September 19, 1981 was that best evening I ever had so far in my life! I was 21 there at the concert with my girlfriend and proposed to her right after Art sang Bridge Over Troubled Water. By the way she said "YES!" 37 years later and still "Happily Married!" Thank you Paul and Art for a most magical night. Babe, "If you ever need a friend, look around, I'm sailing right behind, just like a bridge over troubled water"... 🌹🌷💓💕 🌹
He does, _but_ his voice is suited only for specific music. He is the absolute King of the ballad, and has written great harmonies to enrich Simon's music. This song, for example, absolutely sounds so much better when they sing together. And that's saying a lot, if you consider how good it already was when Paul sang it solo. Paul is the more versatile singer though. He can do pretty much any style, and I could listen to him all day. In fact, I often do. Art Garfunkel though.. I absolutely love that voice, don't get me wrong. But when I listen to his solo work, I somehow tire easily. It's like... I have a sweet tooth, but I don't want to eat straight up sugar, if that is making any sense. It's hard to explain. Together they were magical though, I think we can all agree on that!
@@sisterthesister4870 disagree completely that Paul is a more versatile singer. Paul's voice suited his music but he is not a great singer. Garfunkel has the most beautiful voice I've ever heard.
@@SN2903 Interesting. Just so you know: I'm not trying to debate this issue because I know in the end it's hugely dependant on personal preference. But I just want to give an example of what I meant to see if indeed it's personal preference or that I simply did not express myself properly. But I cannot picture Garfunkel singing a somewhat bitter or angry song very well. Think a song like "I am a rock" and him doing it solo. In my opinion, his voice is just too pretty to sing it convincingly. It wouldn't suit the song very well. What's your take on this?
They were both about 39 years old at the time of this concert. They were both at their singing prime. The clarity of this music will never be matched anywhere by anyone else! This concert was sheer perfection.
I remember when I first saw this concert. It was in 1987, when the Iron Curtain began to fall down and the Soviet TV channels started to show some music from the western countries. That was the first time I heard Simon & Garfunkel and I was 18 years old. To say that I was absolutely amazed is to say nothing. It was the feeling I had never experienced before. It was like I had been living in a closed room with no windows and suddenly somebody opened the windows to show me the world. It is safe to say that my life is divided into two stages: before and after seeing this concert.
I want you to know that I read this comment almost every day. I'm an American who worries about the direction my people are headed. This comment brings me a peace that surpasses my doubts. I wish you the all the best this world has to offer.
I honestly don't know how to listen to the song without being moved by it every time I hear it. The hope, the despair, the fatigue, the uncertainty, the determination, the joy, the sadness, the disappointment, the concern and anxiety, the beauty and the awe and the tears and the weary optimism - it's all in there - and I feel every one of them.
Something about this song, sung by an aging Paul Simon, just seems like this is the perfect performance of this song... ua-cam.com/video/1wu2teJTHMk/v-deo.html
It was Paul's song, but Art's beautiful voice makes it a S&G instant classic. It doesn't matter what came between them. These two artists were destined to perform together, and the NYC concert affirms what we have known all along: Simon & Garfunkel are timeless.
I love that the melody was a reworking of a Bach Cantata, just proving that music never dies it just comes back in a different form. Love this, Thank you so much for posting this. Tom
John H..... yes!!! I believe there were a lot of songs where he imagined Arties beautiful voice harmonizing!!! Paul did say that as he was writing “Bridge over Troubled Water” he knew that it was for Artie and now it’s become a classic. Wish they’d do one last concert. I’d try my hardest to be there!!!
I grew up on Simon & Garfunkels music. In 1982 I was only 10 years old and there was absolutely no way for me as a german kid to participate in this concert. But even back then I had sworn to myself that I would sing along these two men in the audience if I ever got the chance to. And so it happened that I got tickets for their 2003 reunion tour (Los Angeles, Staples Center) and flew from Frankfurt to LA ... and there I was ... alone on a foreign and strange continent ... sitting in the audience with tears in my eyes and singing along my "Old Friends" from the last 25 years. It's fair to say that their music has been with me all my life and that it has - literally - been a "Bridge Over Troubled Water" on countless occasions. I am deeply grateful for these two mens contribution to my life.
I love your post. So happy you made your dream come true. I would love to have been able to beat this concert but could not, just continue to play and watch it almost every day.
Paul is a creative genius in writing songs and playing the guitar but Art is a genius in singing and harmony. Together they were the BEST! Memories and you tube!
This was the time when Paul Simon looked the best in his entire life, IMO. And my gosh, their voices. Probably the best of their lives as well. Art truly does play his voice like an instrument. So beautiful.
