I cried as I listened to this song while I drove home for my Father's funeral in 1991. He was 70 and had been fighting cancer for several years. I remember thinking about the line, "How terribly strange to be seventy." The lyrics of this song are so simple and so profound. I've always felt that their music was poetry, and ever since that day this song brings tears to my eyes whenever I hear it. That was 27 years ago, and now here I am, about to turn 72. Wow!
My old man, a career USAF guy threw me a curve ball one day during the late 60's when he announced to me while on a fishing trip that, he " really enjoyed the harmony of Simon and Garfunkel" and was a fan of the Beatles. The day of my dad's funeral services a single KC-135 did an over flight of the neighborhood, and I'd like to think it was "un-authorized" but when the wings wagged several times , it was difficult to attribute to mere chance. You did great attending to your dad's wishes and needs in all that time so never let there be any doubt on your side. He'd tell you the same thing Old friends are hard to come by and even harder to let go of. Be safe in all things.
C Minus Comics & Stories so true. I have many joy filled moments... but the very worst day of my life is on a loop in my brain... finding our beloved baby son had slipped away at the age of 39 days... it’s going nowhere, that memory. On the positive side, once tragedy strikes (I was a baby myself, at 23), it strips away the unimportant. I am so fortunate; a good husband, three adult sons, a career as a teacher, early retirement (I have MS), a wonderful home, a beautiful granddaughter ... and more. Losing our infant son helped us recognise what really matters and what doesn’t matter at all. Losing him broke us, but we grew back, strong and determined to enjoy what we have. We are luckier than most, I believe. 😊xx
Lol I agree.....when I was growing up my father had like 5 albums Bookends, A Hard Days Night, John Wesley Harding, Mamas & Pappas, Johnny Cashs & Jose Feliciano.........what I didn't realise at the time was ....'it don't get much better than this`
I always feel moved at the verse "How terribly strange to be seventy", because I know they're both 79 right now. And I am too young so I hadn't and won't ever have a possibibility to see them live. At least I am grateful that we have youtube and other technology to save that beautiful music. I hope it will never be forgotten, even if I would be 79. "Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you".
Yes. I remember listening to them when I was 18 years old. It was sad then. Where have all the years gone. I am now 4 years to being 70. I can now more relate to them then when I was 17 even though I was emotional when I listened at 17. I wish my children were exposed to them now. They are not interested in the music I listened to at 18.
I have their Central Park concert on DVD & CD. My favorite musicians from the 60s were Simon & Garfunkel & Little Anthony & The Imperials. I didn't get to see either of them in person but I have all their albums & some of their music on CDs. I'm not far behind Simon & Garfunkel, in age, even though they are part of my Parents' Generation, I have such an affinity for them & their music. I'll be 64 this year & I find myself wondering... where did the time go? Both of my Parents & my big Sister have passed away so here I sit... "Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you".
It always amazes me how great artists had such powerful insights into the human condition at such a young age, they were in their early to mid twenties respectively when they wrote Sounds of Silence and this gem.
I was there too in September 1981. I always thought that the most amazing thing about the concert was that when it started, 500,000 New Yorkers (and people from other states) just sat down and watched the show.
Yes I agree . I am sad at what has happened with the US , I miss those times I am grieving for the times when I met my husband in the days of innocence . Those days of Simon and Garfunkel will never come again.
Thank you, old friends, for the beauty of your poetry, and the sweet sounds that still echo in my brain after all these years. Like a thoughtful, profound companion always present.
that verse "how terribly strange to be seventy". How many times I've wanted to ask Paul Simon in the past 5 years if he still thought it was terribly strange to be 70
Both are now 77 and I'd like to ask as well. I doubt that it's terrible for them.Or all the others approaching 80, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart.
Because when you're young, the idea of getting that old is strange. It's almost alien, when you go through your whole life seeing people as "old", and then suddenly you are "old".
I'm 83 and the only downside is I'm going to die soon. Otherwise I'm way better off than when I had to travel a mile, buy a ticket, and sit in a theater to see a movie. And had to be in specific place, at a specific time, to listen to, or watch, one of my favorite radio or TV shows. And couldn't listen to a song I really liked unless I went out and bought the record. And had to write a letter, by hand, put a stamp on it, walk to the corner, mail it, and wait a couple of weeks for the recipient to reply, if he or she chose to do so. Today I can get more accomplished, in one day, than I could in one month, when I was in my so-called "prime". (Of course, I'm not glued to an iphone 12 hours a day).
