Customer Reviews

Bookends

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

...I do agree that this album showcases both Paul Simon's extraordinary talents as well as those of the amazing Art Garfunkel (remember him? He was half the incredible folk duo). From the haunting "Bookends Theme" to the funky and socially conscious "Save The Life Of My Child" to the evocative refrains of "America", all of us who lived through this CD while in undergraduate school in the late 1960s hold this effort by Simon and Garfunkel close to our hearts. With this song cycle, Simon had us all considering what it meant to grow old and feeble, and consider what the arc of our lives would mean. This was heavy stuff for 22 year olds.

Fifteen years ago a close friend gave me a finely lithographed set of the "Old Friends" lyrics after I shared his troubles when his mother died, telling me I was the guy he wanted to share the other end of the bench with at seventy. He's gone now, too, certainly gone too soon. A lot of the rest of the CD is interesting and spunky, but represents another side of the duo than from the thoughtful excursion into aging and what time means to us all that the original "A" side of the album represented. "Faking It" was an inside joke, using the name of British poet, singer, and songwriter Donovan Leitch (Mellow Yellow) as the tailor at the end. Simon was really expressing his amazement regarding the turn in his own life circumstances; Simon is serious, though, when he says "I have a tailor's face and hands" (his grandfather had been a Jewish tailor in Germany). Punky"s Dilemma" is a satiric look at the times, a la "A Simple Desultory Philippic" on the Parsley Sage album.

The rest of the songs included, "Mrs. Robinson", "A Hazy Shade Of Winter", and "At The Zoo", were all released as singles, and provided the staying power for the album's long ride in Billboard's top 100 albums. Of course, the fact that the smash movie "The Graduate" with a Simon & Garfunkel soundtrack was released at about the same time didn't hurt. This is a terrific album by the duo when they were at the peak of their popularity, and it is one every true-blue fan of folk-rock should have on his or her shelf. Do me a favor, though. Listen carefully to the first seven cuts and Paul's take on growing old. It is painful, elegant, and timeless, something well worth listening to again and again. Enjoy.

This album was released simultaneously with the Graduate soundtrack in 1968. Funny I know such strange facts considering I'm 16, but I really love Simon and Garfunkel. Anyway, this album is amazing. The songs are all really different, but they all reflect S&G's amazing talent and also the times around them. "Overs" and "Punky's Dilemma" were originially written for The Graduate, but Mike Nichols didn't feel that they fit into the film. Whatever, I love the movie too so I'm not complaining. America is about an empty man (who may have returned from the Vietnam War, I don't know) who is going to "rediscover" himself and America, for both have changed for him. Voices of Old People is the only one I skip over because its just shady. Hazy Shade of Winter and Mrs. Robinson are the best (and actually, the Graduate soundtrack doesn't even have the full song Mrs. Robinson-- how ironic). Anyway, I've talked long enough. So, this is a really beautiful album and you should buy it even if you're not a big Simon and Garfunkel fan because there's something for everyone.

As has been stated repeatedly here, BOOKENDS (released in 1968) is the greatest of all Simon & Garfunkel albums, and one of the best records made in the 1960s.

Tonight, Christmas night, I've 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 assassinations 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 seeped into my room. Off in the distance were disembodied television voices of Apollo astronauts circling the moon-- they read passages from the book of Genesis, and wished well the "people of the good Earth." It was 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.

I have a couple of confessions here. My familiarity with Simon and Garfunkel has been incredibly shallow, first through their greatest hits album and then their placement of 'America' in Cameron Crowe's film 'Almost Famous' which sets the tone of the movie. I know The Bangles' version of 'Hazy Shade of Winter' from the soundtrack to 'Less Than Zero' (one of the principle films of my generation) and didn't realize until years later that it was an S&G song. My loss.

I picked up this album on vinyl in my local Goodwill to give it a listen. I had no idea these guys were so radical. While not overtly political, they were quite subversive and spoke out what people were genuinely feeling during the late 60s. We all think of the song 'Mrs. Robinson' from the film 'The Graduate' but we often miss the social jabs laced throughout. 'Where have you gone Joe Dimaggio?' is a profoundly disturbing question.

Long before Pink Floyd threw in their sound effects and voices on their albums, Simon and Garfunkel were experimenting with the same. Who ever heard of recordings of old people put right smack dab in the middle of an album? You'll realize just how outspoken they truly were, something easy to miss with Simon's beautiful guitar work and Garfunkel's harmonies.