I agree - his eyes, his smile. I don't think there was anyone so beautiful to look at..... so lucky to have this video to look at when I'm down in the dumps... so lucky to have grown up with them
They said we were dying. But I saw we were flying ...at Kitty Hawk and past Saturn. Blessed not less. Never bet against America. God bless President Trump.
I love you all, my fellow countrymen. I love my country, I love that we're all trying, and I pray to God that the coming year heals the division, the terrible rift, in our nation and our people.
For we've lived so well so long Still, when I think of the road we're traveling on I wonder what's gone wrong I can't help it, I wonder what's gone wrong
I would go to a solo performance by Paul Simon, but not so keen to see Art solo. Paul is the complete package - composer, player, singer, and survivor of his industry.
Well about the singing bit, Paul's singing is kind of childish, Art, on the other hand, is heavenly as a vocalist. Of course Paul is a complete musician, no doubt.
I cried listening to this. Been thirty some years since I first heard it on the LP version of the concert. The lyrics were so uncomprehensible to me as a little teenager. Today, they make sense, every line, every phrase, every word.
Johann Sebastian Bach liked this tune so much he incorporated it in his St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244, written in 1727. Bach actually lifted the tune from, "Mein G'müt ist mir verwirret," which was composed by Hans Leo Hassler around 1607.
Thanks for the research. Melody is weird miracle. One wonders if there is a finite number and we just reinvent the same ones over and over. Verdi seemed to tap into an extraordinary stream. Paul Simon is of similar stature.
Excellent comment. So JSB was the first Simon and Garfunkel fan. Your response reminds me of a story about Duke Ellington, whose music was often plagiarized. He was asked by a journalist, 'doesn't it bother you that this tune has been plagiarized?' His answer: 'It doesn't bother me. It must have been a good tune for so many guys to want to write it.'
Francois Cabanis Paul Simon has always been a huge fan of church choir music, he knew this tune and adapted it for this song. It’s not some secret that he kept and tried to pass it on as his own. He was always making interesting references to church and classical music.
Well, turns out that the writer of the book of the Ecclesiastes liked so much the song of the Byrds "Turn, turn" that included part of the lyrics of the song at this book of the Old Testament ( Ecclesiastes 3:2)
The original lyrics are a love song starting "My mind is confused by a tender maid". The text was changed to "O Sacred Head, now wounded" 1687 by Paul Gerhardt. So JSB just added an existing song in his Passion, a practice totally common at that time.
Thank you UA-cam for showing us these gems and returning us to some of our most precious memories. I watched this as an 11 or 12 year old in the early eighties in South Africa. My mom and I watched the whole concert on TV and were totally enthralled!! She suffered from clinical depression most of her adult life and ended it all in 1996. Thank you Simon and Garfunkel for giving me one of my most precious memories with my mom. ❤
Damn! This song has some kind of power. My little parrot, my best friend in this world is sitting on my shoulder peeping to this in perfect harmony. He's really feeling this, which proves something I've long suspected. He's way smarter than I'll ever be. I'm a bit freaked out, but how beautiful that this tiny creature feels such passion.
I lived in the United States when I was 19 years old, between 1986 and 1987, and I often cried listening to this tune. Not only the the melody is beautiful, but the lyrics felt so right at the time.
Do you know that the main melodic line is from Bach, adapted by Paul? Paul, himself, has said this, in some interviews, when he was asked about this masterpiece.
I wish this could have gone on forever. Them singing together......this song. Doesn't get any better than this. Listen to the vibrato in Art's voice in this song.....sing an American tune.. You don't hear singers sing like that anymore. He was so in the mood and it showed. Masterpiece! Love this so very much.
I just found a black Ovation custom Legend 1619, exactly the same as Paul's. I can't wait to play this masterpiece with my partner, and resurrect this magnificent and unrepeatable concert, no one can match this song, but we try, in 1983 we were 12 years old...an epiphany. Always the best!
Simon's only semi-political song, written following Nixon's reelection in 1972. By then he and Garfunkel had broken up, but this beautiful song is so much better with the two of them singing their inimitable harmonies. Listening to it at a difficult period in American history, this song brings me to the brink of tears.
@@GolfTesla as pointed out before: the main theme was written by Hans Leo Haßler, a famous composer at the end of the 16th century and the early years of the 17th century, who wrote the tune to the text "Mein G'müth ist mir verwirret", a song about love lost
In 1996 I bought our son tickets to see them in concert, our son was just 21 years old so I wondered if he would get out of it what Ive gotten. He called me the next day and said thank you, I love you for it. I think he got it.
Art puts a nice feel on the song. Paul has a bit of a flat voice by himself. Their harmony is so iconic that it’s practically out of this world, it’s so good.
