There is a good reason why some people shouldn't cover Simon & Garfunkel songs...

Before I return to blogging about the atonement, theology proper, and various forms of heterodoxy, please indulge me as I post two more musical extracts.

Caution: Please do not watch the first video before carefully reading the text below

What follows is a cover version of Simon & Garfunkel's The Only Living Boy in New York by Everything But The Girl. Now, in their own way, I suppose EBTG are just fine. Granted, the vocal is a somewhat pale and insipid version of the original. The real crime in this video clip is to be found in the cringe worthy choreography. I'm sure that it really seemed like a good idea at the time. If only honest friends were on had to speak the truth.

I feel that I must warn you that the side effects of watching this video include dizziness, blurred vision, vomiting, a nagging sense of despair, possible bleeding from the ears, and acute, prolonged, mental pain.

Viewers are assured that the sight of weird looking people running down the street carrying guitars is not a hallucination but is in fact part of the original video. Those of you with good aesthetic taste may well slip into a deep nihilistic coma as a result of being exposed to this recording for more than fifty seconds. Genuine fans of Simon & Garfunkel should not watch this video as it may induce anaphylactic shock.



The guy with the beard, what exactly was he chewing?

Thankfully some of the detrimental effects that have accompanied your exposure to this song can be treated by listening to the original:

Bridge Over Troubled Water: Downes vs. Benfold

My highly esteemed colleague Gary Benfold has lost his marbles. Foolishly he has claimed that the cover version of Bridge Over Troubled Water by Elvis Presley is greater than the original sung by Art Garfunkel.

"What nonsense!" I hear you cry, and believe me I share your disgust. I know that Elvis was the king, but Art's vocal is simply untouchable.

What can I say? As I have rolled these things over in my mind the suspicion has grown. After all, Gary is from Yorkshire, so what does he know about good music? Let him speak about flat caps, and whippets, and we will listen. I, on the other hand, am Welsh, from the Principality, the very land of song.

Will he respond? We wish to hear from him the sound of silence.

Once again, here is Art:



And here is Elvis:



We also have this wild card entry from Eva Cassidy:



Apologies to Adrian Reynolds of the Proclamation Trust who loves the Hear'Say version. YouTube say that "Embedding has been disabled by request" on that one. I'm not surprised.

Here's an odd clip of Simon & Garfunkel rehearsing the song in 1969:

The Voice

Art Garfunkel sings For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her

Bridge Over Troubled Water (Live, 1969)

I discovered this song as a seventeen year old but have only just come across this live version from 1969 and recorded after the completion of the Bridge album. As a sixth former I think I found the combination of Paul Simon's thoughtful lyrics, Art's vocal, the whole folk rock thing, and the harmonies, captivating.

Mozart, Requiem

Cavalleria Rusticana

Albinoni's Adagio

Ennio Morricone, The Mission

Sublime