Professor David Peimer
Art Garfunkel: Grandchild of Romania
Professor David Peimer - Art Garfunkel: Grandchild of Romania
- So, we’re going to dive into Art Garfunkel. And, I know the reason, you know, that Trudy had spoken to me about it was because he, as I’m sure many people know, is the grandchild of Romanian immigrants. And what’s extraordinary to me is we get, obviously his understanding of immigration, generation, moving from the one to the other. And then I guess, which is, as everybody knows better than I do, the classic immigrant story. But, I think also what’s amazing, is something about the sheer ordinariness of Arthur Garfunkel. A sort of normal, ordinary guy who stays pretty grounded, pretty rooted all his life. I don’t think got caught up in all the, you know, the glory, the fame, rags to riches, not rags, but middle class to riches, everything. He seems to be such a normality, and blessed with a gift from heaven knows where, but a gift of a remarkable angelic voice, which others have called angelic. Many names have been given to his voice. I think what’s also misunderstood sometimes, perhaps, is the sheer amount of hard work. When he talks about his work, how he’s figuring out every note, every detail. You know, he’s got a basic tenor voice, but whether it’s slightly this or slightly that, or on this word or this syllable, this bit of phrasing here, working on the producing with Paul Simon and in the studio, the producing sound, tech side, if you like. So I think what fascinates me about Art Garfunkel is obviously there’s the Romanian link, which he’s very aware of, and the Jewish link through that. And the other thing that I think is so fascinating is blessed with this extraordinary voice, what he does with it through his life.
And the third thing really is the incredible normality and ordinariness and not trying to pretend or claim he’s anything more, really. And there’s something endearingly fascinating, as a 20th century pop icon really, in terms of that. You know, what you see is what you get, in a way, and no sense of needing to create any other persona that so many of the great iconic rock and folk and singing and musical legends, you know, of the second half of the 20th century created. His persona is him, I think. And there’s something profoundly moving for me about that. I want to add just briefly, if I may, at the beginning, I did my post-grad studies on a Fulbright at Columbia, and Art Garfunkel studied architecture at Columbia, as I’m sure many know. And, his wife acted in one of my plays when I was a post-grad student in New York City. And he came quite a few times. And I’m saying this, not to sort of just talk about David’s experience, but again, it was the sheer ordinary normality, if you like, of such an iconic human being that was so profoundly moving and touching to me, in an unsentimental way. And just talking about ordinary, simple things of life. And, you know, his girlfriend at the time who then became his wife, who was Czech born, and the fantastic generosity of spirit that they both had, and warmth and humanity. And it comes through his voice, it comes through the singing. I think it comes through the interviews, which I’m going to show, that quality of ordinary with a gifted voice, which is another whole, I suppose, just life gift. So, I want to share that at the beginning because there is something very moving. This is not an Einstein figure, this is not an Elvis, a PF, you know, with a remarkable life story or incredible mind or anything, really.
He’s just a guy that we could all grow up with, down the street, next door neighbour with an incredible voice and determination, hardworking, achieves. The other thing I wanted to begin with was something I read the other day in preparing for today’s talk, where there’s a whole lot of recent literature on the web. And, this is not on the dark web, this is on the web, where they attack Simon and Garfunkel. And they are vicious, anti-Semitic direct phrases, I’m not going to mention them. There’s vicious, antisemitic undertones and overt phrases that attack, that attack them and their Jewishness through attacking their music. And the one that they use the most to attack, of course is, “Hello darkness, my old friend.” And, there’s an enormous amount on the internet, saying that this is the Jewish, young poet talking to Satan and calling Satan to come and do whatever Satan must do. I’m not going into the details here. “Hello darkness, my old friend,” the amount of literature on that line, coming from, you know, very right-wing evangelicals, you can imagine, of all kinds of faiths. “I’ve come to talk with you again.” And how those two phrases have been, those two lines have been twisted into a really perverted, vicious meaning and attack. “Fools, said I, you do not know, silence like a cancer grows, take my arms that I might lead you.” Those words turned into the cancer of Satan, the cancer of the Jewish poet singing and talking about Satan, bringing Satan back into contemporary Western civilization, not only America. Of course, they ignore, “And the people bowed and prayed to the neon God they made,” they ignore lines like that. They focus on what lines will suit their particular evangelical or religious narrative.
And, it’s fascinating to look at the origins and, you know, these connections that are set up through the internet. And they’re pretty massive, because it’s obviously such a well-known song, and one of the great songs of the last 50 years that have come out. “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” is also used, because he got the inspiration from a Black gospel band, which I’ll talk about a bit later. But it’s also used, you know, you can imagine how that narrative starts to go through everything that Simon and Garfunkel, a lot of it, that Paul Simon wrote, they both sing. I share that as a way of introduction, given, you know, what’s happening at the moment in the world, not only the last few recent days in Israel, but what’s been happening, you know, going back to the Holocaust, obviously. Given the overall context of the terrible, horrifying century, you know, we are emerging out of, and the new one we’re going through, how these remarkable lines of poetry and the ethnic origins of certain poets are echoing, in pretty scary ways. I also just wanted to mention that what’s very interesting for me is to think of Art Garfunkel, and on Tuesday, I’m going to talk about Elie Wiesel and his original 851-page draught of “Night,” which he then cut to 140 pages of absolutely moving, devastating masterpiece, as we all know. I’m going to look at the two in relation to his life. But that original draught, which is very interesting in the contrast to the final version, and in the context, of course, of the tragedy, the extreme horror of Holocaust Memorial Day. So, Art Garfunkel, getting back to it now, a little bit about his life. What these guys achieved with four albums, that’s all they did together, together, four albums they created. If we can go on to the next slide, please, Lauren.