I'm 19 now. This song makes me wonder about the future. I wonder where my current best friend will be, and about the many friendships I'm going to build and then lose, and then become friends again.
You are in control of this. Stay in touch. Always. I am 67 and am in touch with a number of friends. For the past 30(?) years we have met for dinner once a month. My lifelong best friend Kathy lives elsewhere and can't share in this tradition, but she is always the one I think of when I hear this song. I think we may have sung it together seated at my Mom's piano when we were teens. I have made new friends along the way that I dearly love but there's nothing like talking with someone you knew before the world jaded you.
I cry every time I hear this. My father loved it and I do too. He’s been gone for twenty some odd years now and I still hear him sing it when I play it.
It has been a year since I lost my “old friend” of 19 years. I miss her so much, I yearn for her love and affection. We met as young people, a time of innocence and of confidences. Then came kids and jobs and we got busy with what they call “life”.I always hoped that when the smoke of “life” cleared we would sit on the park bench like bookends and enjoy each other. Alas, it was not to be. You are in a better place and I am left to wonder what seventy would look like many years in the future. Love my dear, with tears, til we meet again..
two Jews from New York, grew up in tough neighborhoods, decided to share their magical gifts with the world to be a light unto the nations, a beacon of hope, maybe, just maybe as we walk through the darkness of this harsh and bitter life, we can find solace in the words and music of these gifted men.
I’m dying of pancreatic cancer.. just like my Nan.. this reminds me of her husband Harry. He loved her until he died. It makes me feel good that they loved each other so....
I hope that you are here to read this. I send you you my very best wishes and hope that your passing is peaceful and that you are surrounded by loving family and friends who will treasure your memory. God bless you and keep you.
I grew up with Simon and Garfunkel. I sang the songs during my newspaper delivery era. I hope someone was inlfluenced (probably not by me singing but the songs are so strong) so the music will spread throughout time......... They sang the anthems of a complete generation (or 2). We should cherish this music that was sang with such beautifull harmony and social relevance.
Old friends, old friends, Sat on their park bench like bookends A newspaper blown through the grass Falls on the round toes of the high shoes of the old friends Old friends, winter companions, the old men Lost in their overcoats, waiting for the sun The sounds of the city sifting through trees Settles like dust on the shoulders of the old friends Can you imagine us years from today, Sharing a park bench quietly How terribly strange to be seventy Old friends, memory brushes the same years, Silently sharing the same fears
I cried when I heard this too, I fell in love with their music when I was 14, never imagining that I’d still be listening to it at 67, and fast approaching 70 myself…..
Simply beautiful. I love 'the old friends', and always will. Terribly strange yes, but always a heartfelt reminder, for the old days, and the old friends 🙂 💖👍📖
I am growing old and dieing. I have always wanted to see Simon and Garfunkel preform. To see them preform together one last time. Perhaps "The Old Friends" tour. Just a wish from a long time fan. I know that they have had their issues between themselves. I believe that an "Old Friends" tour would be a wonderful thing! John K
My wife died this year a week before her 70th birthday. I am 78 and live alone trawling over the photos and diaries. All the words ring so true from the pages and this song
This is one of my favourite S&G songs....Very poignant...My best friend of 64 years turned 70 this Jan...I will be 70 in July....as the song says, 'How terribly strange to be 70......memory brushes the same years, silently feeling the same fears....old friends."
What can i say , beautiful emotional music with a greatt video. In a year or four i claim my place on that park bench, then it's my time to sit there. I really do think there is no better music than this masterpiece, it touches your heart and soul.
how terrible strange to be 70 .Just 5 months to go many photos are lost many friends have already left the party but my bookend of 67 years is still here
My childhood best friend told me of this album when it came out and I bought it that night. This song will always remind me of him. He is gone; we will never be able to share a park bench quietly.
Approaching my 66th birthday and this is as fresh as brand new. Brings back poignant memories of unrequited love as a teenager, and unfulfilled dreams. This song means more as you get older I soon will know what it’s like to be 70, Art and Paul are there already. Old friends.
