My favorite Simon & Garfunkel song and one of my top five favorites of all time. When I saw them in 2003 I actually got chills hearing this song live after all of these years, and I am pretty jaded these days.

A classic, to be sure, but it's worth pointing out that Simon stole this arrangement from the rather less famous English folk legend Martin Carthy. Paul Simon's a song-writing genius, but also a notorious musical magpie; there's quite a few artists from that period who really resent the guy.

Shesdifferent wrote:
Being blind and deaf perhaps? Other than that I can think of no reason.

meloman wrote:
The beautiful thing about great music - it can transform your state of mind in an instant...

I'm back in my dorm room in 1966. An absolute revelation!

pure harmony

It's soooo nice to hear the original version of this for a change. The local university-affiliated jazz station is way too fond of playing every bad cover of this song every made. They even played 2 in a row one morning while I was driving to work. I had to email them and tell them to cut the crap.

A solemn, timeless piece, yet unique to it's OWN time.

Bliss!

rah wrote:
Richard Cory
WHENEVER Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich—yes, richer than a king,
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.
-- Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935)

The S&G song based on the poem appeared on Sounds of Silence which came out a year earlier than this outstanding tune/album.

Another classic S&G song!

I remember my 7th grade music teacher trying to teach our class to sing this song, with half the class singing the one part and the other half singing the other. Never appreciated his effort until I heard the S&G version a number of years later.

Pure ear pleasure!
OScar

I always imagine Elaine crossing the Berkeley campus when I hear this song...

Fabulous guitar part, to be sure.

How could ya not love Simon & Garfunkel?

My sister used this recording in instead of the traditional wedding march, so this song always reminds me of that day. That was 32 years ago and they're still married so I guess it was a good choice.

It also makes a good lullaby, though you generally have to decide which song you're going to sing.

colt4x5 wrote:

sooo ditto. :D

sycamore wrote:

The "Scarborough Fair" portion of the song is traditional, but the counter-melody (the "canticle") was written by Simon as an anti-war statement. This isn't the song based on the poem "Richard Corey" though; "Richard Corey" is from a different S&G album altogether.

I don't think Paul Simon wrote this song. I think it's an old traditional tune with an extensive number of verses (there's a bunch of info on the history of this song on line...but then again that ain't "peer-reviewed").dolfan wrote:

physicsgenius wrote:

It was "Richard Corey," and Paul Simon wrote the song based on a poem by the same name. Good, good stuff.

Simple.
Solemn.
Substantial Classic.
An honorable 10.

An awesome classic. I'd like to hear Richard Gorey (if I'm remembering the name correctly), though. I only heard it a few time from a roommate's collection.

A perfect blending of voices and sensibilities, which became increasingly rare as S&G continued to make records, which led to their split only a few years after this.

joempie wrote:

Which would be this version. :) Stone Roses are good, but no other version compares to this.

i can remember all the pops and scratches, and how many times i started the album over before it had quite ended.

Please play The Stone Roses - Elizabeth My Dear instead. So much better than this slimey stuff. Since it an ancient tune anyway, we might as well play the best available version :-)

so sweet

Fantastic! Thank you RP :)
Reminds me Middle Age...Simply the best...

Comes with a skip and a crackle at the beginning even. Classy. All songs from that era should have that.