Why would these two EVER quit singing together like this? Our world needs to hear two very different people join two different voices to present such a beautiful message
Around that time 1981 I was 15 while learning to play the guitar, singing together with my brother. Some of their songs, the Everly brothers, the Beatles any song that had close harmony in it. I miss those days and the precious moments of magic, when our voices would melt together. This was a wonderfull concert as it brought back these memories!!!
The tune is based on Bach's setting of a hymn “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded” from his St. Matthew Passion, and is itself a resetting of a much earlier song “Mein G'müt ist mir verwirret,” composed by Hans Leo Hassler.
I was fortunate to get a ticket to see simon and Garfunkel in Wembley stadium London in june 1982, I was 21 and travelled down by bus from Glasgow. somehow I ended up right at the front of the stage, I knew they would probably play the same setlist as the concert in central park the previous September and waited for American tune to come around as to me its paul simons greatest work, unfortunately they decided to replace it with bright eyes!! so imagine my joy when he he performed it last Wednesday night at the hydro in Glasgow on his farewell tour. I know it took 31 years and 1 month to see this classic performed live, but it was definitely worth the wait. thanks for the music Paul.
Paul was snapping his fingers at the time, conjuring an image of the old Glenn Miller Band song called "In The Mood". You could see Art smile at that moment. The Glenn Miller song is a kind of cool instrumental from the early 1940's.
Ld Donovan Generous had nothing to do with it. Paul knew Art would blow us away with his vocals on this song!! In fact, Artie was so great on most of their songs that Paul was jealous & that’s what destroyed the partnership.
Absolutely agree. Paul Simon is such a musical genius. Such a poignant song, incomparably better than all the meaningless and shallow songs Art used to sing solo after the split. Art could count himself lucky that Paul let him sing lead on one of his most significant and beautiful songs.
I guess he soon regretted to have left Paul for making films. He could have been part of these great songs Paul wrote and performed solo after he left the duo.
Can't believe it was 36 years ago. Best concert ever! Still my favorite music. This and Art alone. Just can't top this music! Even 36 years later. Legends.
I remember I was housesitting for some friends that had HBO and they showed the concert live. I was captivated! I actually think this may have been HBO's first live event other than boxing matches. I remember writing in my journal that I had just witnessed a historical event. When Art sings A Heart in New York, and he sings.."looking down on Central Park, where they say you should not wonder after dark" and the crowd goes wild. WOW, chills!
I have to watch this over and over to relieve me of all the stress and anxieties brought about by this pandemic. I am thankful to S&G for their great songs, the greatest duo of all time.
Wonderful song, but Art, somehow unexpectedly, added so much with his voice to a song that already looked perfect, that made this performance heartbreaking!
When I was 11 years old I started to learn English in school and at home with a dictionary and Beatles lyrics and have since majored in it in uni and I've always loved the language. I don't know why, but everytime I listen to this song it makes me realise how much I love the English language and how far I've come from that 11-year-old girl, that couldn't pronounce the word 'engineer' to now speaking this language fluently and loving it more and more each day :)
The best version of American Tune here by Paul and Art at their best...wouldn't one more show by these two men be wonderful! we can only hope it might happen in 2016.
I'm afraid they don't have it in them anymore. If you have seen them lately you would notice that Paul has lost a lot of his memory and he knows it. You can see the frustration.
C Johnson I remember a few years back Paul Simon was on I think the David Letterman show I stayed up late to watch it being a lifetime fan, and it shocked and saddened me to see how old he looked but mostly it made me realise how old I'm getting as well and that one day I will never be able to listen to their music again.
I am getting old. I reaiize that :) It must have been 40 years ago that I heard this song for the first time on the "Concert in the Central park" album and I instantly loved this song. I did not know the original version, most of the songs on this album were way before my time :) For me it's the most beautiful song of the concert. Up until this day I still know the lyrics by heart. Being from Holland, my English teacher in Highschool did not understand it. I wish you would do your homework as well as you know all the lyrics of this album he said..hahaha. The blending of the voices of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel is still the best I have ever heard!
Paul's very best piece of songwriting....the themes are just as true today as in 1973. Something for the working man, the immigrant, the downtrodden, etc. We all have fears but it's all right...
"Many's the time I've been mistaken..." beautiful words... kudos Paul Simon for song writing talent... his voice also beautiful.... nice faces both of them.... "We come on the ship they call Mayflower..."
Never will quite understand how two people capable of creating such perfection together cannot get along at all. You’d think that everything else would somehow be manageable when you can do something like this.
This is one of those songs that is gaining momentum with time. Fitting that is is based on a classical tune. Now with lyrics. Meaningful then, even more meaningful now.