Lovely, lovely song. Lovely. simple performance. I do wish those two visual promos hadn't blocked off part of the screen at the end - they are a real intrusion on this beautiful peace. "How terribly strange to be seventy." I'm seventy now, and find, a little to my own astonishment, that I am okay with it - enjoying it, even. I have survived a heart attack and two cancers. I now go for 10-mile-plus solo walks in the countryside most weeks, I go tramping in the hills around my city with a bunch of people my own age and older, I play my music, I go to folk music festivals, I spend time with my family and my many friends. I am very fortunate and grateful to live in a country that regards care for the elderly and easily affordable healthcare as the mark of ordinary decent civilisation, and not as some vile Marxist plot. A surprising number of my folkie friends were born in 1951, and so are turning 70 this year. We are marking this with a weekend of celebration - dinner with 33 of us at a pub earlier tonight (Friday), a big party tomorrow night with a good number of older and younger friends, and we are providing the music at our folk club on Sunday night. One old friend and I will be singing this song.
I'll be 70yrs. Come November I feel 70 physically. And friends we grew up with can become old. Friends. How wonderful. that friends to the end are!!! Cpreza
Ja, toen in 2009 , bij het definitieve afscheid van mijn lieve pa, Martin Klein, klonk dit prachtige 2 luik ....nu in 2024 , 73 jaar jong richting de finish , is de impact van dit nummer alleen nog maar toe genomen! Love and peace , Jaap
I always thought that my best childhood friend and I would celebrate 70 together some day. Unfortunately, after 43 years we had a serious falling out some years ago. I still think of her whenever I hear this song.😔
An ode to the power of the young to be able to observe the elderly and imagine how it may feel at seventy. PS I believe had the gift and AG paired his many gifts to create enduring gifts to us all! The world is a better place for their partnership while it lasted. Creativity at it’s finest.
Here it was, at the height of the youth movement Paul Simon comes out with an album that focused on old age. Made no sense at all until you looked underneath the beautiful melodies and lyrics. Simon was trying to tell my generation something. I didn't see it at the time, but I do now that I'm seventy. Enjoy your youth, he was saying, because old age, as the tone of the music subliminally suggested, was a scary proposition.
Where every Boxer ends up ,on the park bench ,hiding their once chiselled formin overcoats,on the last stretch ,Homeword Bound! Thank God these poets strayed into music. with their divine voices!
Today is my birthday. "How terribly strange to be seventy". I remember hearing this line in the song when I was twenty. It doesn't seem that long ago to me.
I remember this song from 40 or so years ago when I had the albumn. I guess this was supposed to be a glimpse of old age, but now Im 70 and own and operate a seamless gutter business and spend my free time cycling and kayaking. The park bench will have to wait.
So odd to discover the images of this concert I have listen dozens of times on my tape when I was a teenager and thought it was something beautiful from my parents's times.... And so sad to how it can be possible to give such a marvelous music, a marvelous concert, with perfect musical harmony, without one regard between them....
I too listened and always imagined getting there. 70.I feel so sad sometimes of the old friends I have known and where they are now. I'm sat right now on a park bench and I'm 76.
Some rock/pop songs go on and on and break the "length barrier" of the 3-to-4 minute standard (Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" comes to mind.) "Bookends" is just the opposite. It shows the crystal clear beauty that can come with brevity. Like a Haiku, it is as long as it needs to be and shouldn't be one second longer.
My band has 10 members with a total age around 740+. We're doing this song in October at our big annual event. It's been a dream of mine to play it since I first heard it when I didn't play guitar or sing. Our group can see them selves sitting on a park bench doing this for as long as we can and then we'll play it as we lose members and reflect on a good innings.
I remember when this song came out and when this beautiful concert was broadcast on HBO. "Can you imagine us years from today . . .?" I'm 64 now. Yes, how terribly, terribly strange to be approaching 70.
My grandfather Harry, Tom, Jack. They were best mates. All lost their wives and spent the years together. I want to live the rest of my life with my bookends.