Okay, the ravages of age, which we all know. There’s the young Art, born in 1941, and here he is being interviewed some years back. Okay, Arthur Ira Garfunkel, he’s a winner of eight Grammys, quite something, only four albums. A little bit of trivia, he was ranked the 86th best singer of all time in “Rolling Stone” magazine list of the hundred greatest singers of all time. So, he’s pretty up there. And this is global, not just, you know, the West. He’s born in Queens, son of Rose and Jacob Garfunkel. Jacob, his father, was a travelling salesman. He was the middle child with two brothers. Jacob’s parents are the ones who immigrated to Manhattan at the beginning of the 20th century. And his father, Jacob, who had worked as an actor in Dayton, Ohio. And he comes, as I said, from Romanian-Jewish descent, from the city of Iasi, forgive my pronunciation, in Romania, which is where the grandfather came from, early 20th century. When he was young, Art Garfunkel would often sing in the synagogue. So he’s, from very early age, he talks about when he was four and five and six, he’s singing in the synagogue and singing at home. And he becomes very aware at a very young age that he has what he calls this gift of a voice. At his bar mitzvah in 1954, he performed as a cantor and sang, believe it or not, for four hours. I’m not sure if that’s legend or true, but I can believe it. He meets Paul Simon in the sixth grade, so he’s what, 11, 12. And between 1956 and 1962, the two of them perform as Tom and Jerry, school dancers. And of course their idols were the great harmony duo, the Everly Brothers, who are beautiful and stunning to listen to, even 70, 80 years later, you know, the Everly Brothers, they, for Garfunkel certainly, a huge influence. And they imitated of course the two-part vocal harmony. He then goes to Columbia, where he majored in architecture. And while at Columbia, his roommate was a man called Sanford Greenberg, who developed glaucoma and went blind. And Art Garfunkel assisted him in his homework by reading the textbooks to him. And of course, Greenberg went on to graduate with honours.
Another roommate at Columbia was Tishman Speyer, the founder of Tishman Speyer, sorry, a man, Jerry Speyer, I’m sure many have heard of. And the other guy, Sanford Greenberg, later gave Garfunkel $500 to go and record the demo of “Sounds of Silence.” So, I don’t want to talk about the fates and gods and so on, but he helps him with his glaucoma, helps him with his studies, reads, studied together, learning. And then, the same guy gives him $500, go and record the demo of the song “Sounds of Silence,” which is really the one that catapults him and Paul Simon into global fame and an extraordinary career. He does a BA in art history and an MA in mathematic education at Columbia, which my very good friend, Jeff, who now lives in Australia, we were at Columbia at the same time, both on the Fulbright, and Jeff studied exactly that, mathematic education, and couldn’t believe Art Garfunkel had studied exactly the same. He completed coursework towards a doctorate, didn’t finish the doctorate. Then in 1963, they decided to work on, they’d use their own names, Simon and Garfunkel, playing around with many names, what to use. And then finally, well, that’s it, stay with the names, which is really interesting ‘cause not many others, even in the 60s, in the era of the 60s, the free, liberal era, you know, made that sort of choice. First album, sure everybody knows, “Wednesday Morning it’s 3 AM,” in 1964 was not a success, and they split. The next year, the producer, Tom Wilson, took just the song, “Sounds of Silence” from that album and he added electric backing onto it and released it as a single that shot to number one.
And, their mutual career is born. Four albums, and of course the remarkable and massively successful “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” What’s amazing, when I was thinking about this for today, is how many of their songs, their words, their lyrics, their music has stuck in my mind, and going back so many decades, and I’m sure for everybody. And, at interesting times, for me, almost similar to the Beatles, and maybe Dylan and Elvis, obviously, and others, how at different times their music just comes into one’s life. You know, where phrases just come back in. I think in a minimally sentimental way, shall we say. 1967, they work on the soundtrack of the great Mike Nichols, the film, “The Graduate,” the iconic, absolute classic we all know, which I’m going to show a clip of, starring Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft. And while they’re writing “Mrs. Robinson,” Paul Simon originally wanted the title, and I’m not sure here, it’s a bit mixed, the research, either they wanted, Paul Simon wanted Mrs. Roosevelt, or Mrs. Rosenberg. Okay. Make of it what you will. Mrs. Rosenberg was going to be Mrs. Robinson. And Paul Simon was determined, so Garfunkel went to tell Mike Nichols, the director, you know, “It’s either Mrs. Rosenberg or Mrs. Roosevelt.” And he said, “Are you guys nuts?” Mike Nichols is Jewish. “Are you guys nuts? We’re making a movie, okay. We’re not doing a standup comic scene. It’s going to be Mrs. Robinson and that’s it, put it in the song.” So, that’s how the title literally came about. And he needed one extra song. He was already going to use “Sounds of Silence,” he needed one extra song, and it went in and became one of the most well-known songs in the world.
