One-click menu:
Album information
Album title: Greatest Hits
Date of album release: June 14, 1972
Album producers: Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, and Roy Halee
Entrance of album to Billboard Pop Chart: July 1, 1972
Highest position held by album in Billboard Pop Chart: #05
Number of songs: 14
Notes: INSERT ALBUM NOTES HERE
Return to page menu
Album synopsis
|
Sounds Of Silence is Simon & Garfunkel's second recorded album, but the first album that sold well both in the United States and in the United Kingdom.
With the exception of Anji, all the songs (music and lyrics) are written and composed by Paul Simon.
|
Return to page menu
Track listing
Click on a song title to view the respective lyrics.
Track listing and approximate lengths (mins:secs):
Return to page menu
Track One: Mrs. Robinson
(from the motion picture "The Graduate")
by Paul Simon
(c) 1968 Paul Simon (BMI)
And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson,
Jesus loves you more than you will know
(Wo, wo, wo).
God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson,
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
(Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey).
We'd like to know
A little bit about you
For our files.
We'd like to help you learn
To help yourself.
Look around you. All you see
Are sympathetic eyes.
Stroll around the grounds
Until you feel at home.
And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson,
Jesus loves you more than you will know
(Wo, wo, wo).
God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson,
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
(Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey).
Hide it in a hiding place
Where no one ever goes.
Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes.
It's a little secret,
Just the Robinsons' affair.
Most of all, you've got to hide it
From the kids.
Coo coo ca-choo, Mrs Robinson,
Jesus loves you more than you will know
(Wo, wo, wo).
God bless you, please, Mrs. Robinson,
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
(Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey).
Sitting on a sofa
On a Sunday afternoon,
Going to the candidates' debate,
Laugh about it,
Shout about it,
When you've got to choose,
Every way you look at it you lose.
Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
A nation turns its lonely eyes to you
(Ooo, ooo, ooo).
What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson?
"Joltin' Joe" has left and gone away
(Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey).
Back to Track Listings
Track Two: For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her (Live)
by Paul Simon
(c) 1966 Paul Simon (BMI)
What I dream I had:
Pressed in organdy;
Clothed in crinoline of smoky burgundy;
Softer than the rain.
I wandered empty streets
Down past the shop displays.
I heard cathedral bells
Tripping down the alleyways,
As I walked on.
And when you ran to me
Your cheeks flushed with the night.
We walked on frosted fields of
juniper and lamplight,
I held your hand.
And when I awoke and felt you warm and near,
I kissed your honey hair with my grateful tears.
Oh I love you, girl.
Oh, I love you.
Back to Track Listings
Track Three: The Boxer
by Paul Simon
(c) 1968 Paul Simon (BMI)
I am just a poor boy.
Though my story's seldom told,
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocketful of mumbles,
Such are promises
All lies and jest
Still, a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest.
When I left my home
And my family,
I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of the railway station,
Running scared,
Laying low,
Seeking out the poorer quarters
Where the ragged people go,
Looking for the places
Only they would know.
iai iaaai iai
iai iaai aaai
iaaiaai
(Li la li... li la la la li la li)
(Li la li... li la la la li la li)
(La la la la li...)
Lie-la-lie.....
Asking only workman's wages
I come looking for a job,
But I get no offers,
Just a come-on from the whores
On Seventh Avenue
I do declare,
There were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there.
Lie-la-lie.....
Then I'm laying out my winter clothes
And wishing I was gone,
Going home
Where the New York City winters
Aren't bleeding me,
Leading me,
Going home.
In the clearing stands a boxer,
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of ev'ry glove that laid him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame,
"I am leaving, I am leaving."
But the fighter still remains
Lie-la-lie.....
Back to Track Listings
Track Four: The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) (Live)
by Paul Simon
(c) 1966 Paul Simon (BMI)
Slow down, you move too fast.
You got to make the morning last.
Just kicking down the cobble stones.
Looking for fun and feelin' groovy.
Hello lamppost,
What'cha knowing?
I've come to watch your flowers growing.
Ain't cha got no rhymes for me?
Doot-in' doo-doo,
Feelin' groovy.
Got no deeds to do,
No promises to keep.
I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep.