My brother passed away this in march but the memories I have of us they where 8 children my brother and I were the oldies he was the only boy in the family I was next to him I have sweet memories of him now love s&g in this brings back a lot of memories
I cried as I listened to this song while I drove home for my Father's funeral in 1991. He was 70 and had been fighting cancer for several years. I remember thinking about the line, "How terribly strange to be seventy." The lyrics of this song are so simple and so profound. I've always felt that their music was poetry, and ever since that day this song brings tears to my eyes whenever I hear it. That was 27 years ago, and now here I am, about to turn 72. Wow!
jerrydi100 In sorry about your loss, there is always a special song that make us remember good and sad moments
I feel you. Lost my dad (he was 68) to prostate cancer. He loved Simon and Garfunkel. This was in 2005. Still miss him.
My old man, a career USAF guy threw me a curve ball one day during the late 60's when he announced to me while on a fishing trip that, he " really enjoyed the harmony of Simon and Garfunkel" and was a fan of the Beatles.
The day of my dad's funeral services a single KC-135 did an over flight of the neighborhood, and I'd like to think it was "un-authorized" but when the wings wagged several times , it was difficult to attribute to mere chance.
You did great attending to your dad's wishes and needs in all that time so never let there be any doubt on your side.
He'd tell you the same thing
Old friends are hard to come by and even harder to let go of.
Be safe in all things.
26yr old here. Having a really hard time reading all of these cycle of life comments. My dad's nearing that age now and it's fucking terrifying.
How are you now? How has life been for you?
Greetings from Denmark, I’d love to know.
Preserve your memories they’re all that’s left you.
This was poetry to music
And, then, you lose some brain cells, and all you and you can remember is what you want to forget...
C Minus Comics & Stories so true. I have many joy filled moments... but the very worst day of my life is on a loop in my brain... finding our beloved baby son had slipped away at the age of 39 days... it’s going nowhere, that memory. On the positive side, once tragedy strikes (I was a baby myself, at 23), it strips away the unimportant. I am so fortunate; a good husband, three adult sons, a career as a teacher, early retirement (I have MS), a wonderful home, a beautiful granddaughter ... and more. Losing our infant son helped us recognise what really matters and what doesn’t matter at all. Losing him broke us, but we grew back, strong and determined to enjoy what we have. We are luckier than most, I believe. 😊xx
You can hear the English major in every line and rhyme. Marvelous. I am haunted by words I could never write but I can still enjoy them.
They were poets. No doubt.
@@cminuscomicsstories91 What are you talking about?
It's strange to be 70 without Kathleen, my wife of 46 years, who died of cancer on January 30th. Until we are together again , my love.
Beautiful.. just like your Kathleen must have been x
@@kirstinpurcell6619 She was, both in spirit and looks.
I wish you well.
My Mother passed from cancer on October 27th at the age of 72. This song makes me weep. I'm so very sorry for your loss.
A person who's not forgotten is not dead. Enjoy your time with Kathleen in your dreams and cherish the memories. I wish you well, dear Sir! 🙏
Bookends is one of the best albums ever made.
I agree, certainly their best album.
Testefy
Agree
Lol I agree.....when I was growing up my father had like 5 albums
Bookends, A Hard Days Night, John Wesley Harding, Mamas & Pappas, Johnny Cashs & Jose Feliciano.........what I didn't realise at the time was ....'it don't get much better than this`
@@tectorama something about the production of Bookends that makes it stand out.
Two men, a guitar and a truck load of talent, such happy memories.
Paul Simon was the talent if were being honest.
How terribly strange to be 70.
Paul will turn 78 in October ... Art in November.
Old friends in deed.
Amen to that.
I always feel moved at the verse "How terribly strange to be seventy", because I know they're both 79 right now. And I am too young so I hadn't and won't ever have a possibibility to see them live. At least I am grateful that we have youtube and other technology to save that beautiful music. I hope it will never be forgotten, even if I would be 79. "Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you".
Same bro. Wish I was able to see them live
well said+
Yes. I remember listening to them when I was 18 years old. It was sad then. Where have all the years gone. I am now 4 years to being 70. I can now more relate to them then when I was 17 even though I was emotional when I listened at 17. I wish my children were exposed to them now. They are not interested in the music I listened to at 18.
@@wendyparsons7707 Well, I'll be 17 soon and I love them, so... Someone is interested. :)
I have their Central Park concert on DVD & CD.