Art Garfunkel also wrote the arrangement, the musical arrangement on “The Boxer,” another beautiful song, which I love. They split in 1970 after “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” 1981, they get together for the great concert in Central Park, which I’m going to show some clips of. And then, of course, he acts in two other Mike Nichols’ movies. And I’m going to show the clip with “Catch-22” in 1970, one of the great novels, for me, of all time. I love that novel. And, just to show a scene where the young Art Garfunkel is in acton in “Catch-22.” And then of course “Carnal Knowledge,” with Jack Nicholson. Lots of anecdotes of working with Jack Nicholson, and friendly, becoming good friends, and so on. That’s in 1971. And then, what’s interesting, in 1971 is Garfunkel decides to stop all this, and he goes and works as a mathematics teacher, teaching geometry at a high school in Connecticut, influenced by his girlfriend, Laurie Bird. And he goes and does that. But after about seven, eight months realises, you’ve got to get back to singing and music. Singing is his addiction, he calls it. Singing is an act of faith, he calls it. Terribly, in 1979, Laurie Bird, his girlfriend, committed suicide in their Manhattan apartment, apparently from a deep depression. He left the music scene. His father dies, similar time, and for a good number of years, maybe four or five years, you know, it is quite a solitary figure, perhaps, quite an alone figure. Then he met his future wife Kim in 1985, and they were married in 1988. And it’s the late 80s when I was fortunate enough and humbled enough to meet them. In 2010, he developed vocal problems with damage to his vocal chords, but managed to get over that and was restored. He’s an avid reader. If you look at his website, there’s a year-by-year listing of every book this guy has read since 1968.
The list includes more than a thousand books, you know, so there’s quite an intellectual, and I think he almost sees himself as a bit of a renaissance intellectual man, but I don’t want to presume that, I’m just suggesting. It also shows that he’s read the entire Random House “Dictionary,” and all the works of the great philosopher Rousseau. He’s done several long walks in his lifetime. In the early 80s, he walked across Japan. From ‘83 to '97, he walked across America, from New York City to Oregon. In 2017, he said, “I was an angel singer, a homework nut, an underground man lover of all beautiful things, beautiful faces, beautiful bodies, boys and girls.” I want to play “Sound of Silence” now because I’m going to introduce all the songs as we go through. If we can play the next, sorry, this is about his origins and arriving, his grandparents coming through Ellis Island, before going onto “Sounds of Silence.” Thanks Lauren.
CLIP BEGINS
When you performed at Ellis Island.
Oh.
What a remarkable night. This was at the end of your walk across America.
That’s right.
And that walk took 14 years?
Well, I did it in 40 different instalments, always flying back to where I left off. So, between the mid-80s and the mid-90s, I crossed the continent, from my home in New York City to the Pacific.
And then, that led to the amazing night at Ellis Island where you not only performed some of your greatest songs, you also reflected on your heritage.
That’s right. I mean, Ellis Island is the gate where they came from eastern Europe into Manhattan. And then most immigrants moved on to the continent. My family stayed in New York City, and I am the third generation of that lineage.
I was struck, reading about the early days of Simon and Garfunkel, of course you started as a rock and roll duo, Tom and Jerry.
We saw ourselves as children of the Everly Brothers, rockabilly we called it in those days.
Well, here in Nashville, Tom and Jerry would be very big, and should have been very big. “Hey Schoolgirl” was your first hit, in high school in the 50s. And, you so you were a co-writer actually, in the beginning.
Yeah.
Although this new album that we’re talking about marks your return as a songwriter, you’ve actually been at it for a good few decades.
That’s right. I mean, after our early high school days when Paul Simon and I were writers of these Buddy Holly kind of country rock and roll songs, then came the age of Bob Dylan, and Paul became this wonderful first-rate poetic writer, and I easily deferred to that talent through our whole famous career.
I have to ask, did you ever cross paths with the Everly Brothers?
I saw Phil Everly outside The Brill Building on Broadway in New York in the 50s, wearing a sharp black suit and boots with Cuban heels. And I knew who he was very well. He didn’t know me. He was looking for directions, where to find a certain music building, and I had the honour of helping him find where he was going, and then I just retreated. That’s it.
I gather he didn’t recognise you?
No.
Not from Tom And Jerry. What I found very interesting, is a struggle you had, and speaking of your heritage, and once Tom and Jerry had disappeared, and once Simon and Garfunkel had gotten back together again, after Paul had been a solo performer for a little while in Britain, you had to decide whether you were going to be Simon and Garfunkel. And that was actually a discussion, about whether that name was too ethnic.
You bet. And and we categorically rejected the name. It was, for us, it was definitely the absence of a name. And while we struggled to find a name, we failed. And so we went with our real names by default. And I can remember Tom Wilson, our producer at Columbia Records, saying, “Oh hell, it’s '65,” meaning, it’s such a modern era, let’s go with their real names.
And because people would respond to Jewish names as being too ethnic and would not respond to the record. Is that the idea?
It sounded like a law firm.
Okay, can we hold it there please?
When you did–
I’m sorry. It sounded like a law firm. Okay. I mean, his wit, his honesty, and just going with their real names in the end, as I said, not creating a persona. Okay, if you could play the next one please. And we’re going to play the great classic, “Sounds of Silence.”
