Simon and Garfunkel – At the Zoo

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Wow. Tired. But Simon and Garfunkel is great “tired” music. Mellow enough to be relevant, yet upbeat and quirky enough to avoid the pitfall of exhaustion turning into despair.

Prior to about 2004,  my only exposure to S&G were the poppy, yet overplayed tracks they would play on oldies and (sometimes) classic rock radio. Tracks like Mrs. Robinson, Scarborough Fair, and The Sounds of Silence. And every now and then, while sitting in the waiting room of my dentist’s office, the strains of Bridge Over Troubled Water would emanate through the muzak speakers.

Yet, in the winter of 2004, I saw the film Garden State, which, in addition to being a fantastic film, featured an incredible soundtrack, one tune of which was Simon and Garfunkel’s The Only Living Boy in New York. I’d never heard that track before (it rarely receives any radio play) and it was amazing.

Quite soon after, I started listing to Bookends, the album from which many of these classic songs are taken from. It’s perfect for now, a slow Wednesday afternoon, as my body is screaming “SLEEP!” but my things to do is declaring otherwise.