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Preserve your memories-- they're all that's left you

Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 05/17/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"BONUS TRACKS: "You Don't Know Where Your Interests Lie" (mono) is the 'B' side of "Fakin' It" (COLUMBIA 44232, released 7/67). "Old Friends" (mono) is the flip of "Mrs. Robinson" (COLUMBIA 44511, issued 4/68).





When I first published this review on Christmas night of 2006, I'd been thinking about Christmas of 1968-- I was 14 then. That was an awful year to live through for anyone, especially a kid. The Vietnam War, the assassination of public figures, and seeing part of my city burn the previous summer during riots-- it was a lot to handle.



The song "Save The Life Of My Child" from BOOKENDS was in my head all throughout 1968. I identified with that frightened boy standing on the ledge, while a crowd below urged him to jump. His final thought as "he flew away" was "...I got no hiding place." That was exactly how I felt in those days.



What a powerful and unforgettable way to begin an album. The moods of BOOKENDS reflect so well the troubled times of the late '60s, with its anti-war sentiments (Punky's Dilemma), and its tales of love and love lost (America, Overs). The original first side of the record ends with the sad longing and fears of Old Friends, who sit on a park bench and reminisce together. But this bittersweet song has a deeper message. These old men were survivors-- if they were supposed to be elderly in 1968, then they made it through the Depression, and two world wars, and if they were the youth of 1968 projected into the future, well they too made it through trials by fire.



And so have I made it through! I'm in my 50s now and headed for that park bench one day. The fears and sadness of 1968 are long past, but a final memory remains:



As I lay in bed early that Christmas Eve, the colored glow of tree lights seeps into my room. Off in the distance are disembodied television voices of Apollo astronauts circling the moon-- they quote passages from the book of Genesis, and wish well the "people of the good Earth." It's a peaceful and hopeful ending to a terrible year.



Very few albums truly encapsulate a moment in time. Even fewer connect deeply with listeners in ways they may not realize until decades into the future. Simon & Garfunkel's BOOKENDS is one of those rare examples. It is paradoxically timeless and a reflection of its time.





Suggested item:

The reissue CD, THE PAUL SIMON SONGBOOK contains just acoustic guitar and Paul, performing pieces that appeared on S&G's unsuccessful debut album, WEDNESDAY MORNING, 3 AM. Other tracks were later reworked and used on THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE and PARSLEY, SAGE, ROSEMARY AND THYME."