Fun, light, timeless. In a time of chaos, social upheaval and protest along comes Simon & Garfunkel and bring some lightness of being, joy and hope.
I do not believe that there is a single rock collection out there that does not have this album in its ranks either in Vinyl or CD and with over 36 MILLION copies sold worldwide it ranks # 175 all time for number of copies sold.
Bridge Over Troubled Water was at the time (early 70’s) one of the few records which found Father and Sons, Mother and Daughters in agreement, and one of those rare albums where the entire family could sit together in the living room and enjoy a full record together. I do not have a single memory of not wanting to hear this record and every time I stumble upon it I gladly play it and always beginning to the end.
The record starts ominous with “Bridge Over Troubled Water” but in the end, Paul Simon decides to give us hope…
Sail on silver girl
Sail on by
Your time has come to shine
All your dreams are on their way
See how they shine
Oh, if you need a friend
I’m sailing right behind.
And joy reigns supreme. The rest of the album is hit after hit of all time classics like “El Condor Pasa”, “Cecilia”, “Baby Driver”, “Bye Bye Love” and my old time favorite “The Boxer”. The Boxer is a song about a possible run-away teenager who arrives in New York seeking to change his fortunes, but New York is a tough place to stay and the people, the City’s winter and weather, and the city itself beats him down and down and down till like a boxer is nearly knocked out and in “his anguish and his pain” he cries… “I am leaving, I am leaving” but…..
“But the fighter still remains.”
These words… “the fighter still remains” are words that I always carried with me, and whenever I am down and feeling like giving up, I think of this album, I think of this song, and I remain and face the fight, undaunted by the possibility of defeat or failure.
Eternal.