My favorite musicians from the 60s were Simon & Garfunkel & Little Anthony & The Imperials. I didn't get to see either of them in person but I have all their albums & some of their music on CDs.
I'm not far behind Simon & Garfunkel, in age, even though they are part of my Parents' Generation, I have such an affinity for them & their music. I'll be 64 this year & I find myself wondering... where did the time go? Both of my Parents & my big Sister have passed away so here I sit... "Preserve your memories, they're all that's left you".
It always amazes me how great artists had such powerful insights into the human condition at such a young age, they were in their early to mid twenties respectively when they wrote Sounds of Silence and this gem.
They=Paul Simon
No. Paul and Arthur. Let's give credit to them both
They were wonderful
John Prine had that gift also.
No, Paul Simon wrote them all
They both choose their life before they came here..As well as all of us.
I was at this concert in Central Park NYC. Beautiful night. I turn 70 December 23. went so fast. It is surreal for sure.
I was there too in September 1981. I always thought that the most amazing thing about the concert was that when it started, 500,000 New Yorkers (and people from other states) just sat down and watched the show.
@@briancorriveau5134 Please vote Kamala..we depend on the values of our generation ….Simon and Garfunkel forever….xxxx
My dearest husband past away on 30 January at age 70. One of his favourite songs. We are going to play it at his funeral...😢
I remember my dad playing this album in the 1960’s when I was a kid. My dad is gone. To this day it is one of my favorite albums.
“It was better to be 20 in the 70’s than it is to be 70 in the 20’s.” :-) It’s great to be alive!
Yes I agree . I am sad at what has happened with the US , I miss those times I am grieving for the times when I met my husband in the days of innocence . Those days of Simon and Garfunkel will never come again.
Two chords, and you hear the song in your head, and your heart, forever. That is brilliance.
Thank you, old friends, for the beauty of your poetry, and the sweet sounds that still echo in my brain after all these years. Like a thoughtful, profound companion always present.
I think this is one of the greatest songs ever
I agree, one of the most underrated ones, both of s&g and ever
The poet and with his angel voice partner. What a gift for us to have lived at the same time. 74 and counting.
I'm nearly 70 and it has left an indelible mark from it's remarkable and applicable insight.
that verse "how terribly strange to be seventy". How many times I've wanted to ask Paul Simon in the past 5 years if he still thought it was terribly strange to be 70
Both are now 77 and I'd like to ask as well. I doubt that it's terrible for them.Or all the others approaching 80, Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart.
It is worse than terrible.
Cataldo Leone gg
Because when you're young, the idea of getting that old is strange. It's almost alien, when you go through your whole life seeing people as "old", and then suddenly you are "old".
I'm 83 and the only downside is I'm going to die soon. Otherwise I'm way better off than when I had to travel a mile, buy a ticket, and sit in a theater to see a movie. And had to be in specific place, at a specific time, to listen to, or watch, one of my favorite radio or TV shows. And couldn't listen to a song I really liked unless I went out and bought the record. And had to write a letter, by hand, put a stamp on it, walk to the corner, mail it, and wait a couple of weeks for the recipient to reply, if he or she chose to do so. Today I can get more accomplished, in one day, than I could in one month, when I was in my so-called "prime". (Of course, I'm not glued to an iphone 12 hours a day).
I'm grateful this concert was recorded. I was just a child, living far away, and could not attend. But I had the vinyl album and loved them. Still do.
I'm 19 now. This song makes me wonder about the future. I wonder where my current best friend will be, and about the many friendships I'm going to build and then lose, and then become friends again.
You are in control of this. Stay in touch. Always. I am 67 and am in touch with a number of friends. For the past 30(?) years we have met for dinner once a month. My lifelong best friend Kathy lives elsewhere and can't share in this tradition, but she is always the one I think of when I hear this song. I think we may have sung it together seated at my Mom's piano when we were teens. I have made new friends along the way that I dearly love but there's nothing like talking with someone you knew before the world jaded you.
Yes you will. I am still best friends with my college roommate. 40 years later.
I do tell my daughter to keep in touch with her old friends.
You could feel the tension. When they agree to do this concert the animosity between this two was still raging.
I cry every time I hear this. My father loved it and I do too. He’s been gone for twenty some odd years now and I still hear him sing it when I play it.