I am not a native English speaking S+G fan. In the Netherlands now (2022) a TV serie is playing about the Mayflower and the Pilgrim Fathers. In this serie I heard the song American Tune again after years. I searched for the relation between the song and the Mayflower. And so I found a good explanation about the disappointment and frustration of the split up of the American dream. And musical based on the work of Johann Sebastian Bach (O head full of blood and wounds). Very cool to sing a song so serene, and also so critical.
This whole special concert is possibly my favorite all time live recordings - especially for 1982? Special moment for me "Late in the Evening" when drummers Steve Gadd & Grady Tate show us how it is done !!!!! Magic .... and Central Park went nuts . The goose bumps that this legendary duo must have experienced from the stage ? Iconic duo - Iconic band - Iconic recording - all at an Iconic place & time ! HOW can anyone improve on that ????
Many's the time I've been mistaken, and many times confused Yes and I've often felt forsaken, and certainly misused Ah but I'm alright, I'm alright, I'm just weary thru 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 alright, it's alright, for we live so well, so long Still, when I think of the road we're traveling on I wonder what's gone wrong, I can't help it I wonder what's gone wrong And I dreamed I was dying, 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 But we come on a ship they called Mayflower We come on a ship that sailed the moon We come in the ages' most uncertain hours and sing an American tune And it's alright, oh it's alright, it's alright, you can't be forever blessed Still tomorrow's gonna be another working day and I'm trying to get some rest That's all I'm trying, to get some rest
September 19, 1981 was that best evening I ever had so far in my life! I was 21 there with my girlfriend and proposed to her right after they sang Bridge Over Troubled Water. By the way she said "YES!" 37 years later and still "Happily Married!" Thank you Paul and Art for a most magical night. " Ooh and if you ever need a friend, Look around, I'm sailing right behind, Just like a bridge over troubled water... 🌹🌷💓💕 🌹
Paul has such a passionate gaze that he seems to make love to the song and the guitar.
September 19, 1981 was that best evening I ever had so far in my life! I was 21 there at the concert with my girlfriend and proposed to her right after Art sang Bridge Over Troubled Water. By the way she said "YES!" 37 years later and still "Happily Married!" Thank you Paul and Art for a most magical night. Babe, "If you ever need a friend, look around, I'm sailing right behind, just like a bridge over troubled water"... 🌹🌷💓💕 🌹
My husband and I went to see them on our honeymoon in Vancouver BC.
That's how you do it! Belated congrats!
09/19/81 was the day I was born. 😉
Great story! I dang Bridge at my brothers funeral 25 years ago. He was 18 years old.
@@marccope942 I'm so very sorry you lost your young brother...how did you ever get the words out without losing it :(....wow !
I’m drawn to this song right now. Such uncertain times. This music calms my soul. Whoever is listening in March of 2020.....I hope you are well.
Yes, these are the ages most uncertain hours
Listening to this just after listening to Dave Matthews singing it last night (March 26, 2020) on UA-cam. Such a calming song from both artists.
Namaste, sister dear. Stay safe .. stay serene .. allow tranquility within.
Not sure if I’m well, but I’m alright. I’m alright.
I agree and Thank God I am well, praying for Artie & Paul as well as all of us during this hard time.
Call me Captain Obvious, but Art Garfunkel has one of the most beautiful voices ever in popular music.
Best and most beautiful voice ever
He does, _but_ his voice is suited only for specific music. He is the absolute King of the ballad, and has written great harmonies to enrich Simon's music. This song, for example, absolutely sounds so much better when they sing together. And that's saying a lot, if you consider how good it already was when Paul sang it solo.
Paul is the more versatile singer though. He can do pretty much any style, and I could listen to him all day. In fact, I often do. Art Garfunkel though.. I absolutely love that voice, don't get me wrong. But when I listen to his solo work, I somehow tire easily. It's like... I have a sweet tooth, but I don't want to eat straight up sugar, if that is making any sense. It's hard to explain.
Together they were magical though, I think we can all agree on that!
@@sisterthesister4870 disagree completely that Paul is a more versatile singer. Paul's voice suited his music but he is not a great singer. Garfunkel has the most beautiful voice I've ever heard.
@@SN2903 Interesting. Just so you know: I'm not trying to debate this issue because I know in the end it's hugely dependant on personal preference. But I just want to give an example of what I meant to see if indeed it's personal preference or that I simply did not express myself properly.
But I cannot picture Garfunkel singing a somewhat bitter or angry song very well. Think a song like "I am a rock" and him doing it solo. In my opinion, his voice is just too pretty to sing it convincingly. It wouldn't suit the song very well. What's your take on this?
Paul too... together superlative... Art has always been on point with high notes... great talents both... both cute looking...
They were both about 39 years old at the time of this concert. They were both at their singing prime. The clarity of this music will never be matched anywhere by anyone else! This concert was sheer perfection.
