My favourite S&G song in hindsight, it sat me down in awe at the wonderful arrangement, melody and harmony as-well as the imagery ...'and walked off to look for America'...and 'I said be careful his bow-tie is really a camera' (in the days of the cold war) and 'Kathy I'm lost I said though I knew she was sleeping, I'm empty and aching and don't know why' ...and so on. At first I was taken aback seeing that the lyrics looked as if they were written in free form. But the music is anything but free form, it is tight, compact and masterly. I still choke when I listen to
this. Looking at Paul Simon's more recent work I despair at his loss of form and all the wasted years for his talent. Listen also to America's recent version of this and wonder at it's timelessness.
Good choice. Possibly my fav as well, however its a close tie with 'Save the Life of my Child' (the previous track), probably more for its revolutionary use of samples and pastiche of effects and brilliant arrangement. When I hear the end hook from that song - "Oh my grace I've got no hiding place"...I still get chills down my spine.
ReplyDelete