Simon & Garfunkel's
Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.

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Album information

Album title: Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.
Date of album release: October 19, 1964
Album producer: Tom Wilson
Entrance of album to Billboard Pop Chart: January 22, 1966
Highest position held by album in Billboard Pop Chart: #30
Number of songs: 12
Notes: The version of "The Sound Of Silence" on this album is the acoustic version, compared with "The Sound Of Silence" version found on the Sounds Of Silence album, which was electric-fied without Paul Simon or Art Garfunkel's knowledge. This electric version of "The Sound Of Silence" popularized the duo. As a result, they were rushed to create the Sounds Of Silence album to fulfill the listening population's thirst for Simon & Garfunkel.

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Album synopsis

     Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. is Simon & Garfunkel's first recorded album in 1964 and released the same year. The album sold fairly well, but more so after the electrified version of "The Sound Of Silence" (on Sounds Of Silence album) brought them to America's attention. This album sold well both in the United States and in the United Kingdom.
     The album contains six Paul Simon originals and six traditional folk songs. In his six originals, Simon & Garfunkel cover themes of alienation and sorrow ("Bleecker Street"), communication (The Sound Of Silence), and love (both a romance (Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.) and the need of such (Sparrow)). They also display the quality of their harmony as a duo with "Benedictus"--a song by an Italian composer of the Renaissance (Orlando de Lassi). "He Was My Brother" is a moderately yet voice-urging song about the racial tensions of the civil movement.
     One of the traditional folk standards of that time was "The Times They Are A-Changin'" by Bob Dylan. Here in their version, Simon & Garfunkel sing the song with a jubilant and quick-set paced. Other folk songs are songs that reflect the times of the Sixties' war and peace themes: "Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream" and "The Sun Is Burning". Simon & Garfunkel sing with choir-boy voices "Peggy-O" innocently and immaculately. The other songs that Simon & Garfunkel sing to balance their Jewish surnames are two gospel tunes: "Go Tell It On The Mountain" and "You Can Tell The World".


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Track listing

Click on a song title to view the respective lyrics.

Track listing and approximate lengths (mins:secs):

  1. You Can Tell The World (Traditional)
  2. Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream
  3. Bleecker Street
  4. Sparrow
  5. Benedictus
  6. The Sound Of Silence
  7. He Was My Brother
  8. Peggy-O (Traditional)
  9. Go Tell It On The Mountain (Traditional)
  10. The Sun Is Burning
  11. The Times They Are A-Changin'
  12. Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.
2:44
2:10
2:45
2:49
2:40
3:05
2:48
2:24
2:05
2:48
2:52
2:16

Total time: 31:26
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Track One: You Can Tell The World (Traditional)
by B. Gibson and B. Camp
(c) 1961 Melody Trails, Inc. (BMI)

Well you can tell the world about this
You can tell the nation about that
Tell 'em what the master has done
Tell 'em that the gospel has come
Tell 'em that the victory's been won
He brought joy, joy, joy, joy, joy, joy,
Into my heart

Well my Lord spoke, he spoke so well
Yes he did, yes he did
Talked about the flames that burn in hell
Yes he did, yes he did
Now my Lord spoke, he spoke so well
Yes he did, yes he did
Talked about the children of Israel
Yes he did, yes he did
He brought joy, joy, joy into my heart

Well you can tell the world about this
You can tell the nation about that
Tell 'em what the master has done
Tell 'em that the gospel has come
Tell 'em that the victory's been won
He brought joy, joy, joy, joy, joy, joy,
Into my heart

Well my Lord spoke, he spoke to me
Yes he did, yes he did
Talkin' about a man from Galilee
Yes he did, yes he did
My Lord spoke, he spoke to me
Yes he did, yes he did
Talkin' about a man from Galilee
Yes he did, yes he did
He brought joy, joy, joy into my heart

Well you can tell the world about this
You can tell the nation about that
Tell 'em what the master has done
Tell 'em that the gospel has come
Tell 'em that the victory's been won
He brought joy, joy, joy, joy, joy, joy,
Into my heart

Well I don't know but I've been told
Yes he did, yes he did
Streets of heaven are paved with gold
Yes he did, yes he did
Now the Jordan River is chilly and wide
Yes he did, yes he did
I got a home on the other side
Yes he did, yes he did
He brought joy, joy, joy into my heart

Well you can tell the world about this
You can tell the nation about that
Tell 'em what the master has done
Tell 'em that the gospel has come
Tell 'em that the victory's been won
He brought joy, joy, joy, joy, joy, joy,
Into my heart

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Track Two: Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream
by Ed McCurdy
(c) 1950 Almanac Music, Inc. (ASCAP)

Last night I had the strangest dream
I ever dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war
I dreamed I saw a mighty room
The room was filled with men
And the paper they were signing said
They'd never fight again

And when the papers all were signed
And a million copies made
They all joined hands end bowed their heeds
And grateful prayers were prayed
And the people in the streets below
Were dancing round and round
And guns and swords and uniforms
Were scattered on the ground

Last night I had the strangest dream
I ever dreamed before
I dreamed the world had all agreed
To put an end to war

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Track Three: Bleecker Street
by Paul Simon
(c) 1964 (and 1971) Edward B. Marks Music Company (BMI)

Fog's rollin' in off the East River bank
Like a shroud it covers Bleecker Street
Fills the alleys where men sleep
Hides the shepherd from the sheep

Voices leaking from a sad café
Smiling faces try to understand
I saw a shadow touch a shadow's hand
On Bleecker Street

A poet reads his crooked rhyme
Holy, holy is his sacrament
Thirty dollars pays your rent
On Bleecker Street

I head a church bell softly chime
In a melody sustainin'
It's a long road to Canaan
On Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street

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Track Four: Sparrow
by Paul Simon
(c) 1964 (and 1971) Duchess Music Corporation

Who will love a little Sparrow?
Who's traveled far and cries for rest?
"Not I," said the Oak Tree,
"I won't share my branches with
   no sparrow's nest,
And my blanket of leaves won't warm
   her cold breast."