♪ Hello darkness, my old friend ♪ ♪ I’ve come to talk with you again ♪ ♪ Because a vision softly creeping ♪ ♪ Left its seeds while I was sleeping ♪ ♪ And the vision that was planted in my brain ♪ ♪ Still remains ♪ ♪ Within the sound of silence ♪ ♪ In restless dreams I walked alone ♪ ♪ Narrow streets of cobblestone ♪ ♪ 'Neath the halo of a street lamp ♪ ♪ I turned my collar to the cold and damp ♪ ♪ When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light ♪ ♪ That split the night ♪ ♪ And touched the sound of silence ♪ ♪ And in the naked light I saw ♪ ♪ Ten thousand people, maybe more ♪ ♪ People talking without speaking ♪ ♪ People hearing without listening ♪ ♪ People writing songs that voices never share ♪ ♪ No one dared ♪ ♪ Disturb the sound of silence ♪ ♪ “Fools,” said I, “you do not know ♪ ♪ Silence like a cancer grows ♪ ♪ Hear my words that I might teach you ♪ ♪ Take my arms that I might reach you ♪ ♪ But my words like silent raindrops fell ♪ ♪ And echoed in the wells of silence ♪ ♪ And the people bowed and prayed ♪ ♪ To the neon god they made ♪ ♪ And the sign flashed its warning ♪ ♪ In the words that it was forming ♪ ♪ And the sign said, "The words of the prophets ♪ ♪ Are written on the subway walls ♪ ♪ And tenement halls ♪ ♪ And whispered in the sounds of silence ♪
CLIP ENDS
- Thanks Lauren. Quite incredible to me. I mean, it is so many decades ago and yet it echoes, it gives us shivers almost to me, the remarkable lyrics and music of Paul Simon, and that incredible voice of Art Garfunkel. Okay, the next one I’m going to play is obviously the great classic, one of the greatest of the century, "Bridge Over Troubled Waters.” And, a couple of interesting things is that Paul Simon said he was obsessing what to write, you know, what song and how, inspiration. And he was listening to an African American gospel group called the Swan Silvertones. And they had recorded their version of a 19th century spiritual called, “Oh Mary Don’t You Weep.” And he listened to, he was listening to it over and over again. And then he talks about being struck by a line, which was improvised by the lead singer, a man called Claude Jeter. And the line was, “I’ll be your bridge over double, I’ll be your bridge over deep water, if you trust in my name.” As one of my great professors at Columbia said, “Originality is lack of information.” That was cynical, but may be truth. Anyway, “I’ll be your bridge over deep water if you trust in my name,” and that’s where the whole thing came from. And, that’s legend, I don’t know if it’s true or not, can’t find the true evidence, that he met Claude Jeter and just gave, just wrote a check immediately and gave him a huge amount money.
I don’t know, Paul Simon. And he called it, Paul Simon said it was his greatest song, and it was his version, his equivalent of Paul McCartney’s “Yesterday.” Which I think it is, I think it rises to that level, absolutely. John Lennon also fascinatingly spoke about, you know, the song and the two of them. 'Cause he was quite friendly with Art Garfunkel at one point, in New York. So, and Paul Simon talks about the influence of Black American, the gospel singers, and of course the religious aspect. And a lot of his songwriting and music came from a conscious or unconscious influence of hymns. And he said to Garfunkel, “This is a hymn.” I’m sure many know, it takes its core progression from a Bach choral, adapted by 19th century hymn writers. And the lyrics are also very personal. “Sail on silver girl,” that’s about his soon-to-be wife Peggy Harper, who was recent, had been fretting about some of her hair going grey. “Sail on silver girl,” put into poetry. But the rest, so much of the music and the feeling comes from religious traditional music. And there is a sense of a hymn. And he insisted that Garfunkel sing it alone, not, his voice wasn’t right for it. And this is Paul Simon saying, “Only Artie’s choir boy voice could do justice to the song, not my voice.” And, it is a kind of a hymn. And then, Garfunkel talks about in an interview, where he thought, it needs a final verse, which has got to lift it, like an aeroplane going off.
And he and Paul Simon discussed quite a long time that it’s got to have this high gear at the end. It’s got to do a full spectre thing, where it’s got to take off. And Simon said, “No.” And Garfunkel said, “You’re a purist.” And he said, “No, Artie, I wrote it as a hymn.” Again, the religious influence, the gospel influence, in Paul Simon’s mind all the time, fitting also the voice of Garfunkel. So in the end, he went along with Garfunkel to add that final verse in, and it really does the full spectre thing, and it lifts it. Okay, if we can play it, please, Lauren.
SONG BEGINS
♪ When you’re weary ♪ ♪ Feeling small ♪ ♪ When tears are in your eyes ♪ ♪ I will dry them all ♪ ♪ I’m on your side ♪ ♪ Oh, when times get rough ♪ ♪ And friends just can’t be found ♪ ♪ Like a bridge over troubled water ♪ ♪ I will lay me down ♪ ♪ Like a bridge over troubled water ♪ ♪ I will lay me down ♪ ♪ When you’re down and out ♪ ♪ When you’re on the street ♪ ♪ When evening falls so hard ♪ ♪ I will comfort you ♪ ♪ I’ll take your part ♪ ♪ Oh, when darkness comes ♪ ♪ And pain is all around ♪ ♪ Like a bridge over troubled water ♪ ♪ I will ease your mind ♪ ♪ Like a bridge over troubled water ♪ ♪ I will ease your mind ♪ ♪ Sail on, silver girl ♪ ♪ Sail on by ♪ ♪ Your time has come to shine ♪ ♪ And all your dreams are on their way ♪ ♪ See how they shine ♪ ♪ Oh, if you need a friend ♪ ♪ I’m sailing right behind ♪ ♪ Like a bridge over troubled water ♪ ♪ I will ease your mind ♪ ♪ Like a bridge over troubled water ♪ ♪ I will ease your mind ♪
SONG ENDS
- Thanks, Lauren. We can see, he’s absolutely right, Garfunkel, it needed that last final push at the end to completely take it just to that other level, you know, and not stay as a small hymn that Paul Simon had originally visioned it as. Credit to Paul Simon, totally, for recognising that Garfunkel’s right, and take it to that level. He said, Art Garfunkel said, “I think I sing for the universal spirit. I’m not in favour of identifying just with religious differences.” And what is going to fascinate everybody, “I love the Jews, they’re bright, they’re motivated, they’re pushy, but I sing for anybody with a human heart and a sense of beauty.” I think in four lines, he’s summed up his own vision himself and the connection between his heritage, his roots, his grandparents coming through Ellis Island, and his sense as a third generation American, New York kid, and his own connection to his music. I’m going to read that again. “I think I sing for the universal spirit. I’m not in favour of identifying with religious differences when I sing.
