings, thoughts, and even physical responses in many. FYI, The Simon and Garfunkel boxed set 'Old Friends' includes a live version of the song, prefaced by an anecdote from Garfunkel about its origin: he explains that a photo shoot for the cover of the album 'Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.' was ruined because the subway wall they had intended to use as a backdrop had obscenities written on it.

    Alas, the New York word was not 'love'.

  • The four letter word is obviously "Love", this a great poem.

  • I hadn't heard this song until my parens got me their collected works a few christmases ago, and this became my favorite song ever

  • this song is just about the word fuck. thats what the "four leters" are. lovley song though

  • Yes, Paul was originally inspired to write the song when he saw the word written on the wall, but to say that this song is "just about the word fuck" is unjustly simplifying an extremely well written song with a more poignant meaning.

  • I concur. The fact that Simon refers to the word "Fuck" as a poem - per se - speaks volumes about his opinion (at that time) of what constitutes poetry; that is, poetry is not defined solely by rhythm or meter...or any other conventional constraints. Perhaps he means to say that poetry is simply the true expression of that within. "Fuck" is versatile. It is a modern (or possibly post-modern) cri de coeur. Notice where the poet writes it - "deep upon the advertising" - striking against society.

  • You're right, and in the context of the 60's and how society was evolving: issues with censorship, the musical revolution, the anti-society movement... it's much more than a song about a swear word.

  • I think it's less to do with controversy over the word or even the political context and more to do with the methodology of the graffiti-'artist' and his single-mindedness. The focus on the task. I suppose the song gives a voice and 'face' to these otherwise anonymous characters. Favourite line 'seek the breast of darkness and be suckled by the night'. Paul Simon undoubtedly one of the greatest lyricists in the English language.

  • Single-mindedness bordering on madness, perhaps? Or even a type of "religious" zealotry? There is far too much to analyze in this tune; one could write a thesis.

    Hmmm...time to take up your crayon rosary?

  • i listen to this song every morning when im sitting in the bus, on my way to school. i close my eyes and forget everything around me.just great music by 2 wonderful people !

  • i love this!

  • Its so descriptive. They are defineatly some of my favorite poets!

  • Wow. It was like their talent combined was meant to be.

  • great!

  • i;m a 19 year old man who loves my S & . and this is such a great tune that few ppl know about

  • too delicious!

  • magnifique

  • ever single time i go on the subway ..this song pops into my head... and i spend the rest of my travels humming it

  • Or I could read all the comments first....

  • On one of there concert CDs, Garfunkel explains that they were in a subway station and they were taking pictures for the cover of one of their albums. After what seemed like forever, they got the perfect picture only to find that it had the "F" word spraypainted on the wall in the background of the picture. An interestingly simple story to an amazing song.

  • Oh wow I never knew that! Thanks!

    It reminds me of the last few chapters of Catcher in the Rye where Holden Caulfield begins noticing the "F" word grafittied in places he went as a child and becomes enraged that someone is stealing children's innocence by having written it where they all can see.

  • Love this song!

  • Special song

  • This is too good....

  • "A Poem on the Underground Wall" is a song written by Paul Simon, first released as a recording on the Simon and Garfunkel album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. The boxed set Old Friends includes a live version of the song, prefaced by an story from Garfunkel about its origin: he explains that a photo shoot for the cover of the album Wednesday Morning 3 A.M. was ruined because the subway wall they wanted to use as a backdrop had obscenities written on it.

    Dont read to much into songs.

  • Then what were they doing down in the entrance of a subway, taking pictures at 3 o'clock in the morning, in the middle of the week?? No wonder a guy went streaking by them, holding only a crayon rosary. That's where the idea for this song was "born".

  • ......one of the dumbest things I've heard in a a long time.

  • What??? Dumb? (sigh) the one who can not grasp and capture the beauty and meaning of an art, is the one who is DUMB! poor taste!

  • You're the problem.

  • I love this song, but I never understood the ending. Could someone explain what "shadowed by the exit light, his legs take their ascending flight to seek the breast of darkness and be suckled by the night" means? Thank you very much.

  • I mean....he prolly started running after he wrote his "poem" and he ran under the exit sign and seeks the world above the subway that is dark and takes men into the night. You know like the stuff that only goes on at night. I think that's what the suckled bit is about. He's an addict. But you know I'm just pullin stuff out of my arse.

  • Robwhite, I can see that you too are studying Simonology in college. Your explanation is the most widely accepted, however, another is that the creative burst associated with slashing the poem on the wall represents the moment of conception inside the "tunnel's stony womb" "His legs take their ascending flight"-- this is the passage through the birth canal, when the newborn seeks his mother's breast, and is suckled, but only by the night, since he has lost the comfort and security of the womb.

  • Another interpretation is that it represents your favorite team losing in the NCAA's. "His legs take their ascending flight" -- this represents a last second drive to the basket for a slam dunk. "The breast of darkness" -- this is the ref calling you for traveling. "Suckled by the night" -- this is your brackets flushing down the drain.

    There are many more interpretations, some involving ancient tragic figures from Greek and Roman poetry.

  • Thank you, Aentnothan and robwhite!

  • or, more simply, one could say that he is taken in by the night as its charge, which correlates to the connotations that the nigh thas, after fleeing the scene of the crime. Im not sure i understand the NCAA analogy though...

  • We shared the same thought robwhitesays only we said it differently! I guess.

  • The underground has a stair "his legs take their ascending flight to seek the breast of darkness and be suckled by the night" this means He swiftly escaped in the middle of the night and nobody has ever seen him , after he wrote or painted or vandalize the wall with the usual suggestion.."the four letters"..i;e.. F**K Y**(The F word)

  • The underground has a stair "his legs take their ascending flight to seek the breast of darkness and be suckled by the night" this means He swiftly escaped in the middle of the night and nobody has ever seen him , after he wrote or painted or vandalize the wall with the usual suggestion.."the four letters"..i;e.. F**K Y**(The F word)

    My bit grasp of the English language. Correct me If am wrong.

  • Excellent performance.

    Vintage.

  • First song I learnt on the guitar, memories.

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