Lefty

When Aretha Franklin died I started listening to her back catalogue. I was interested in hearing her cover versions of some of my favorite songs. These included The Weight, Respect and Bridge Over Troubled Water. That got me interesting in revisiting the original of the latter song. I hadn't really listened to Bridge Over Troubled Water in a while. I put on my headphones and let the album pour over me. It's magnificent. Sure, it's not the same kind of flowing album as it's predecessor Bookends, but I was really awestruck at the songwriting and performing. It got me to thinking about Art Garfunkel. I've read all of the criticisms of Garfunkel over the years, but I don't care. This is a magnificent instrument that has obviously been developed over the years. In addition, nearly everything that Garfunkel sang was a cover of someone else's material. Whether it be Paul Simon, Jimmy Webb or Stephen Bishop and others, Garfunkel made his living as an interpreter. His melodic sense is acute. He does little things like the octave slurs in BOTW. He paces his phrasing so as to peak at the perfect moment. Those are all technical details. Put the headphones on and listen to his work for yourself. You hear a purity of sound that is rarely a part of pop music. It's stunning. Now, back to BOTW. There were many stressors on Simon and Garfunkel during that album...some that had been there for years and others that were new including Garfunkel's acting debut in Catch 22. It had to be a difficult album to record, but these two were obviously up to the task. Paul Simon had so many mixed feelings about turning over the title song to Garfunkel, but ultimately I believe that he chose wisely. Simon likely saw the end of the group was near and wrote a couple of farewells to his friend. The first, So, Long Frank Lloyd Wright takes Garfunkel's passion for architecture and transforms it into an affectionate remembrance of better times. "All of the nights we harmonized 'till dawn. I never laughed so long...so long". Garfunkel's performance captures everything that song had to offer even to the end (So long already Artie). The Boxer verse of "now the years are rolling by me, they are rockin' easily, I am older than I once was but younger than I'll be...Now the years are rolling by me
, they are rockin' evenly. 
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". This sentiment is as true now as it was in 1970. Finally, there's The Only Living Boy in New York. Simon recalls the days of Tom and Jerry in a line describing their distance. Without saying it, this is his farewell to Art. Given all of the emotional range on this album, Garfunkel's singing remains what it has always been. Angelic, cherubic and as close to perfect as I would like to come. That voice is no longer available to him or us. Age takes most things and it has taken that voice. Luckily we can listen and remember.