The more I listen to Simon and Garfunkel, the more I fall in love. Paul Simon’s songwriting and Art Garfunkel’s vocals combine to create some of the most intelligent, most angelic compositions I’ve ever heard.
My favourite album of theirs has to be “Bridge Over Troubled Water” just for the sheer number of incredible tracks … but how would I rank them all?
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OK
11 – Bye Bye Love
“Bye Bye Love” is a live cover of an Everly Brothers song. Easily the one I’m most likely to skip.
10 – Keep the Customer Satisfied
There’s a nice bounciness to “Keep the Customer Satisfied”, but it doesn’t grip me.
Good
9 – Why Don’t You Write Me
Quite a silly song. Fun, though.
8 – Song for the Asking
The final song on the album is short but sweet.
Paul Simon’s guitar and vocals are excellent.
7 – So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright
I enjoy any song led by Art Garfunkel, and there are some wacky chords here and there to perk my ears up.
6 – Baby Driver
Ah … so that’s where Edgar Wright got the title of the film from.
Great energy, and there are some really catchy lines in the chorus.
Great
5 – El Condor Pasa (If I Could)
It’s impressive that a song so renowned and musically interesting as “El Condor Pasa” only ranks at number five. There are more bangers on this album than I was expecting.
The flutes and strange lyrics give the track an ethereal, almost dream-like feel.
Amazing
4 – Cecilia
The current generation seems to love “Cecilia” – it has the most Spotify plays of any song on this album, and it’s probably the only one my younger sister would recognise.
It’s upbeat and joyous, and that percussion sound is iconic.
3 – The Only Living Boy in New York
Paul Simon wrote “The Only Living Boy in New York” while Art Garfunkel was away shooting a movie. I don’t think I’ve ever heard such a purer, heart-warming, more life-affirming declaration of friendship in a song.
I’ve had this song and its lovely choruses stuck in my head for weeks.
All-Time Great
2 – The Boxer
Alongside “America” and “The Sound of Silence”, “The Boxer” is my favourite set of Simon & Garfunkel lyrics.
Not only does it tell a compelling story, it also has one of the catchiest refrains in all of music.
1 – Bridge Over Troubled Water
Paul Simon wrote “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, one of the toughest yet most beautiful vocal pieces of all time, specifically for Art Garfunkel. Talk about a friend backing a friend wholeheartedly.
I’ve said it many times before, but this is one of the most gorgeous songs ever written. The vocals are impeccable, and the part where Paul Simon joins in before the grand finale always gives me goosebumps.
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