Many hours were spent wading through classic chestnuts of American cinema’s golden age, so it was only a matter of time before I found my way to The Graduate.Īs cocksure as the film is from just about every conceivable standpoint, from Nichols’ delicate comic touch to Hoffman’s legendary performance cornered somewhere between a rock and a hard place, the soundtrack was a light touch that made the film a really unique movie-going experience. For the sake of context, I fell pretty hard for ‘60s and ‘70s film during my freshman year of high school. The Graduate is such a classic inroad to the duo, and Sounds of Silence in particular, and I’m just one of the film’s many victims. Ryan Bray: I wish I could sit here and come up with a cool story about how I discovered Simon and Garfunkel, but I’d be lying. Typical. But boy were they fun to listen to and lavish once that door was opened. And yet, the album plays on, having just been added to the Library of Congress in 2013, while the catchy title track remains a popular hit.īray, I gotta ask, how did you come to Sounds of Silence? I got into Simon and Garfunkel more or less by way of Mike Nichols’ The Graduate. It featured re-hashed material, and spoke awkwardly to the creative differences of the duo (especially when considering how Simon wrote much of it while living in London). This album was secretly mainstreamed by Columbia Records with electric guitars and studio sounds, unbeknownst to the pair. That’s probably 83% of why we still reference the Sounds of Silence and the sounds of Simon and Garfunkel.Īnd yet Sounds of Silence remains fascinating for its popularity, its genesis, and its differences from Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. Whether it’s the soft-spoken stylings of folk-rock’s most finely harmonized duo, the jaded angst of a whole decade, or the existential dread of the oldest Bluth brother, that song is still talked about and fascinating to this day. And then the whispery calm voices open up in unison.įascinating, huh? How a single tune, no, the beginning of one, can conjure up a million different connotations, feelings, and vivid images. Blake Goble: Yes, yes, this is a little memetic at this point, but let’s really take a moment to listen.

Simon and garfunkel sound of silence