I love the Jews, they’re bright, they’re motivated, they’re pushy, but I sing for any human with a heart and a sense of beauty.” He puts it so succinctly and well, his own particular vision for himself, and life in a way, as an artist. Millions have sold, millions of copies obviously been sold of “Bridge.” It was the biggest selling album of all time until Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” which then became the biggest selling album of all time. Quite remarkable. I can’t resist telling this little anecdote. First time I ever heard it was very good friend of mine in Durban North, growing up there, I was a tiny kid, the first time I ever heard it, my friend, the Friedman cousins, Robbie and Jonathan Friedman, great friends, living in Cape Town now. And their father was a bookmaker, who played the song, and we heard it and listened. And, so for me, an endless beauty, a remarkable voice. And the influence of that religious hymn inside it, building up all the way through. Okay, I want to go on to the next piece, which is from the great classic, of course, which we all know, and I’m going to talk a bit about it afterwards. If we can play it, please, from “The Graduate.” Thanks.
SONG BEGINS
♪ And here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson ♪ ♪ Jesus loves you more than you will know ♪ ♪ Whoa, whoa, whoa ♪ ♪ God bless you, please, Mrs. Robinson ♪ ♪ Heaven holds a place for those who pray ♪ ♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪ ♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪ ♪ We’d like to know a little bit about you for our files ♪ ♪ We’d like to help you learn to help yourself ♪ ♪ Look around you, all you see are sympathetic eyes ♪ ♪ Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home ♪ ♪ And here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson ♪ ♪ Jesus loves you more than you will know ♪ ♪ Whoa, whoa, whoa ♪ ♪ God bless you, please, Mrs. Robinson ♪ ♪ Heaven holds a place for those who pray ♪ ♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪ ♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪ ♪ Hide it in a hiding place where no one ever goes ♪ ♪ Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes ♪ ♪ It’s a little secret, just the Robinson’s affair ♪ ♪ Most of all, you’ve got to hide it from the kids ♪ ♪ Coo, coo, ca-choo, Mrs. Robinson ♪ ♪ Jesus loves you more than you will know ♪ ♪ Whoa, whoa, whoa ♪ ♪ God bless you, please, Mrs. Robinson ♪ ♪ Heaven holds a place for those who pray ♪ ♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪ ♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪ ♪ Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon ♪ ♪ Going to the candidates debate ♪ ♪ Laugh about it, shout about it ♪ ♪ When you’ve got to choose ♪ ♪ Every way you look at this, you lose ♪ ♪ Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio ♪ ♪ Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you ♪ ♪ Woo, woo, woo ♪ ♪ What’s that you say, Mrs. Robinson ♪ ♪ Joltin’ Joe has left and gone away ♪ ♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪ ♪ Hey, hey, hey ♪
SONG ENDS
- Thank you. Okay, thanks Lauren. Okay, one of the great classic movies and one of the great classic scenes and songs for me of the last, you know, half century. And I’m going to quote, Lauren, if I may, and Lauren’s given me permission, so I can do it. When Dustin Hoffman here is 30 years old, playing a 17-year-old high school kid, Anne Bancroft is 35, obviously playing more or less her age, maybe a bit older. And as Lauren said to me, is this every, every high school kid’s fantasy? Is it every high school mother’s fantasy, whatever, that Mike Nichols, and that they’re all playing with. Beautifully captured in the lyrics, in the song, in the images. There’s such a beautiful subtlety and charm, is the best word I can find, you know. And things which lack a certain charm, and not, doesn’t only have to be beautiful and subtle, but, you know, the profound meaning of the word charm, adds so much to the aesthetic of any film or play, anything we watch. You know, and it can be something as, you know, very vicious and violent. “Taxi Driver,” there’s a charm, nevertheless. And, as Lauren said, “Well, maybe that’s the reason why it also became so famous.” ‘Cause you can see he’s obviously not 17, he’s obviously older, Dustin Hoffman, and she’s probably, you know, her age, mid-30s. Okay, so. I think the way that Mike Nichols crafted and created, and put in this song, and of course put in the “Sound of Silence,” is fantastic that he trusted Simon and Garfunkel in his, you know, what becomes this incredible, iconic movie. And it’s, he films it with a kind of a cool, a detached, a semi-cool attitude towards the entire thing. Okay, if we can go onto the next one, please. And this is Garfunkel acting in the Mike Nichols’ movie, “Catch-22.”
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You are crazy. You’re all crazy.
Why are we crazy?
Because you don’t know how to stay alive. That’s the secret of life.
But we have a war to win.