This is the greatest concert of all time
Easily the best concert ever
They are wonderful, but that comment is a little to much.
Best singing duo of all time in my book. Their music is TIMELESS...
Absolutely the BOMB
As much as I love Paul Simon singing this solo, as a duet with Garfunkel, it's simply transcendent.
👍
I don't agree. Never
I remember when I first saw this concert. It was in 1987, when the Iron Curtain began to fall down and the Soviet TV channels started to show some music from the western countries. That was the first time I heard Simon & Garfunkel and I was 18 years old. To say that I was absolutely amazed is to say nothing. It was the feeling I had never experienced before. It was like I had been living in a closed room with no windows and suddenly somebody opened the windows to show me the world. It is safe to say that my life is divided into two stages: before and after seeing this concert.
This comment is brilliant and haunting. Why it doesn't have more up votes is beyond me.
I'll gladly add my thumb.
This comment should be required summer reading.
I want you to know that I read this comment almost every day. I'm an American who worries about the direction my people are headed. This comment brings me a peace that surpasses my doubts. I wish you the all the best this world has to offer.
Not even American and i love the song. Paul Simon is a national treasure. Save him, United States
I honestly don't know how to listen to the song without being moved by it every time I hear it. The hope, the despair, the fatigue, the uncertainty, the determination, the joy, the sadness, the disappointment, the concern and anxiety, the beauty and the awe and the tears and the weary optimism - it's all in there - and I feel every one of them.
Love this comment. So true
Agreed!
So true
Love This Song! 💗💗💗💗
❤❤❤❤
The best version of American Tune
Indigo Girls did a pretty good cover.
Isso é porque o Art deixa qualquer música do Paul melhor
Something about this song, sung by an aging Paul Simon, just seems like this is the perfect performance of this song...
ua-cam.com/video/1wu2teJTHMk/v-deo.html
Paul Simon wrote this song so it was S&Gs song 👍
George Sweeting it was one of paul’s solo albums, it wasn’t Simon and Garfunkel
God bless my parents for raising me listening to such beautiful music.
And mine, too. It's one of the most beautiful things my parents have ever given me.
For me it was being the youngest of five siblings. Thankful just like you that they had good taste in music😉
It was Paul's song, but Art's beautiful voice makes it a S&G instant classic. It doesn't matter what came between them. These two artists were destined to perform together, and the NYC concert affirms what we have known all along: Simon & Garfunkel are timeless.
Nothing tops them
I love that the melody was a reworking of a Bach Cantata, just proving that music never dies it just comes back in a different form. Love this, Thank you so much for posting this. Tom
I cannot imagine Paul didn't write this without hearing Art's voice in his head ..... "And I dreamed I was flying ..... "
John H..... yes!!! I believe there were a lot of songs where he imagined Arties beautiful voice harmonizing!!! Paul did say that as he was writing “Bridge over Troubled Water” he knew that it was for Artie and now it’s become a classic. Wish they’d do one last concert. I’d try my hardest to be there!!!
@@tomkelly4336 JSB himself borrowed it too. In the days before copyright litigation.
I grew up on Simon & Garfunkels music. In 1982 I was only 10 years old and there was absolutely no way for me as a german kid to participate in this concert. But even back then I had sworn to myself that I would sing along these two men in the audience if I ever got the chance to. And so it happened that I got tickets for their 2003 reunion tour (Los Angeles, Staples Center) and flew from Frankfurt to LA ... and there I was ... alone on a foreign and strange continent ... sitting in the audience with tears in my eyes and singing along my "Old Friends" from the last 25 years.
It's fair to say that their music has been with me all my life and that it has - literally - been a "Bridge Over Troubled Water" on countless occasions. I am deeply grateful for these two mens contribution to my life.
I love your post. So happy you made your dream come true. I would love to have been able to beat this concert but could not, just continue to play and watch it almost every day.
Ulrich Schnier you are so lucky that you had able to watch them live..me.. in my 20s i also dream to watch them even nin tv but was not able to
So happy you could attend the concert!😆
Ulrich, I'm glad that your dream came true. Thanks for your post.
The dynamics in Arty's voice is mind boggling. Damn!!!!!💙
Simon may be the Brains behind the music, but Garfunkel has a helluva voice. He contributes a lot.
they were the perfect match......for the time it lasted...
Their Melody was like no other.
@@natalieburris2871 yes
Paul is a creative genius in writing songs and playing the guitar but Art is a genius in singing and harmony. Together they were the BEST!
Memories and you tube!
None of them made actually the music in this song. Is a baroque piece composed by Hassler.
From There goes Rhymin Simon. The original is definitely the best.