The social commentary is not pretty and underneath the beauty of the songs is a sorrow, a deep longing for meaning and understanding from among the chaos. We often think of others of that era, from Bob Dylan to Marvin Gaye and other such troubadours, but for those who miss out on the deeper cuts of some of Simon and Garfunkel's work, it's to their loss. To get an understanding of the turmoil of this era, this album is a necessity. This is one of the best albums I've heard in a long, long time.

The Beatles "White Album" represents 1968 to many; its jagged music and harmony representing so much gone wrong so quickly. In "Bookends," probably their best album, Simon & Garfunkel use better production and more complete songs to express many of the same feelings. "Mrs. Robinson" is a cliche' now (has been since Frank Sinatra's cover), but "Fakin' It," "Hazy Shade of Winter," and especially "America" express with detailed imagery the loss of innocence and even civility that marked their previous generation. The long bus ride, the trip to the zoo, even the morning breakfast ("Punky's Dilemma") are chronicled by a sweeping lonliness society only pretends to fill with the "Dangling Conversation" of S&G's previous album. A classic best heard start to finish in one listen.

Bookends is one of the greatest alums of all time, although it does not apper in any of the top lists and I feel it is unjustly reveared and underacknowledged. Bookends is a meditation on lifes loses and it does have a large helping of pathos within it that really adds to the enjoyment of it. Bookends is heatfelt, bittersweet, and if anything magical. Musically it is well written and well produced the lyrics are profound and sicere and rivaling even Dylan in content and shear atmosphere.(Old freinds sat on the park bench like bookends..)The album is quite short at just over 35 mins but the tracks flow and meander into each other like a beatles album and it truely is special.Give it a try!

I agree with Mr. Flaherty that this is a better album than Bridge. I got this album around the time it came out. I also got Bridge when it came out. I don't own Bridge any more but now have this one on cd. While Bridge had some good songs, I grew tired of it. Not so with Bookends. Just this morning, I listened to this cd and really got into it as I was commuting. At different times, certain songs on this cd appeal to me. This morning it was At the Zoo. I think PS's song comments on a lot of things. One, in particular is how we anthropomorphize animals with all sorts of human inventions: "Monkeys stand for honesty, Giraffes are insincere ... Zebras are reactionary, Antelopes are missionaries ... Hamsters turn on frequently." Yes, it's a gas.

I first heard this album (I guess I am dating myself) when I was in high school and instantly fell in love with the music. I had been a Simon and Garfunkle fan for years but had never heard this recording before. Every track is wonderful, especially the arc of "Voices of Old People", "Old Friends" and "Bookends". Those three pieces fit perfectly together, as if it were one long piece. How can anyone listen to those three pieces and not be blown away. Many people feel that "Bridge Over Troubled Water" is Simon and Garfunkle's masterpiece, but I feel without a doubt that "Bookends" is their masterpiece.

The critic is right-this is the best Simon and Garfunkel album-it edges out Bridge Over Trouble Water as being more consistent. Side One is fantastic and flows like a conversation about America in the late 60's. "America" is arguably their best song, but side one with its journey from childhood through adulthood is almost like a mini concept album. I believe I once read that is what S & G were attempting on side one. Actually, I tire a bit of "Mrs. Robinson", good song that it is, because of the sing-song melody. "At The Zoo" is good satire, and "Fakin It" rings true to me. You can really sense the togetherness of the duo in this album, I think, more than "Bridge." It really does a great job of capturing a lot of the questioning attitudes of late 60's middle class white America without ever getting too political, and thus is maybe a bit more timeless than albums that were overtly so. The melodies shine, the arrangements are thought out well without being too self-conscious, and there is a feeling of purpose that exceeds any other Simon and Garfunkel album. Darn great stuff.

Bookends is one of the best examples of Simon & Garfunkel's studio prowess and Paul Simon's songcraft. From "Bookends Theme" to "At The Zoo," the entire CD flows and has a vitality that is unmistakable.

Thanks to Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs, the CD is now available in best-ever sound from the original twin-track masters. Subtle nuances in the recordings become crystal clear, much better than any previous CD issues (and, for that matter, all cassette and LP releases).

Also, MoFi went to the trouble of reproducing - in miniature - the poster that was bundled with the orginal LP release.