 The Concert in Central Park (1982) [ larger cover art ] |
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Many's the time I've been mistaken
And many times confused
Yes, and often felt forsaken
And certainly misused
But I'm all right, I'm all right
I'm just weary to my bones
Still, you don't expect to be
Bright and bon vivant
So far away from home, so far away from home
And I don't know a soul who's not been battered
I don't have a friend who feels at ease
I don't know a dream that's not been shattered
Or driven to its knees
But it's all right, it's all right
We've lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the road
We're traveling on
I wonder what went wrong
I can't help it, I wonder what went wrong
And I dreamed I was dying
And I dreamed that my soul rose unexpectedly
And looking back down at me
Smiled reassuringly
And I dreamed I was flying
And high up above my eyes could clearly see
The Statue of Liberty
Sailing away to sea
And I dreamed I was flying
We come on the ship they call the Mayflower
We come on the ship that sailed the moon
We come in the age's most uncertain hour
And sing an American tune
But it's all right, it's all right
You can't be forever blessed
Still, tomorrow's going to be another working day
And I'm trying to get some rest
That's all I'm trying to get some rest
| gypsyman (just passing through....) | Posted: Jan 19, 2013 - 11:28  |
| xkolibuul (Chuckanut sandstone) | Posted: Jan 19, 2013 - 11:28 joelbb wrote: Paul Simon went all the way back to J. S. Bach to steal this tune. In the end, for all his ability, he's a whiny, musical klepto. And exactly which music is sui generis? |
| shellbella (so california) | Posted: Oct 17, 2012 - 09:31 this song makes me cry.... |
| joelbb | Posted: Sep 15, 2012 - 20:09 Paul Simon went all the way back to J. S. Bach to steal this tune. In the end, for all his ability, he's a whiny, musical klepto. |
| TimeWaster | Posted: Feb 07, 2012 - 10:17 Queue wrote: I love S&G, and appreciate the significance of this concert, but I can't stand that "piano" that pervades throughout. Give me the original recordings any day over this Central Park stuff. That's a Fender Rhodes electric piano through a phaser effect. |
| (former member) (hotel in Las Vegas) | Posted: Feb 07, 2012 - 10:14 Everybody in my hotel room loves this song... |
| coding_to_music (Beantown) | Posted: Jan 06, 2012 - 15:09 CMax wrote: One on my favorite concerts. 18 in new york, with new university friends.. getting cozy with the girls on the next blanket over. great memories.. an american moment. Yep — that was me there too, age 18... |
| ScottN (Vacationing in Gaza) | Posted: Nov 04, 2011 - 04:56 I'm generally not a fan of live shows, especially these huge ones. Good tune, but I prefer the studio version. |
| MiracleDrug (Earth) | Posted: Oct 03, 2011 - 15:16 Simon - Garfunkel = listenable Simon + Garfunkel = The Folksmen (minus one) |
| vandal (arriving somewhere, but not here. . .) | Posted: Oct 03, 2011 - 15:15 eswiley2 wrote: Second only to Bridge Over Troubled Water. American Tune isn't even within the same realm of existence as Bridge Over Troubled Water. . . |
| bitterdave (Orinda, CA) | Posted: Oct 03, 2011 - 15:14 Queue wrote: I love S&G, and appreciate the significance of this concert, but I can't stand that "piano" that pervades throughout. Give me the original recordings any day over this Central Park stuff. With the electric piano, think of the concert in central park as the largest Bar Mitzvah ever . . . |
| Queue (ROKville, MD) | Posted: Sep 28, 2011 - 13:59 I love S&G, and appreciate the significance of this concert, but I can't stand that "piano" that pervades throughout. Give me the original recordings any day over this Central Park stuff. |
| CMax (Copenhagen) | Posted: Sep 02, 2011 - 05:26 One on my favorite concerts. 18 in new york, with new university friends.. getting cozy with the girls on the next blanket over. great memories.. an american moment. |
| Cynaera (Kenneth's Frequency) | Posted: Aug 01, 2011 - 19:33 catnip wrote: I'm not a great one for live versions, but this one does it for me. My sister (hello Fishtank Lady!) and I used to have a cassette version of the Concert in Central Park which we took on holiday with us aged twelve or so, and forced our parents (classical music lovers mostly) to listen to it almost constantly over the course of a two-week car tour of south-western France. I am surprised that they still talk to us, and I'm also surprised that I can still listen to it, but the first thing my sister and I did before going on a road trip in southern Spain more than twenty-five years later was stop by the record shop and pick up a CD copy. Worth every centimo (even if I still have the cassettes). Still sends shivers down the spine... Thanks for sharing this lovely memory! It made me grin, and also gave me a new appreciation for Simon and Garfunkel, because some of their music can still give me shivers, too - in the best possible way...  to a "kindred spirit." |