Ah . But uh, America will lose the war. Italy will win it.
America’s the strongest nation on Earth. American fighting man is the best trained, the best equipped, the best fed.
Exactly. Italy on the other hand, is one of the weakest nations on Earth. And the Italian fighting man is oddly equipped at all. And it’s why my country is doing so well while your country is doing it so poorly.
But that’s just silly. Italy was occupied by the Germans and is now being occupied by us. You call that doing well?
Of course I do. The Germans are being driven out and we’re still here. In a few years you’ll be gone and we’ll still be here. You see, Italy is a very poor, weak country. That is what makes us so strong, strong enough to survive this war and still be in existence long after your country has been destroyed.
What are you talking about? America is not going to be destroyed.
Never?
Well.
Rome was destroyed. Greece was destroyed. Persia was destroyed. Spain was destroyed. All great countries are destroyed. Why not yours? How much longer do you think your country will last? Forever?
Well, forever is a long time, I guess.
Very long.
[Woman] Ciao.
Please, we’re talking.
We go to bed now?
No. Hey uh, would you go put some clothes on? You’re practically naked.
Mm.
I wish she wouldn’t walk around like that.
It is her business to walk around like that.
It’s not nice.
Of course it’s nice. It is nice to look at.
This life is not nice. I don’t want her to do this.
[Woman] When we go to America, Natalie?
[Child] When we go to America, Natalie?
You will take her to America? Away from a healthy, active life? Away from good business opportunities? Away from her friends?
Don’t you have any principles?
Oh, of course not.
No morality?
I’m a very moral man. And Italy is a very moral country. That’s why we will certainly come out on top again if we succeed in being defeated.
You talk like a madman.
But I live like a sane one. I was a fascist when Mussolini was on top. Now that he has been deposed, I am anti-fascist. When the Germans were here, I was fanatically pro-German. Now I’m fanatically pro-American. You’ll find no more loyal parties in all of Italy than myself.
You’re a shameful opportunist. What you don’t understand is that it’s better to die on your feet than to live on your knees.
You have it backwards. It’s better to live on your feet than to die on your knees. I know.
How do you know?
Because I’m 107 years old. How old are you?
I’ll be 20 in January.
If you live.
CLIP ENDS
- The writing for me of Joseph Heller, it remains as powerful and evocative as ever. And, you know, watching this scene, after so many years from seeing the movie, it’s something so perceptive. And, you know, I would be very reluctant to use the word prophetic, but it is in a way, you know, what Joseph Heller is seeing. And, it’s a similar sense I get with some of Paul Simon’s lyrics and the way that Garfunkel sings. Maybe prophetic is too strong a word, or maybe too tinged a word, but there’s something of a sense of seeing the future, or understanding a possible future. That’s what I mean through the word prophetic. And it goes with the religious origins for Paul Simon. That hymn quality that he infuses in the songs. And there’s something in the angelic voice, is not just the voice of Art Garfunkel. You know, there’s something in his own spirit as a human being that has this angelic quality, I think, or this generous quality, maybe a less romantic word or less colourful poetic word. He wrote this, he said this about himself, Garfunkel. “I’m a bit of a mommy’s boy. I had the sweetest mother, and I was raised middle class.” I mean, how many artists, pop artists who are so iconic and global would say something as simple and as honest and as unromantic, again, non persona as that. You know, “I was a bit of a mommy’s boy.
I had the sweetest mommy.” I mean, he’s saying this as you know, a much older guy. But, no shame, no hesitation, just being honest. I mean it’s a pretty revolu, or a radical thing almost in our times, when we are obsessed with celebrity persona, image, performance of image, and denial of anything vaguely truthful, authentic. So, I find it interesting, and this scene captures it in a way, and in his acting, and of course the lines. And of course the great, the fantastic lines for the other character, the Italian character. And, but acted in such a good way. So they’re not just didactic, you know, the way it’s created by Joseph Heller. Okay, I want to go on to, the next one is a great song, of course, “The Boxer.”