Let the morning time drop all its petals on me.
Life, I love you,
All is groovy.
Back to Track Listings
Track Five: The Sound Of Silence
by Paul Simon
(c) 1964 Paul Simon (BMI)
Hello darkness, my old friend,
I've come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.
In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
'Neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of
a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.
And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence.
"Fools," said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you."
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the signs said,
"The words of the prophets
are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls.
And whisper'd in the sounds of silence."
Back to Track Listings
Track Six: I Am A Rock
by Paul Simon
(c) 1965 Paul Simon (BMI)
A winter's day
In a deep and dark December;
I am alone,
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock,
I am an island.
I've built walls,
A fortress deep and mighty,
That none may penetrate.
I have no need of friendship;
friendship causes pain.
It's laughter and it's loving I disdain.
I am a rock,
I am an island.
Don't talk of love,
But I've heard the words before;
It's sleeping in my memory.
I won't disturb the slumber of feelings
that have died.
If I never loved I never would have cried.
I am a rock,
I am an island.
I have my books
And my poetry to protect me;
I am shielded in my armor,
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb.
I touch no one and no one touches me.
I am a rock,
I am an island.
And a rock feels no pain;
And an island never cries.
Back to Track Listings
Track Seven: Scarborough Fair / Canticle
Arranged by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel
(c) 1966 Paul Simon (BMI)
[Simon and Garfunkel:]
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
Remember me to one who lives there?
She once was a true love of mine.
[Garfunkel-1:]
Tell her to make me a cambric shirt:
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme;
Without no seams nor needle work,
Then she'll be a true love of mine.
[Simon-1:]
On the side of a hill in the deep forest green.
Tracing of sparrow on snow-crested brown.
Blankets and bedclothes the child of the mountain
Sleeps unaware of the clarion call.
[Garfunkel-2:]
Tell her to find me an acre of land:
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme;
Between the salt water and the sea strand,
Then she'll be a true love of mine.
[Simon-2:]
On the side of a hill a sprinkling of leaves.
Washes the grave with silvery tears.
A soldier cleans and polishes a gun.
Sleeps unaware of the clarion call.
[Garfunkel-3:]
Tell her to reap it with a sickle of leather:
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme;
And gather it all in a bunch of heather,
Then she'll be a true love of mine.
[Simon-3:]
War bellows blazing in scarlet battalions.
General order their soldiers to kill.
And to fight for a cause they've long ago forgotten.
[Simon and Garfunkel:]
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
Remember me to one who lives there?
She once was a true love of mine.
Back to Track Listings
Track Eight: Homeward Bound (Live)
by Paul Simon
(c) 1966 Paul Simon (BMI)
I'm sitting in the railway station.
Got a ticket to my destination.
On a tour of one-night stands
My suitcase and guitar in hand.
And ev'ry stop is neatly planned
For a poet and a one-man band.
Homeward bound,
I wish I was,
Homeward bound,
Home where my thought's escaping,
Home where my music's playing,
Home where my love lies waiting
Silently for me.
Ev'ry day's an endless stream
Of cigarettes and magazines.
And each town looks the same to me,
The movies and the factories
And ev'ry stranger's face I see
Reminds me that I long to be,
Homeward bound,
I wish I was,
Homeward bound,
Home where my thought's escaping,
Home where my music's playing,
Home where my love lies waiting
Silently for me.
Tonight I'll sing my songs again,
I'll play the game and pretend.
But all my words come back to me
In shades of mediocrity
Like emptiness in harmony
I need someone to comfort me.
Homeward bound,
I wish I was,
Homeward bound,
Home where my thought's escaping,
Home where my music's playing,
Home where my love lies waiting
Silently for me.
Silently for me.
Back to Track Listings
Track Nine: Bridge Over Troubled Water
by Paul Simon
(c) 1969 Paul Simon (BMI)
When you're weary, feeling small,
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all;
I'm on your side. When times get rough
And friends just can't be found,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
When you're down and out,
When you're on the street,
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you.
I'll take your part.
When darkness comes
And pain is all around,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Sail on silvergirl,
Sail on by.
Your time has come to shine.
All your dreams are on their way.
See how they shine.
