Simon & Garfunkel – Bookends (1968)

The majority of the music I heard as a child in addition to children's music was whatever my father would listen to, but Simon & Garfunkel was something I heard because of my mother. We had Simon & Garfunkel's compilation album on vinyl, the one with hilarious album cover. I think I've always liked their music, but it wasn't until later on when I got excited about new folk movement of the 2000's that I really understood the significance of this band. The vocal harmonies, the songwriting and above all, the dreamy atmosphere are what make this music magical and timeless. In the 90's, no-one really listened to vinyl records, but coming to mid-00's, vinyl records became popular again and I got a vinyl player as well. Fairly soon afterwards, I went to Black & White, a record store in Helsinki, and bought pretty much all the Simon & Garfunkel albums which were surprisingly cheap.



Bookends is probably the most legendary Simon & Garfunkel album because of its recognised album cover and their biggest hit song Mrs. Robinson. However, I think it's not quite as good as all the albums that were released before. Bookends still has some great songs on it, but there are many songs I don't really get that excited about as well. Bookends is a theme album about growing old and there are some voice parts that are not really songs that sort of break the mood of the album. The album is more experimental than their earlier albums that were mostly just about purist Americana folk music. This change in their style wasn't exactly a good thing if you ask me. Then again, I guess this happened also because Paul Simon said he had a writer's block at the time and he couldn't write as many songs as before. Therefore, much of the album has been filled with strange sound landscapes instead of actual songs.

The album starts with a short Bookends Theme that promises good for the album. The gentle acoustic guitars set up the scene beautifully. This is all interrupted by strange space organ sounds at the beginning of Save the Life of My Child. This folk song has been filled with buzzing noises and strange yells. It must've sounded modern back in the day, but now it's just a bit annoying in my opinion. The third song on the album, America, is the first proper good song. And it really is a great song. This is what this duo is all about. Beautiful harmonies and gentle and quiet folk music. There are some strange jazz sequences towards the end of the song. Overs is a simple song just played on one acoustic guitar. It makes me think of times in my youth when I would just sit on the pier at the summer cottage playing acoustic guitar by myself. It has that intimate feel to it. This is followed by Voices of Old People, which is quite literally just random voices of old people. These voice sequences make me think of Belle & Sebastian's Storytelling soundtrack. Next song is Old Friends, which is one of the most beautiful songs on the album. Gentle and beautiful melodies and acoustic picking have been accompanied by fairytale-like strings. Fakin' It sounds exactly like The Beatles of that time. It really sounds like a lost track from Sgt. Peppers. Punky's Dilemma is a great, groovy little number with great bouncy bass lines. This is followed by the duo's most popular song Mrs. Robinson, which is a great piece of songwriting even if it is not their best piece of work in my opinion. A Hazy Shade of Winter pushes the tempo up. This catchy song reminds me of some more uptempo Moody Blues songs. The record ends with an upbeat folk song At the Zoo that also has some experimental studio sounds.

Bookends, along with The Graduate soundtrack, made Simon & Garfunkel hugely popular. They joined The Beatles and Bob Dylan in the most well-known acts in the music business. Bookends featured similar groundbreaking studio techniques as many other albums of the time. The late 60's were a time for experimentation, because there were still so many things yet to be done in music. Even though I prefer the earlier albums by Simon & Garfunkel, Bookends is a classic that belongs to any self-respecting record collector's collection.

Listen to the album on Spotify.