SONG BEGINS
♪ I am just a poor boy ♪ ♪ Though my story’s seldom told, I have squandered ♪ ♪ I have squandered my resistance ♪ ♪ For a pocketful of mumbles, such are promises ♪ ♪ All lies and jest, still a man hears ♪ ♪ what he wants to hear ♪ ♪ And disregards the rest ♪ ♪ When I left my home and my family ♪ ♪ I was no more than a boy in the company of strangers ♪ ♪ In the quiet of the railway station, running scared ♪ ♪ Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters ♪ ♪ Where the ragged people go ♪ ♪ Looking for the places only they would know ♪ ♪ Lie-la-lie ♪ ♪ Lie-la-lie-lie-lie-lie-lie ♪ ♪ Lie-la-lie ♪ ♪ Lie-la-lie-lie-lie-lie-lie, lie-lie-lie-lie-lie ♪ ♪ Asking only workman’s wages, I come looking for a job ♪ ♪ But I get no offers ♪ ♪ Just a come-on from the whores on 7th Avenue ♪ ♪ I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome ♪ ♪ I took some comfort there, la-la-la-la-la-la-la ♪ ♪ Now the years are rolling by me ♪ ♪ They are rockin’ evenly ♪ ♪ And I am older than I once was ♪ ♪ And younger than I’ll be, that’s not unusual ♪ ♪ Nor is it strange, after changes upon changes ♪ ♪ We are more or less the same ♪ ♪ After changes, we are more or less the same ♪ ♪ Lie-la-lie ♪ ♪ Lie-la-lie-lie-lie-lie-lie ♪ ♪ Lie-la-lie ♪ ♪ Lie-la-lie-lie-lie-lie-lie, lie-lie-lie-lie-lie ♪ ♪ Lie-la-lie-lie-lie-lie-lie ♪ ♪ Lie-la-Lie ♪ ♪ Lie-la-lie-lie-lie-lie-lie, lie-lie-lie-lie-lie ♪ ♪ Then I’m laying out my winter clothes ♪ ♪ Wishing I was gone, going home ♪ ♪ Where the New York City winters aren’t bleeding me ♪ ♪ Leading me ♪ ♪ To going home ♪ ♪ In the clearing stands a boxer ♪ ♪ And a fighter by his trade ♪ ♪ And he carries the reminders ♪ ♪ Of every glove that laid him down ♪ ♪ Or cut him till he cried out ♪ ♪ In his anger and his shame ♪ ♪ I am leaving, I am leaving, but ♪ ♪ the fighter still remains ♪ ♪ Yes, he still remains ♪
SONG ENDS
- Thanks, Lauren. Okay, and I’m just going to end with a couple of thoughts and then just one 30-second clip, which I think will warm everybody’s heart at the end. Where Garfunkel said, “Paul’s poetic style was so advanced for his time, with its shades of dark grey. He had an unusually sophisticated poetic gift. Yes, he was very influenced by Bob Dylan and others, but he found his own voice.” The sense of how they’re working together, being not just only the singer, you know, Paul Simon, obviously the composer, the writer, singer, everything. But what he brings to it is remarkable in the melody. He also said, “I realised I have a gift from God. I sang minor key, but they were ancient, ancient melodies, hymns.” So he knows, again, that constant echo. And we get this from so many of the great singers and musicians of the 20th century, going way back to some religious context, and of course the harmonies. And, just to mention this at the end, that in the all their songs that they sang together and that Simon wrote, there’s only one line where Judaism is mentioned in the song “Hearts and Bones.” And it’s a fascinating line, actually. It’s simple but clear. “One and a half wandering Jews, free to wander whenever they choose.” It’s a hope, it’s a dream, it’s a determination, a tenacity. It’s a soft subtlety, a gentleness, all of it for me in those two lines. Okay, we’re going to end with 20 seconds of, for me, of genetic marvel, where you see Paul Simon, it’s where you see Garfunkel with his son coming on stage. We can play it please, Lauren.
SONG BEGINS
♪ Feeling groovy ♪ ♪ Hello lamppost, what'cha knowing ♪ ♪ I’ve come to watch your flowers growin’ ♪ ♪ Ain’t you got no rhymes for me ♪ ♪ Doo-doo-doo-doo ♪
SONG ENDS
- Okay, I had to pull every parent and every grandparent’s heartstrings with playing that last little touch. Okay, thank you very much everybody, and we can take questions.
Q&A and Comments:
Barbara, hi, hi. Thank you.
Rose, “His best friend became blind and he saved him from terrible depression. The song ‘darkness my old friend’ is based on that friend.” That’s fascinating, Rose. I didn’t know that. That’s really interesting. Thank you.
“Iasi is pronounced yash.” Michael, thank you. Appreciate.
Ben. “Art stood by his suddenly-blind roommate, Sandy Greenberg, reading to him, helped him finish and graduate from Columbia. And Greenberg used ‘Hello Darkness’ as a title of his autobiography.” Thank you so much, Ben. It’s great.
Q: Romaine. “Who wrote the lyrics? I thought it was Simon.”
A: Yeah.
Rita. Art Garfunkel website. Okay, great. Thank you, Rita.
David, “I do not know any of the background of Art Garfunkel, I was a Beatles screaming fan.” He actually said, you know, some of the Beatles songs were for him, the greatest pop songs, the greatest songs that he liked. And obviously, it’s again, the melody and the harmony between Lennon and McCartney and their songs. It is fascinating the friendship, or the connection between him and Paul Simon and Lennon and McCartney, and how John Lennon used to talk to Garfunkel in Europe quite often. In London, in New York, sorry. Yeah. Thanks.
Faye. “His harmony always brings a tear.” That’s what harmony does. Never fails to bring the tears, Fay, agreed. Romaine, “Two Rabbi canters in search of a temple made magic.” That’s a great tagline. That’d be a great tagline for a movie, Romaine.
Barbara, “brought tears to my eyes, ‘Sound of Silence.’” Amazing. I mean, what’s extraordinary, these songs are what, 50 years later, more than 50 years? They’re still evocative for us and other generations.
Hannah, thank you. Rita. Thank you, the music. Yep.
Barbara. Yep, you will be, through every song.
Q: Barbara, “Art Garfunkel’s the same age at Pete Yaro. They went to Cornell. Did they know each other?”
A: I don’t know. We could find out.
BS Roth, “Power of the music to take one back in time. Remember hearing the ‘Sound of Silence’ the first time, a restaurant in Sicily, in my 20s.” It’s extraordinary how songs just so connect us to a geographic location and a moment in time in our lives. There’s so many songs that I have, and I keep listening all the time to music ‘cause I love it. I can’t do without it. And, the lines just keep coming. The music and poetry and literature, and drama does that for me as well. I keep making connections, and I’m sure everybody does. Music, probably the most powerfully.