These particular distinct voices are part of the fabric woven into memories forever in my mind..
It has been a year since I lost my “old friend” of 19 years. I miss her so much, I yearn for her love and affection. We met as young people, a time of innocence and of confidences. Then came kids and jobs and we got busy with what they call “life”.I always hoped that when the smoke of “life” cleared we would sit on the park bench like bookends and enjoy each other. Alas, it was not to be. You are in a better place and I am left to wonder what seventy would look like many years in the future. Love my dear, with tears, til we meet again..
two Jews from New York, grew up in tough neighborhoods, decided to share their magical gifts with the world to be a light unto the nations, a beacon of hope, maybe, just maybe as we walk through the darkness of this harsh and bitter life, we can find solace in the words and music of these gifted men.
Tough neighborhood? Forest Hills/Kew Gardens are hardly tough.
It's strange to be 70 without my old friend, my best friend, my mum 💔. Thank you guys for this lovely song 🎵 ❤️
I’m dying of pancreatic cancer.. just like my Nan.. this reminds me of her husband Harry. He loved her until he died. It makes me feel good that they loved each other so....
Kirstin Purcell don't die on us man
😥Are you still with us Kirstin Purcell? God bless you.
I hope that you are here to read this. I send you you my very best wishes and hope that your passing is peaceful and that you are surrounded by loving family and friends who will treasure your memory. God bless you and keep you.
God bless you we hope you are still around
Their voices together is like 4 voices together.
Now I'm 46 years old, I wish one day when I'll be around 70, I'll be able to visit this video again and put some reply under this comment.
Agreed 👍
Hope your still on that road 😊❤
I'm 70 today. 70 is just a number because 'memory brushes the same years'. Each decade we become more completely who we are.
I grew up with Simon and Garfunkel. I sang the songs during my newspaper delivery era. I hope someone was inlfluenced (probably not by me singing but the songs are so strong) so the music will spread throughout time.........
They sang the anthems of a complete generation (or 2). We should cherish this music that was sang with such beautifull harmony and social relevance.
Paul Simon. respect
Huge
I love this song. I listen to this song when I want to remember my old friends. I will never forget them. 😢
Old friends, old friends,
Sat on their park bench like bookends
A newspaper blown through the grass
Falls on the round toes
of the high shoes of the old friends
Old friends, winter companions, the old men
Lost in their overcoats, waiting for the sun
The sounds of the city sifting through trees
Settles like dust on the shoulders of the old friends
Can you imagine us years from today,
Sharing a park bench quietly
How terribly strange to be seventy
Old friends, memory brushes the same years,
Silently sharing the same fears
I cried when I heard this too, I fell in love with their music when I was 14, never imagining that I’d still be listening to it at 67, and fast approaching 70 myself…..
Simply beautiful. I love 'the old friends', and always will. Terribly strange yes, but always a heartfelt reminder, for the old days, and the old friends 🙂 💖👍📖
I heard this first at age 16. Going to be 70 in December. This song is making me cry!
I am growing old and dieing. I have always wanted to see Simon and Garfunkel preform. To see them preform together one last time.
Perhaps "The Old Friends" tour. Just a wish from a long time fan.
I know that they have had their issues between themselves. I believe that an "Old Friends" tour would be a wonderful thing!
John K
I agree John. I will put that thought into the universe with you in mind
I agree John. I will put that thought into the universe with you in mind
@@Grace-uv2wi
Bless your heart.
Dying alone sucks.
Be well and be true.
This is beautiful beyond words.
A moment in time, where even time stood still.
❤️
memories brushing the same years...Silently sharing the same fears.
They spoke to us then. They still speak to us now. I think in my youth they were my religion.
@@dsremingto so true.....
Pure artistry.
THIS DESERVES 7.4 BILLION VIEWS!!! :D
IT REALLY DOES
It really does
Why exactly 7.4 tho?
My wife died this year a week before her 70th birthday.
I am 78 and live alone trawling over the photos and diaries.
All the words ring so true from the pages and this song
Bridge Over Troubled Water is always heralded as the pair’s creative and commercial peak, but Bookends will always be my favourite
Amazing Simón and Garfunkel. God bless them for ever.
