Emily: This album is split into two halves - Part 1 is a concept album about aging, and Part 2 is unused songs from the soundtrack to The Graduate. Oddly enough, the outtakes are much more compelling than the new material. The concept part was just strange to me. I mean, there's an entire track of just old people talking. Although the second half is perhaps less cohesive than the first, the individual songs are strong enough to stand on their own as singles. Overall the tone is quiet and wistful, which is not too exciting but is the classic Simon and Garfunkel sound. I much prefer when they up the tempo, adding musical interest to Paul Simon's clever lyrics.
Favorite Tracks: Mrs. Robinson; A Hazy Shade of Winter; Save the Life of My Child
Zack: My first inclination for this review was to have Emily’s and my own overlap in a beautiful harmony. But then I realized that that may be a bit hard on our readers because our words would be so soothing that when you doubled them up it would just be too much. When I think of Simon and Garfunkel, I think soothing. Well, that, and this clip from an episode of Futurama… Bookends is no exception. It will caress you down into a relaxed state and sing to you beautiful words that mean very little when actually contemplated. One of my favorite quotes of all time is from an interview between Paul Simon and Dick Cavett where Simon explains that the reference of Joe DiMaggio. “It's about syllables, Dick,” he said. “It's about how many beats there are.” The pair would later go on to claim that the shout-out was because they wanted to honor the great DiMaggio for his integrity, but we all know that the real answer is the simple one. Bookends ultimately comes down to simplicity. There is nothing terribly complex about it, and its beauty lies in that fact.
Favorite Tracks: Mrs. Robinson; A Hazy Shade of Winter; Old Friends
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