Paula, “Continue to be impressed by the universality of the lyrics.” Yep. They’re still so meaningful. And Art just stands there singing, hand in his pocket. No magic potion except voice, words, and a guitar. Quite extraordinary and incredibly rare for today. You know? That’s it. And I think, the fact that they were prepared, they had the guts to just do that. Stand there, sing, guitar, voice, done. And of course, music and song. Rachel, thank you.
Sheila. “Always loved Simon and Garfunkel. While I was at UCT I brought 'Bridge’ to an interface sports competition in Sarabash, was held on a party on a farm. The LP was played all night, didn’t get it back.” That’s great.
Naomi, thank you. Rita, thanks.
Lorna, “I think that he sang a bit flat in the second number you played.” Yeah, I think that in this one, in that concert, I think it was very, very slightly, a touch or two, I agree. I wanted the image of the whole concert, and the remind of this particular period in their lives together, which was such a pivotal moment in Simon and Garfunkel’s lives.
Sandy, “Countries destroyed. Yes, they are being destroyed from within.” Yep, that’s the great Abraham Lincoln line about America. It will destroy itself from within, not from without.
Gita, “Howard Jacobson calls his memoir, ‘Mother’s Boy.’” Absolutely. I think in literature the writers have done that, but I think the rock folk icons play around much more with persona.
Gita, “No shame in confessing the influence of one’s mother.” That is a brilliant tagline for a movie, Gita, agreed.
Stan, “That brings back wonderful memories, thanks.” Thank you.
Sheila, “Soundtrack is like a song of my life over 50 years. Coming to London on buses in ‘68 to see 'The Graduate.’” Yes, I remember it was banned in SA.
Absolutely, Sheila. Sharon, thank you kindly.
“Catch-22.” Yeah, “Catch-22” is, I think, quite underrated. Mike Nichols’ movie. And there are big problem areas where it does become boring and a bit flat. Quite a lot of scenes where I think he’s shooting it from too far away. The acting, they’re not quite sure how to act because they’re trying to get the satire and the comedy and act the military and being in the Army. So I think it falls a bit between the two as, not only Garfunkel, but all the acting, a lot of it. But there’s the power of Joseph Heller’s and Mike Nichols’s vision at the centre, and that remains so powerful for me. Miriam, thank you, kind comments. Myrna, thank you.
And Rita, “Irony of ironies, my late brother, Marvin, played with The Guess Who, Burton Cummings, opened the Burton Cummings Theatre in Winnipeg, where Simon and Garfunkel played in 2020, or the story played. Amazing. Interesting.
Q: Gail, "Did Garfunkel play an instrument?”
A: That’s really interesting. Not as far as I know, really, in any way that he would call professional standard. I think, you know, different, not, in a much lesser way.
Sarah, thank you. Margaret, thank you kindly.
Sue, “They stayed friends, I had no idea they fell out.” Yes, they did. They fell out for all sorts of different reasons at all different stages of their lives. That’s why I didn’t want to get into it now because they came together, they fell out, they came together, they fell out, at different reasons, at different stages during their lives. But I think always had an incredible respect for each other and a love, in a way, for each other. You know, and then, as I say, came together, fell apart, often.
Rooftops, “Thank you for the memories, Simon’s relationship with South Africa.” Yeah, I know, I mean there’s that whole relationship, Paul Simon, Graceland, there’s some amazing stuff that he created there with Lady Smith Blackman Bazo. But that’s for a session of Paul Simon, and in a whole different world.
Susan, thank you kindly. Yeah, they’re magnificent together. Magnificent.
Esther, thank you, appreciate. Barbara, thank you. Hillary, appreciate.
You can watch the recording of today’s talk, yes. If you email lockdown through Judy or Lauren or you know, then I’m sure you can, all the recordings are kept.
Roberta, “I originally came across a lovely tradition of ‘Dream a Little Dream,’ by Beatle George and Paul Simon.” Oh, okay, interesting. Thank you.
Robin. Your youth. Okay. Popular music of today, yeah, lacking the harmony.
Sue, thank you kindly. Alison, thank you.
Ira, “They came to Israel post-90.” Yes. And there’s a really interesting, quite long interview when he arrived in Israel, Garfunkel. Yeah, really nice. Dissented author, authoritarianism. Great line. Short stories, essay.
Q: Arthur, “Did you say "Bridge Over Troubled Waters” has Jewish connections?“
A: No, I said that it has Black, African-American connection to a gospel group who made a song of it based on a religious, spiritual song from the 19th century, that Paul Simon was inspired by. And, he took the line from that gospel group, and he wanted to make it a hymn, originally. And I spoke about the third verse and what Garfunkel, with a full spectre influence, radically changed, and he introduced the third verse.
You showed "The Graduate.” I did show it, yes, Eric. Stuart, thanks.
“Art and his son recorded ‘Sounds of Silence.’” Great, thank you.
Stuart, sounds Robin. “Garfunkel’s voice was his instrument.” Yes. Beautifully put. And he worked on his voice. I mean, he talks about how hard he worked. From the age of five or six, he worked on his voice, you know, in all different ways. And also how he’d work, he would work so meticulously on every syllable, every phrase, you know, capturing with his voice and the music and the lyrics. It’s not, the result is seamless, but the work behind, of course, before the performance, is huge. Sue, thank you.
Okay, so Lauren, thanks so much again, and thanks for everybody, and I’ll see those who want to on Tuesday night for Elie Wiesel. Thanks so much, everybody. Have a great rest of the weekend.