I'll say right off that I can't stand Simon & Garfunkel. Their whiny, self-righteous, hippie crap makes me want to punch the radio. However, they could (and did) write some powerful lyrics (even if they couldn't deliver them worth a crap).

This cover, though, of Sound of Silence just nails it (at least IMHO. The video ain't much, so just tune in for the audio.

The song was written for him and he was born to sing that song.

I had that thought as well. That cover completely changes the complexion and "meaning" of the song, and in a way that it should.

Now, in regard to the "neon god we've made" and the attendant lyrics, think about that in regard to these damned things we're communicating on and the smart phones in our pockets...

Song always reminded be of Beneath the Planet of the Apes.

It is one of the most powerful songs ever recorded IMO, Absolutely perfect.

I have no smart phone......I still live under a rock brother.

A couple of his phrasings and affectations take away from the enjoyment for me.

Nice....

The live version from Conan's show was even more impressive vocally.

I like it!

Found this live version as well.

Here's a novel idea...maybe the guy should write his own tunes...


...oh, that's right, he can't write schit.

Carry on.

Music can be the release of emotion...

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/11078787/silence...#Post11078787

Love these covers...

Completely missed that one, Kent. Sorry about that.

You are exactly right, though, that music can be (and often is) just that.

this song has been posted in it's own thread three times I know of... it's that good.

Kent

Damn.. He belts that one out like a boss.

Does nothing for me. Couldn't get past a minute of it.

But I appreciate that we all like different things.

Thanks for the post and the chance for me to try it out.

I like the music posts... hear things I never would otherwise.

More covers.....

different, but posted because of what comes next (and next)




HATED HATED the Queen original, this one cracks me up every time



of course the Drab Four did a cover of Laibach's Queen cover......

I like the original and this cover....

Not a fan of S&G, but the original was better.
Like him or not, Paul Simon is a major talent

That's pretty awesome. I never paid much attention to Sound of Silence because of Simon & Garfunkle.

This got my attention.

Not a prince fan, but Chris Stapleton does a great cover.

My son plays in a hard core band and if you listen (which is hard at times) closely to the lyrics you will see that Sounds of Silence is 50 years ahead of the time. I'm surprised how close the lyrics fall in line with modern hard core music.

Interesting Sound of Silence factoid: it was recorded as an acoustic song, as was normal for S&G at the time. The drums and other instruments were added after the fact; I believe I read that S&G were in England at the time, not even present for the post-production changes. There's a very egregious slip in the tempo that the poor drummer* has to adjust to. From memory, it's right at the "and the people bowed and prayed" lyric.

* it is a pure sumbitch to add drums after the fact. I had several clients who wanted to do this in my studio.

Very powerful and prophetic song. S&G were big in my house growing up in the 60's and 70's.

My son does it quite a bit and it can be a PITA if a different producer is trying to do it. Mostly he will play to the basic guitar track and then the other instruments build on what he did.

Heard that song a lot growing up as it’s one of my mom’s favorites. Always thought, once you really got into the lyrics, the song was much “darker” than the harmonious performance S&G lent it would suggest. The first time I heard the Disturbed version I immediately though “Yeah…THAT’S how that song was meant to sound.”.