Who will love a little Sparrow
And who will speak a kindly word?
"Not I," said the Swan,
"The entire idea is utterly absurd,
I'd be laughed at and scorned if the
   other Swans heard."

Who will take pity in his heart,
And who will feed a starving sparrow?
"Not I," said the Golden Wheat,
"I would if I could but I cannot I know,
I need all my grain to prosper and grow."

Who will love a little Sparrow?
Will no one write her eulogy?
"I will," said the Earth,
"For all I've created returns unto me,
From dust were ye made and dust ye shall be."

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Track Five: Benedictus
Arranged and adapted by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel
(c) 1964 Edward B. Marks Music Company (BMI)

Basic lyrics from Matthew 21:9 of the New Testament:

Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini *

* Translation:

"Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord"

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Track Six: The Sound Of Silence
by Paul Simon
(c) 1964 Paul Simon

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."

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Track Seven: He Was My Brother
by Paul Kane [Paul Simon]
(c) 1963 Edward B. Marks Music Company (BMI)

He was my brother
Five years older than I
He was my brother
Twenty-three years old the day he died

Freedom writer
They cursed my brother to his face
Go home outsider
This town's gonna be your buryin' place

He was singin' on his knees
An angry mob trailed along
They shot my brother dead
Because he hated what was wrong

He was my brother
Tears can't bring him back to me
He was my brother
And he died so his brothers could be free
He died so his brothers could be free

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Track Eight: Peggy-O (Traditional)

As we marched down to Faneri-o
As we marched down to Faneri-o
Our captain fell in love with a lady like a dove
And they called her name, pretty Peggy-o
Come a runnin' down the stairs, pretty Peggy-o
Come a runnin' down the stairs, pretty Peggy-o
Come a runnin' down the stairs, combin' back
   your yellow hair
You're the prettiest little girl I've ever seen-o

In a carriage you will ride, pretty Peggy-o
In a carriage you will ride, pretty Peggy-o
In a carriage you will ride, with your true love by
   your side
As far as any maiden in the ar-e-o
What will your mother say, pretty Peggy-o?
What will your mother say, pretty Peggy-o?
What will your mother say, when she finds you've
   gone away
To places far and strange to Faneri-o?

If ever I return, pretty Peggy-o
If ever I return, pretty Peggy-o
If ever I return, all your cities I will burn
Destroying all the ladies in the ar-e-o
Destroying all the ladies in the ar-e-o

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Track Nine: Go Tell It On The Mountain (Traditional)

Hallelujah!
Go tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go tell it on the mountain
Jesus Christ is born

Down the lonely manger
The humble Christ was born
And God sent salvation
That blessed Christmas morn

Hallelujah!
Go tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go tell it on the mountain
Jesus Christ is born

While shepherds kept their watch
O'er silent flocks by night
Behold throughout the heavens
There shown a holy light

Hallelujah!
Go tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go tell it on the mountain
Jesus Christ is born

Down the lonely manger
The humble Christ was born
And God sent salvation
That blessed Christmas morn

Hallelujah!
Go tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go tell it on the mountain
Jesus Christ is born

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Track Ten: The Sun Is Burning
by Ian Campbell
(c) 1964 Essex Music, Inc. (ASCAP)

The sun is burning in the sky
Strands of clouds go slowly drifting by
In the park the lazy breeze
Are joining in the flowers, among the trees
And the sun burns in the sky

Now the sun is in the West
Little kids go home to take their rest
And the couples in the park
Are holdin' hands and waitin' for the dark
And the sun is in the West

Now the sun is sinking low
Children playin' know it's time to go
High above a spot appears
A little blossom blooms and then draws near
And the sun is sinking low

Now the sun has come to Earth
Shrouded in a mushroom cloud of death
Death comes in a blinding flash
Of hellish heat and leaves a smear of ash
And the sun has come to Earth

Now the sun has disappeared
All is darkness, anger, pain and fear
Twisted, sightless wrecks of men
Go groping on their knees and cry in pain
And the sun has disappeared

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Track Eleven: The Times They Are A-Changin'
by Bob Dylan
(c) 1963 Warner Bros. (ASCAP)

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide open
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, Congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin',
For the times they are a-changin'.

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Track Twelve: Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.
by Paul Simon
(c) 1966 Paul Simon (BMI)

I can hear the soft breathing
Of the girl that I love,
As she lies here beside me
Asleep with the night,
And her hair, in a fine mist
Floats on my pillow,
Reflecting the glow
Of the winter moonlight.

She is soft, she is warm,
But my heart remains heavy,
And I watch as her breasts
Gently rise, gently fall,
For I know with the first light of dawn
I'll be leaving,
And tonight will be
All I have left to recall.

Oh, what have I done,
Why have I done it,
I've committed a crime,
I've broken the law.
For twenty-five dollars
And pieces of silver,
I held up and robbed
A hard liquor store.

My life seems unreal,
My crime an illusion,
A scene badly written
In which I must play.
Yet I know as I gaze
At my young love beside me,
The morning is just a few hours away.

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