The final track takes a complete change in tone and goes for comedy. The theme of the passage of time, and an interest in the changing seasons (explored also in Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme) is given expression in their brilliantly-executed A Hazy Shade of Winter, which is easily one of the duo’s greatest songs. Their acclaimed song Mrs Robinson is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the album, and it remains intensely catchy. The lyrics of Punky’s Dilemma are somewhat inscrutable, and it takes a more laid back approach, but the finger-clicking and whistling accompaniment signify its lightheartedness, in a track that comes close to folk. Fakin’ It is fantastically catchy, with claps in the mix and an upbeat style. The second half of Bookends is, on balance, even stronger.
It’s intelligent, thoughtful and considered. The simple, acoustic beauty of both focuses the listener on the lyrics, which are delivered almost conversationally. The two songs rounding out the first side, Old Friends and Bookends, are much stronger than the attempt at realism. The problem is that it doesn’t add anything to the overall effect, and in fact, detracts by interrupting the pace. It’s a weakness on the album, and one of those ideas that may have seemed good on paper. We are invited to wonder – are the same couple the subject of Overs, in which one half of a couple who have been together for some time wonders if their relationship has run its course? This fades into Voices of Old People, which is a hiatus from music to hear snatches of conversation from elderly people that Art Garfunkel had recorded. What America is, and who it’s for is alway topical, but more so than ever before at present, giving this song added poignancy. The track America is even more strongly rooted in place, as a young couple journey on a Greyhound bus and playfully discuss their place in the country.
The song has a social heart, relating the consequences of drug use and highlighting ahead of time a growing distance between youth and respect for the law. After the quiet acoustic opening, Save the Life of My Child is immediately arresting, with a well-produced percussive opening and use of synthesiser to draw a distinction with what has gone before it. The Bookends theme and song ‘bookend’ side one, leaving side two to go its own direction. The enjoyable thing about listening to Bookends on vinyl is that it makes more obvious the bifurcation between the two sides. Bookends emerged in 1968, and contains some songs that were originally composed for The Graduate, but which didn’t make the final cut, as well as an overarching theme that lends the album its ‘journey of life’ concept. By the time of Bookends, Simon & Garfunkel were well and truly on the map, internationally as well as in their native US, thanks to the increasing popularity of their albums, and to their iconic soundtrack and theme to the film The Graduate.
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