| (former member) (hotel in Las Vegas) | Posted: Aug 01, 2011 - 19:29 daisymaybee wrote: One of my very, very favorites! Yes, this song is a contender... from one of America's greatest musical poets... and this concert was poignant... |
| daisymaybee | Posted: Jul 01, 2011 - 10:23 One of my very, very favorites! |
| eswiley2 | Posted: Jul 01, 2011 - 10:22 Second only to Bridge Over Troubled Water. |
| Ahnyer_Keester (Chicago Il) | Posted: Apr 29, 2011 - 05:59 "Words by Paul Simon music by JS Bach" I thought I recognized that tune. O Sacred Head Now Wounded. "Passion Chorale, Hans L. Hassler, Lustgarten neuer teutscher Gesäng, 1601; harmony by Johann S. Bach, 1729." |
| Alexandra (The Gem City, Ohio) | Posted: Apr 29, 2011 - 05:58 TanteJensen wrote: Ok, this is being very smartassy, BUT the church song (by Paul Gerhardt) is a cover as well. The original melody and text were written bei Hans Leo Haßler around 1600, and it was a love song: "Mein G'müt ist mir verwirret, das macht ein Jungfrau zart" ("Dazed and confused, and the reason is a girl" roughly). Cool! Many hymns are borrowed from an older traditional melody.  |
| ploba (the other coast and hang a left) | Posted: Feb 25, 2011 - 04:27 beautiful melody, beautiful song |
| GuiltyFeat (Ra'anana) | Posted: Feb 20, 2011 - 03:36 The Concert at Central Park was such an important album for those of us coming into musical maturity in the early 80s. I believe it was also given away as a free cassette when you bought a Betamax video player so that it was the only pre-recorded video in a lot of households around then. I too had it on double cassette and fell in love with those live versions of classic songs. Thanks for playing this. |
| Blaggart | Posted: Feb 20, 2011 - 03:08 seiferth wrote: The anthem of those under 50 despite when it was released. Yeah there are oblique references to WWII and it ignores the recent more imperialist America but basically, it's what it's like nowdays. What a beautiful song. Hardly, but it did capture the malaise of the Carter Administration perfectly. We've moved on. |
| Sloggydog (UK) | Posted: Jan 24, 2011 - 22:03 I'm surprised they didn't have the decency to look back and realise they had been treated to potentially the best ever live album by way of Concert in Central Park |
| catnip (just about... there.) | Posted: Dec 19, 2010 - 12:27 I'm not a great one for live versions, but this one does it for me. My sister (hello Fishtank Lady!) and I used to have a cassette version of the Concert in Central Park which we took on holiday with us aged twelve or so, and forced our parents (classical music lovers mostly) to listen to it almost constantly over the course of a two-week car tour of south-western France. I am surprised that they still talk to us, and I'm also surprised that I can still listen to it, but the first thing my sister and I did before going on a road trip in southern Spain more than twenty-five years later was stop by the record shop and pick up a CD copy. Worth every centimo (even if I still have the cassettes). Still sends shivers down the spine... |
| myasma (Elk Grove CA) | Posted: Nov 22, 2010 - 20:22 I remember listening to this song a few years back, in my car just coming off the freeway, and how it hit me so hard. It was one of those moments that comes along every once in a while. |
| Rooney (Near Paradise) | Posted: Sep 20, 2010 - 14:38 bhudevi wrote: Eva Cassidy does an amazing cover of this song Yes she does. Eva has some gems in her collection. This song American Tune kept me going when I lived overseas. |
| DaveInVA (In a hovel in effluent Damnville, VA) | Posted: Sep 20, 2010 - 11:21 Still a great tune  |
| seiferth (MA) | Posted: Aug 14, 2010 - 07:15 The anthem of those under 50 despite when it was released. Yeah there are oblique references to WWII and it ignores the recent more imperialist America but basically, it's what it's like nowdays. What a beautiful song. |
| lmic (Harmless Little Bunny) | Posted: Apr 14, 2010 - 11:08 On_The_Beach wrote: I usually like Art's vocals but in this case I prefer Paul's version on There Goes Rymin' Simon. I would love to hear the studio version on RP. TGRS is such a great album. |
| colt4x5 (scrambling.) | Posted: Jan 09, 2010 - 11:41 a great song, performed with all the musical excitement you'd expect in the lounge of the holiday inn on the highway just outside of town. snore. |
| redstorm (East Coast!........ Lou!) | Posted: Aug 05, 2009 - 03:54 Simon and Garfunkel are two brilliant, and brilliantly matched poets, who happen to harmonize beautifully. I can see them back in the days of King James, as jester's and singers, being fed at the whim of the King...ohhhhh yeah, they were fed royally!! |