This was the time when Paul Simon looked the best in his entire life, IMO. And my gosh, their voices. Probably the best of their lives as well. Art truly does play his voice like an instrument. So beautiful.
I agree - his eyes, his smile. I don't think there was anyone so beautiful to look at..... so lucky to have this video to look at when I'm down in the dumps... so lucky to have grown up with them
Oh, I thought Paul Simon looked so sad almost the whole time. Occasional flickers of joy, but mostly deeply thoughtful and quite sad.
@@edwardcoe7293: Haha, yeah, but that’s the way he’s always been. A very pensive person.
Yes, he was really handsome.
Paul was yummy, 😍🥰😘😘😘
Paul has written so many beautiful songs but they're all second to this one.
The Statue Of Liberty , sailing away to sea......... How relevant is this song , today ? Simon and Garfunkel's message to the ages.
I found it sickeningly relevant.....
@@dorenerussell2668 And even more so now...
They said we were dying. But I saw we were flying ...at Kitty Hawk and past Saturn. Blessed not less. Never bet against America. God bless President Trump.
I thought of this song as all the mess that has come to be called 2020 has unfolded. And there's more to come I'm sure.
@Adam Schiff No.
I love you all, my fellow countrymen. I love my country, I love that we're all trying, and I pray to God that the coming year heals the division, the terrible rift, in our nation and our people.
I feel the lyrics of this every damn day...now more than ever
For we've lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the road we're traveling on
I wonder what's gone wrong
I can't help it, I wonder what's gone wrong
Yep. I wonder what's gone wrong.
And me, things are so very very different. Like the joy of the world has been sucked out. And it has, by psychopaths.
I would go to a solo performance by Paul Simon, but not so keen to see Art solo. Paul is the complete package - composer, player, singer, and survivor of his industry.
Well about the singing bit, Paul's singing is kind of childish, Art, on the other hand, is heavenly as a vocalist. Of course Paul is a complete musician, no doubt.
I cried listening to this. Been thirty some years since I first heard it on the LP version of the concert. The lyrics were so uncomprehensible to me as a little teenager. Today, they make sense, every line, every phrase, every word.
Love to you!😀
I know! Age gives a whole new meaning. Written by a young man, with old wisdom.
@@Freespeech141 I so agree with you!
Then you love Bach’s oh haupt voll blut und wunden
legal immigration i say and paul screwd art.. so sad..
"I'm just weary to my bones..." that line always resonated with me
Johann Sebastian Bach liked this tune so much he incorporated it in his St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244, written in 1727. Bach actually lifted the tune from, "Mein G'müt ist mir verwirret," which was composed by Hans Leo Hassler around 1607.
Thanks for the research. Melody is weird miracle. One wonders if there is a finite number and we just reinvent the same ones over and over. Verdi seemed to tap into an extraordinary stream. Paul Simon is of similar stature.
Excellent comment. So JSB was the first Simon and Garfunkel fan. Your response reminds me of a story about Duke Ellington, whose music was often plagiarized. He was asked by a journalist, 'doesn't it bother you that this tune has been plagiarized?' His answer: 'It doesn't bother me. It must have been a good tune for so many guys to want to write it.'
Francois Cabanis Paul Simon has always been a huge fan of church choir music, he knew this tune and adapted it for this song. It’s not some secret that he kept and tried to pass it on as his own. He was always making interesting references to church and classical music.
Well, turns out that the writer of the book of the Ecclesiastes liked so much the song of the Byrds "Turn, turn" that included part of the lyrics of the song at this book of the Old Testament ( Ecclesiastes 3:2)
The original lyrics are a love song starting "My mind is confused by a tender maid". The text was changed to "O Sacred Head, now wounded" 1687 by Paul Gerhardt. So JSB just added an existing song in his Passion, a practice totally common at that time.
2:25 Paul's seriouse concentrated voice!!!!! a TRUE MASTER!
Should make this song the American anthem a truly beautiful song ❤
Thank you UA-cam for showing us these gems and returning us to some of our most precious memories. I watched this as an 11 or 12 year old in the early eighties in South Africa. My mom and I watched the whole concert on TV and were totally enthralled!! She suffered from clinical depression most of her adult life and ended it all in 1996. Thank you Simon and Garfunkel for giving me one of my most precious memories with my mom. ❤
Damn! This song has some kind of power. My little parrot, my best friend in this world is sitting on my shoulder peeping to this in perfect harmony. He's really feeling this, which proves something I've long suspected. He's way smarter than I'll ever be. I'm a bit freaked out, but how beautiful that this tiny creature feels such passion.
This man will deserve to be mentioned in the history books with...... For what he could understand at such a young age.
I lived in the United States when I was 19 years old, between 1986 and 1987, and I often cried listening to this tune. Not only the the melody is beautiful, but the lyrics felt so right at the time.
