10.26.2003

 

Friday night I fulfilled a dream I never thought I would have the chance in my lifetime to do. I saw Simon & Garfunkel in concert.

As Art walked off the stage at the end of the final encore, he thanked us profusely and noted that we had "truly charmed [their] lives."

I felt like I could not have said it any better. Except that I would say it the other way around.

Certain things become such a part of your life, of your socialization, that you never really understand the impact of them until you start to confront the fact that those things have forever disappeared. Simon & Garfunkel music certianly fits that bill. I can remember road trips of a younger day when the family HM would listen to old S&G tunes while passing over the Colorado/Utah border on our way to some forgotten destination. I can remember how my mother always wanted me to learn how to play "Anji" when I first picked up the guitar (to this day I've gotten no closer than I was in those days trying to figure out the fingering for a G chord) and how S&G first showed me, with one acoustic guitar and two voices in perfect harmony, how beautiful very simple music compositions can sound.

Simon & Garfunkel tunes will forever seem to me something I have always had, something I have always enjoyed. And as I grow more reflective in my older age and appreciate things a little bit more, I start to understand the significance the music those two men made for four or five brief years thirty odd years ago. I can no longer hear "America" without pausing and taking the time to listen to then end of the song and smiling and the wondrous nature of it. I now have a hard time pushing away the melancholy that creeps around the edges of "Song for the Asking," and I will always agree with Art's statement that "Kathy's Song" is one of the most beautiful love songs ever written.

Paul's talent for writing very cogent song lyrics and great melodies, with his smooth voice, and Art's unbelievable range and harmonic beauty, have had a real impact on my life. I love music in large part because Simon & Garfunkel; I believe in its power because of the way they made it affect me. And I honestly think that I can say no such similar things about any other musician I have ever heard.

And so you can imagine my delight at hearing they had decided to tour one more time. And my giddiness when I miraculously landed four floor tickets for their show.

And the show was wonderful, but it felt so much more than a show. It was my once-in-a-lifetime experience. I felt reflective from the moment I walked in the door to the area; I wanted to experience every part of it. And when they came out on stage, both in jeans, Paul wearing his traditional old faded black t-shirt, and sang "Old Friends" with nothing by a guitar and two spotlights, I began to float. Float on top of the knowledge that I would remember those moments for the rest of my living days, that I would remember feeling like I had a part in something very special, like I had experienced something I would want to talk about for the rest of my days.

And I could not have agreed more with Art when he said we had truly charmed their lives. Or if their fans have had anything near the impact they and their music, their poetic and musical beauty, have had on me, charmed does not begin to describe it. They have given me a window to my own past, a method of associated my life to past days. They have given me something that can make me feel happy and sad at the same time, which I personally think may be the greatest feeling in the world sometimes.

Yes, seeing Simon & Garfunkel was something special. Something I never thought would ever happened, something I know I will remember for the rest of my days. And I feel more complete in some small way for it.