And I don't even have a photograph... I love you, wherever you are, my old friend...
This is one of my favourite S&G songs....Very poignant...My best friend of 64 years turned 70 this Jan...I will be 70 in July....as the song says, 'How terribly strange to be 70......memory brushes the same years, silently feeling the same fears....old friends."
I just turned 70 with beautiful memories and a loving family. Truly blessed. 🙏
I am 50 and listening. Will still listen to it when I am 70...
What can i say , beautiful emotional music with a greatt video.
In a year or four i claim my place on that park bench, then it's my time to sit there.
I really do think there is no better music than this masterpiece, it touches your heart and soul.
how terrible strange to be 70 .Just 5 months to go many photos are lost many friends have already left the party but my bookend of 67 years is still here
My childhood best friend told me of this album when it came out and I bought it that night. This song will always remind me of him. He is gone; we will never be able to share a park bench quietly.
Approaching my 66th birthday and this is as fresh as brand new. Brings back poignant memories of unrequited love as a teenager, and unfulfilled dreams. This song means more as you get older I soon will know what it’s like to be 70, Art and Paul are there already. Old friends.
Lovely, lovely song. Lovely. simple performance. I do wish those two visual promos hadn't blocked off part of the screen at the end - they are a real intrusion on this beautiful peace.
"How terribly strange to be seventy." I'm seventy now, and find, a little to my own astonishment, that I am okay with it - enjoying it, even. I have survived a heart attack and two cancers. I now go for 10-mile-plus solo walks in the countryside most weeks, I go tramping in the hills around my city with a bunch of people my own age and older, I play my music, I go to folk music festivals, I spend time with my family and my many friends. I am very fortunate and grateful to live in a country that regards care for the elderly and easily affordable healthcare as the mark of ordinary decent civilisation, and not as some vile Marxist plot.
A surprising number of my folkie friends were born in 1951, and so are turning 70 this year. We are marking this with a weekend of celebration - dinner with 33 of us at a pub earlier tonight (Friday), a big party tomorrow night with a good number of older and younger friends, and we are providing the music at our folk club on Sunday night. One old friend and I will be singing this song.
Some times I cry during their songs and I really don't know why. This one I know why.
Turning 70 this year! Yes, how strange to be turning 70 when I feel like I’m 40. Age is still just a number. Don’t be defined by it!👍😃😁❤️
"Old friends,memory brushes the same years,
Silently sharing the same fears."
This line connected with me.....
Surprisingly good this concert.. They seemed more relaxed
Paul is a musical genius
I'll be 70yrs. Come November I feel 70 physically. And friends we grew up with can become old. Friends. How wonderful. that friends to the end are!!! Cpreza
I've never made it through this song without crying- its so good
Ja, toen in 2009 , bij het definitieve afscheid van mijn lieve pa, Martin Klein, klonk dit prachtige 2 luik ....nu in 2024 , 73 jaar jong richting de finish , is de impact van dit nummer alleen nog maar toe genomen! Love and peace , Jaap
I always thought that my best childhood friend and I would celebrate 70 together some day. Unfortunately, after 43 years we had a serious falling out some years ago. I still think of her whenever I hear this song.😔
Time for her to listen to this song Time to be "old friends again"
An ode to the power of the young to be able to observe the elderly and imagine how it may feel at seventy. PS I believe had the gift and AG paired his many gifts to create enduring gifts to us all! The world is a better place for their partnership while it lasted. Creativity at it’s finest.
How terribly strange to be 70 - they got that right. I first heard this song well over half a century ago. Still beautiful (the song, not me).
Here it was, at the height of the youth movement Paul Simon comes out with an album that focused on old age. Made no sense at all until you looked underneath the beautiful melodies and lyrics. Simon was trying to tell my generation something. I didn't see it at the time, but I do now that I'm seventy. Enjoy your youth, he was saying, because old age, as the tone of the music subliminally suggested, was a scary proposition.
i'm 70 this year. remember buying this album Bookends on vinyl when it came out. Sublime stuff
When you lose someone close, the last line of this song really hits home.
