For album number four, I decided to review Simon and Garfumkel’s second album, Sounds of Silence. While I recognized the singles, I hadn’t heard the album in its entirety yet. The first track has since become one of their classics: the Sound of Silence. Many people don’t realize that this song originally appeared on their first album albeit as an acoustic version. Their producer at the time decided to over dub this initial recording with electric instruments resulting in the version found on this album and the most well known. I have always enjoyed both, as I like the songs dark, haunting melody and thought provoking lyrics. The next song is more folk based and less electric. Because their later, more folk-rock oriented work is more well known, their earlier, more acoustic work is often forgotten or unknown all together. Being a folk song, this track was quite short. In fact, the whole album is less than 30 minutes in length. Next up is a song that is in more of a rock style. Irony soon follows when the vocals come in as the lyrics are biblical in nature. In the mid 1960’s, many religious people still thought that rock-n-roll was the music of the devil himself. I felt that this track was okay, but nothing spectacular. This is forgivable, only because I see this earlier period of their work as being a point in which they are still finding themselves, musically. The forth track is titled Kathy’s song. This was a single though I never fond it to be one of the better ones. I do enjoy the extent to which it showcases Simon’s guitar playing capabilities. Fifth on the album is a song called Somewhere They Can’t Find Me. This track is the most orchestrated so far. That aside, I felt that it could have better written. The next song is an instrumental that sounds exactly like an immediate reprise of the previous track. It’s more acoustic in nature and again shows off Simon’s skills as a musician. I especially enjoyed the ending chord, which utilized not only a picardy third, but an added ninth as well.
The first track on side two is called Richard Cory. I find the lyrics to be quite intriguing and later learned that they were adapted from a poem form Edwin Arlington Robinson. This is the essence of what folk music is all about. Poetry and message set to music. In this regard, Simon and Garfunkel do an excellent job. I defiantly hear this song as being a precursor to later story-oriented pieces such as The Boxer. The next song was very similar in nature. It’s lyrics involved telling the tale of a character as well. In addition, both songs also have the protagonist taking his own life. At this point, I couldn’t help but feel that two suicide songs in a row makes for quite a downer. Simon and Garfunkel harmonize particularly well on this track, something that they’ve always been good at. The next track, April Come She Will, sounded a lot like one of their other songs though I couldn’t quite place which one. It’s lyrics involve the cycles of life, which seems to be a reoccurring theme throughout this album. At less than two minutes long, it was over far too soon, but that’s not common for this time period and this style of music. The next song is quite different. Not only does the music have a more rock feel to it, the lyrics are shallower in nature. I suppose not every song can be on a more intellectual level. The closing song of the album is another Simon and Garfunkel classic. Titled I Am a Rock, it is a great choice for a final track. The lyrics deep and introspective, the music rocks out as well. The organ player reminds me of Al Cooper who played on Bob Dylan’s classic album from the previous year, Highway 61 Revisited. This may very well be as Bob Johnston was the producer of both albums. Perhaps what I love best about the closing track however is that it points to the direction of the future. More electric, deeper meanings, folk rock at it’s finest.
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