| Tagish_girl (happily seeking hammock, HBG, SE) | Posted: Aug 05, 2009 - 03:52 Okay, there is a big part of this that is taken from an old hymn, 'Oh Sacred Head, Now Wounded*. The 'Come on the ship they call Mayflower' part is where I can hear it.... okay, just saw where pyro and bokey were talking about this earlier.... Note to self, read back-posts before commenting.... |
| On_The_Beach (Vancouver, Canada) | Posted: Apr 24, 2009 - 01:08 I usually like Art's vocals but in this case I prefer Paul's version on There Goes Rymin' Simon. |
| siandbeth (Santa Cruz California) | Posted: Mar 23, 2009 - 12:32 vit wrote: These guys provide some of the same good vibes for me as good classic Brooklyn hip hop. I think it's the culture of the city of New York just steeped into every verse. Subdued vivacity? Some sort of wisdom? Exceptions as the norm? Hell I don't know, but love or hate NYC as a place its culture has put out some awesome music. I'm a West coaster born and bred and have to agree that NYC is one helluva place. This song is beautiful, too. |
| cdanthony (nj) | Posted: Mar 23, 2009 - 12:32 how appropriate a song for our times... odd, especially considering it's 36 years old. |
| Jazbo (Beautiful Valparaiso IN.) | Posted: Mar 23, 2009 - 12:30 I'm an American and I love Simon and Garfunkel. |
| vit | Posted: Jan 20, 2009 - 13:25 These guys provide some of the same good vibes for me as good classic Brooklyn hip hop. I think it's the culture of the city of New York just steeped into every verse. Subdued vivacity? Some sort of wisdom? Exceptions as the norm? Hell I don't know, but love or hate NYC as a place its culture has put out some awesome music. |
| mirland (Denmark) | Posted: Jan 19, 2009 - 06:00 oldsinger wrote: How can you not love S&G music! Let me refrain that: How can you? |
| Tana (Lancaster, PA) | Posted: Sep 12, 2008 - 09:43 Sometimes I just want to retreat from the workaday world and listen to Simon & Garfunkel all day long. |
| Candela (Trondheim, Norway) | Posted: Aug 11, 2008 - 18:43  |
| TanteJensen (I am here now) | Posted: May 09, 2008 - 06:01 Ok, this is being very smartassy, BUT the church song (by Paul Gerhardt) is a cover as well. The original melody and text were written bei Hans Leo Haßler around 1600, and it was a love song: "Mein G'müt ist mir verwirret, das macht ein Jungfrau zart" ("Dazed and confused, and the reason is a girl" roughly). Sry, but I can't stand the christians getting any credit they don't deserve. 
Still great. |
| bhudevi (Trenton, NJ) | Posted: Jan 04, 2008 - 07:51 Eva Cassidy does an amazing cover of this song |
| philbertr (Hurricane Target Florida) | Posted: Jan 04, 2008 - 07:38 pret-a-porter wrote: wah wah wah
oh woe is me - it's so hard to be a united statesian am I missing something or is this song a very offensive apologist polemic for colonialism I'd say you're missing everything. This is a song about hope, facing the future with optimism and determination. In fact, I think it is ultimately about redemption. OBTW, wasn't Canada a colony at one point, too? I guess we just took two different paths to independence. |
| Zep (Hear hear!) | Posted: Jan 04, 2008 - 07:32 ruthless wrote: Just as valid now as it was in the 70's.
More so. Just brilliant. |
| Chi_Guy (Chicago) | Posted: Jan 04, 2008 - 07:20 philbertr wrote: So well said!  |
| Antigone (A house, in a valley, Virginia) | Posted: Jan 04, 2008 - 07:20 I started 2008 listening to Paul Simon, my vinyl There Goes Rhymin' Simon and Still Crazy After All These Years. Seemed to me like a great way to start a new year.  I love this song, and the sweet harmonies. |
| Pyro | Posted: Jan 04, 2008 - 07:20 bokey wrote: Hey I remember that(with the help of google) #172 in The Lutheran Hymnal.Wow.Elemenatary school flashbacks. (allright,I'll go stand in the corner again.All I did was ask how we could possibly know if the bible is true) 1. O sacred Head, now wounded, With grief and shame weighed down, Now scornfully surrounded With thorns, Thine only crown. Men mock and taunt and jeer Thee, Thou noble countenance, Though mighty worlds shall fear Thee And flee before Thy glance. How art thou pale with anguish, With sore abuse and scorn! How doth Thy visage languish That once was bright as morn! Wow, thanks for this! I had heard something familiar in the tune, but never pinned it down. Damn, these guys sound smooth in this concert! |
| ruthless (Midtown Memphis) | Posted: Jan 04, 2008 - 07:20 Just as valid now as it was in the 70's. |
| philbertr (Hurricane Target Florida) | Posted: Jan 04, 2008 - 07:17 steeler wrote: Understated brilliance. Quiet dignity. Elegantly probing.
So well said! |
| MisterVErb (Southern Vermont) | Posted: Nov 02, 2007 - 13:35 stet wrote: The Central Park concert album that this comes from is total one-stop shopping for S&G.
I concur - I have their box set but only listen to the Central Park album. |