If you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.
Back to Track Listings
Track Ten: America
by Paul Simon
(c) 1968 Paul Simon (BMI)
"Let us be lovers,
We'll marry our fortunes together.
I've got some real estate
Here in my bag."
So we bought a pack of cigarettes
And Mrs. Wagner pies,
And walked off
To look for America.
"Kathy," I said,
As we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh,
"Michigan seems like a dream to me now.
It took me four days
To hitchhike from Saginaw.
I've come to look for America."
Laughing on the bus,
Playing games with the faces,
She said the man in the gabardine suit
Was a spy.
I said, "Be careful,
His bow tie is really a camera."
"Toss me a cigarette,
I think there's one in my raincoat."
"We smoked the last one
An hour ago."
So I looked at the scenery,
She read her magazine;
And the moon rose over an open field.
"Kathy, I'm lost," I said,
Though I knew she was sleeping:
"I'm empty and aching and
I don't know why."
Counting the cars
On the New Jersey Turnpike
They've all come
To look for America,
All come to look for America,
All come to look for America.
Back to Track Listings
Track Eleven: Kathy's Song (Live)
by Paul Simon
(c) 1965 Paul Simon (BMI)
I hear the drizzle of the rain
Like a memory it falls
Soft and warm continuing
Tapping on my roof and walls.
And from the shelter of my mind
Through the window of my eyes
I gaze beyond the rain-drenched streets
To England where my heart lies.
My mind's distracted and diffused
My thoughts are many miles away
They lie with you when you're asleep
And kiss you when you start your day.
And as a song I was writing is left undone
I don't know why I spend my time
Writing songs I can't believe
With words that tear and strain to rhyme.
And so you see I have come to doubt
All that I once held as true
I stand alone without beliefs
The only truth I know is you.
And as I watch the drops of rain
Weave their weary paths and die
I know that I am like the rain
There but for the grace of you go I.
Back to Track Listings
Track Twelve: El Condor Pasa (If I Could)
by Paul Simon, Jorge Milchberg, D.A. Robles
English lyrics by Paul Simon
(c) 1970 Charing Cross Music, Inc.
Arrangement of 18th-Century Peruvian
Folk Melody by Jorge Milchberg,
(c) 1933, 1963, 1970 Edward B. Marks Music Corporation and Jorge Milchberg
Instrumental Track by Los Incas
I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail.
Yes I would.
If I could,
I surely would.
I'd rather be a hammer than a nail.
Yes I would.
If I could,
I surely would.
Away, I'd rather sail away
Like a swan that's here and gone.
A man gets tied up to the ground,
He gives the world its saddest sound.
Its saddest sound.
I'd rather be a forest than a street.
Yes I would.
If I could,
I surely would.
I'd rather feel the earth beneath my feet,
Yes I would.
If I could,
I surely would.
Back to Track Listings
Track Thirteen: Bookends Theme
by Paul Simon
(c) 1968 Paul Simon (BMI)
Time it was,
And what a time it was,
It was. . .
A time of innocence,
A time of confidences.
Long ago. . . it must be. . . .
I have a photograph
Preserve your memories;
They're all that's left you.
Back to Track Listings
Track Fourteen: Cecilia
by Paul Simon
(c) 1969 Paul Simon (BMI)
Cecilia, you're breaking my heart,
You're shaking my confidence daily.
Oh Cecilia, I'm down on m my knees,
I'm begging you please to come home.
Cecilia, you're breaking my heart,
You're shaking my confidence daily.
Oh Cecilia, I'm down on m my knees,
I'm begging you please to come home.
Come on home
Making love in the afternoon with Cecilia
Up in my bedroom,
(Makin' in love in my bed)
I got up to wash my face
When I come back to bed,
Someone's taken my place.
Cecilia, you're breaking my heart,
You're shaking my confidence daily.
Oh Cecilia, I'm down on m my knees,
I'm begging you please to come home.
Come on home
(Pick it up, pick it up)
(Pick it up, pick it up)
Jubilation,
She loves me again,
I fall on the floor and I laughing
Jubilation,
She loves me again,
I fall on the floor and I laughing.
Back to Track Listings
Return to DISCOGRAPHY