So beautiful, one of Paul’s masterpieces ♥️
Do you know that the main melodic line is from Bach, adapted by Paul? Paul, himself, has said this, in some interviews, when he was asked about this masterpiece.
@ Yes, I know it. Paul adapted it in in a beautiful way with his poignant lyrics.
Paul’s beautiful song ❤️
Both very patriotic americans, love it , cos they both were american and should be proud of their country
It's great to hear Artie sing this song. So brilliant.
Vocals is better here...
Perhaps the most flawless live performance in modern American music.
I wish this could have gone on forever. Them singing together......this song. Doesn't get any better than this. Listen to the vibrato in Art's voice in this song.....sing an American tune.. You don't hear singers sing like that anymore. He was so in the mood and it showed. Masterpiece! Love this so very much.
“I wish this could have gone on forever.”
In a way, it will.
I just found a black Ovation custom Legend 1619, exactly the same as Paul's. I can't wait to play this masterpiece with my partner, and resurrect this magnificent and unrepeatable concert, no one can match this song, but we try, in 1983 we were 12 years old...an epiphany. Always the best!
Simon's only semi-political song, written following Nixon's reelection in 1972. By then he and Garfunkel had broken up, but this beautiful song is so much better with the two of them singing their inimitable harmonies. Listening to it at a difficult period in American history, this song brings me to the brink of tears.
Perfect work of Art (pun intended).
One of Paul’s best songs. Best version on Live Rhymin ❤️!
Danke Paul für die wunderbaren Lieder 🥰
Da stimme ich voll zu, auch wenn die Hauptmelodie dieses Liedes hier bereit von Bach bearbeitet wurde ("Oh Haupt voll Blut und Wunden")
@@GolfTesla danke für Info 👍
Where? @@GolfTesla
@@GolfTesla as pointed out before: the main theme was written by Hans Leo Haßler, a famous composer at the end of the 16th century and the early years of the 17th century, who wrote the tune to the text "Mein G'müth ist mir verwirret", a song about love lost
I think this is one of the best songs EVER written....and sung beautifully
The melody was written by JS Bach
This song is more applicable now more than ever.
jackson pine Well answered!! 🙌🏻
They said we were dying. But I saw we were flying ...at Kitty Hawk and past Saturn. Blessed not less. Never bet against America.
In 1996 I bought our son tickets to see them in concert, our son was just 21 years old so I wondered if he would get out of it what Ive gotten. He called me the next day and said thank you, I love you for it. I think he got it.
Some hundred thousand years of evolution and we came up with this. I'm kind of proud of humanity!
Art puts a nice feel on the song. Paul has a bit of a flat voice by himself. Their harmony is so iconic that it’s practically out of this world, it’s so good.
Hard to believe it was written as a solo song.
J'avais bien aimé ce film et les deux acteurs et actrices qui avaient jouer dans ce film, ainsi que le petit garçon.
Why would these two EVER quit singing together like this? Our world needs to hear two very different people join two different voices to present such a beautiful message
Both were hired for a film. Paul was cut from the film. He decided to go solo since Art was going to be months on set.
Also Art lost his voice.
@@katherandefy that happened many years later but it also gave Paul another reason not to reunite with him.
they dont like each other
Around that time 1981 I was 15 while learning to play the guitar, singing together with my brother. Some of their songs, the Everly brothers, the Beatles any song that had close harmony in it. I miss those days and the precious moments of magic, when our voices would melt together. This was a wonderfull concert as it brought back these memories!!!
Seriously tight harmony, ten out of five stars.
One of the greatest concerts ever!
the greatest concert you mean👍
Wait, "one of"?
Wish I was there...
This is crazy beautiful, the blending and harmony of their voices is so so perfect! I love the vocals of Artie.
Thanks to Hans Leo Hassler for lending the melody. 😉
and Johann Sebastian Bach of course ❤
Paul Simon is certainly one of the Greatest Composers of our time. So many Masterpieces and this one is Magnificent
He wrote some contemporary poetry you could teach in an American literature class.
The tune is based on Bach's setting of a hymn “O Sacred Head, Now Wounded” from his St. Matthew Passion, and is itself a resetting of a much earlier song “Mein G'müt ist mir verwirret,” composed by Hans Leo Hassler.
it breaks my heart that these wonderful beautiful men no longer talk, i truely pray this will change befor its to late😢
I was fortunate to get a ticket to see simon and Garfunkel in Wembley stadium London in june 1982, I was 21 and travelled down by bus from Glasgow. somehow I ended up right at the front of the stage, I knew they would probably play the same setlist as the concert in central park the previous September and waited for American tune to come around as to me its paul simons greatest work, unfortunately they decided to replace it with bright eyes!! so imagine my joy when he he performed it last Wednesday night at the hydro in Glasgow on his farewell tour. I know it took 31 years and 1 month to see this classic performed live, but it was definitely worth the wait. thanks for the music Paul.