I'm listening to the song, the beautiful harmonies and I'm holding it together. Then I start reading the comments. No chance ...onions everywhere.😢
Mark Ryan.... Junior Gloyne... lovely memories... great talent & harmonies.... I'm 65 now... time it was & wot a time it was...
why is this so underrated
A concern of world memory! What a beautiful song and extra class performance, Paul and Art, old weary friends!!! Amities du Allemagne!!!
Where every Boxer ends up ,on the park bench ,hiding their once chiselled formin overcoats,on the last stretch ,Homeword Bound!
Thank God these poets strayed into music. with their divine voices!
Ich liebe dieses Lied. 😊
What a lovely melody 👍👍👍beautiful voices
but horrible lyrics
Oh, it's very hard to see them singing, "Old Friends", and never once making eye contact.
yes, it's incomprehensible or they don't sing this song , i'm shocking too !
Ah, the memories. A soft, silent snow covers the path in the park. And mine are the only footprints now.
This has to be one of the best pop songs ever written only the Beatles can compete.Paul Simon is in same league as Lennon/Mcartney
Naah! Not even close.
@@ninajey7547 yeah maybe you're right!
I am 70 and lost my husband in August. Memories are all that's left you
Had this live album in college, now that I've grown old this song could make me cry. It happens.
Those lyrics. Good lord.
Happy birthday, Art!
It’s nice to be young but all my favorite musicians have stopped touring before I discovered them… and some have died
Welcome in my world
I was at this concert!! The memories that come flooding back now when I hear this are overwhelming!
Today is my birthday. "How terribly strange to be seventy". I remember hearing this line in the song when I was twenty. It doesn't seem that long ago to me.
Absolutely beautiful ❤️
Always loved this beautiful song from their Bookends Album One of my all time favourite songs 🎼🎶🎤🎸🥰❤️💞💞💖💕
This group was and is my favourite group in those days I just love them.thanjs
I remember this song from 40 or so years ago when I had the albumn. I guess this was supposed to be a glimpse of old age, but now Im 70 and own and operate a seamless gutter business and spend my free time cycling and kayaking. The park bench will have to wait.
So beautiful !
So odd to discover the images of this concert I have listen dozens of times on my tape when I was a teenager and thought it was something beautiful from my parents's times.... And so sad to how it can be possible to give such a marvelous music, a marvelous concert, with perfect musical harmony, without one regard between them....
I too listened and always imagined getting there. 70.I feel so sad sometimes of the old friends I have known and where they are now. I'm sat right now on a park bench and I'm 76.
Some rock/pop songs go on and on and break the "length barrier" of the 3-to-4 minute standard (Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" comes to mind.)
"Bookends" is just the opposite. It shows the crystal clear beauty that can come with brevity. Like a Haiku, it is as long as it needs to be and shouldn't be one second longer.
PackerBronco right?!?!? Truly refined art shining sooo
Brightly
Neil diamond
also, april come she will
My band has 10 members with a total age around 740+. We're doing this song in October at our big annual event. It's been a dream of mine to play it since I first heard it when I didn't play guitar or sing. Our group can see them selves sitting on a park bench doing this for as long as we can and then we'll play it as we lose members and reflect on a good innings.
Harmony at its best . thanks gentlemen.
Miss you always, Richard. Thought we would grow old together, big brother.❤️
This might be my favorite. Two senior boys who happened to be good pals sang it for their HS graduation. Memories. "They're all that's left you."
Beautiful song
but horrible lyrics
52 years with my best friend. I love him
I remember when this song came out and when this beautiful concert was broadcast on HBO. "Can you imagine us years from today . . .?" I'm 64 now. Yes, how terribly, terribly strange to be approaching 70.
I think the "&" part really works best in this song, they are so close 😌💝
My grandfather Harry, Tom, Jack. They were best mates. All lost their wives and spent the years together. I want to live the rest of my life with my bookends.
This song is a wonderful testament to friendship. The metaphor is so apt.
Preserve your memories they are all that’s left u
My brother died on December 18, 2020 suddenly. He was my friend. Thanks, for these wonderful songs. Blessings
Sorry for your loss.
My brother passed away this in march but the memories I have of us they where 8 children my brother and I were the oldies he was the only boy in the family I was next to him I have sweet memories of him now love s&g in this brings back a lot of memories
This yr.
"When words fail, music speaks"
I heard that song for the first time on 500 days of summer and i just like this to much