Has there ever been two voices that go together as perfectly as these two guys,,, just pure class
Them and Agnetha and Frida from Abba 🙈
His voice is so angelic....goosebumps every time, even now at 64
Simon and Garfunkel at their absolute best! Seems like they just picked up where they left off when they got together for this amazing concert!
It will be 40 years tomorrow. So thankful for their wonderful music
A wonderful American tune.
This is one of Paul’s greatest solo songs!
I have no words to describe the poignancy of this song - I feel deeply nostalgic when I here it...and I have no idea why.
I know why - it’s about the human condition, good and bad. Plus mild political views of the times.
Beautiful - anyway
I'm so in the mood
Sarah F aren't we all X ---"""---
He s in the mood. Paul replied.
2 years later and so am I
Paul was snapping his fingers at the time, conjuring an image of the old Glenn Miller Band song called "In The Mood". You could see Art smile at that moment. The Glenn Miller song is a kind of cool instrumental from the early 1940's.
Me too! 🎶🎼🎹🎤
Very generous of Paul to let Artie sing the lead on this one
Ld Donovan Generous had nothing to do with it. Paul knew Art would blow us away with his vocals on this song!! In fact, Artie was so great on most of their songs that Paul was jealous & that’s what destroyed the partnership.
Agree. Art also covered the song later and sang it solo. But it did not come close to Paul‘s original.
Absolutely agree. Paul Simon is such a musical genius. Such a poignant song, incomparably better than all the meaningless and shallow songs Art used to sing solo after the split. Art could count himself lucky that Paul let him sing lead on one of his most significant and beautiful songs.
I guess he soon regretted to have left Paul for making films. He could have been part of these great songs Paul wrote and performed solo after he left the duo.
This song was so important to me on 9/11. I clung to it for dear life and it pulled me through.
Listen to the lyrics. They've never been more relevant than today. "Can't help but wonder what's gone wrong"....indeed.
Can't believe it was 36 years ago. Best concert ever! Still my favorite music. This and Art alone. Just can't top this music! Even 36 years later. Legends.
I remember I was housesitting for some friends that had HBO and they showed the concert live. I was captivated! I actually think this may have been HBO's first live event other than boxing matches. I remember writing in my journal that I had just witnessed a historical event. When Art sings A Heart in New York, and he sings.."looking down on Central Park, where they say you should not wonder after dark" and the crowd goes wild. WOW, chills!
They're even better live than in studio.
I have to watch this over and over to relieve me of all the stress and anxieties brought about by this pandemic. I am thankful to S&G for their great songs, the greatest duo of all time.
Garfunkel has the most beautiful voice on this planet
Wonderful song, but Art, somehow unexpectedly, added so much with his voice to a song that already looked perfect, that made this performance heartbreaking!
And of course Simon sings harmony and does it perfectly.
Haunting and glorious. This is music that will NEVER be duplicated.
This is so good. Art brought so much to this song.
When I was 11 years old I started to learn English in school and at home with a dictionary and Beatles lyrics and have since majored in it in uni and I've always loved the language. I don't know why, but everytime I listen to this song it makes me realise how much I love the English language and how far I've come from that 11-year-old girl, that couldn't pronounce the word 'engineer' to now speaking this language fluently and loving it more and more each day :)
The best version of American Tune here by Paul and Art at their best...wouldn't one more show by these two men
be wonderful! we can only hope it might happen in 2016.
+C Johnson Yeah we can hope, but sadly I'm pretty sure it'll never happen. :(
+C Johnson YES!!!!!!!!!!!
Your post made me check. Paul Simon just turned..... 75... Seventy Five.... Yes.... OMG!
I'm afraid they don't have it in them anymore. If you have seen them lately you would notice that Paul has lost a lot of his memory and he knows it. You can see the frustration.
C Johnson I remember a few years back Paul Simon was on I think the David Letterman show I stayed up late to watch it being a lifetime fan, and it shocked and saddened me to see how old he looked but mostly it made me realise how old I'm getting as well and that one day I will never be able to listen to their music again.
The night before the biggest, most serious election in our nation’s history. This song really speaks to me tonight. 🙏🏻❤️✌🏻
Yes. I am thinking the same. Thank you for saying this.
Much love to you, fellow American. Let's try to keep at the front of our minds that we're here, together, and we care about each other.
I feel ya, my friend. We made it though. We made it. Keep the hope, and good will always prevail. Always.
Yep.
@@mariamalzahem7512 yes my friend.
I am getting old. I reaiize that :) It must have been 40 years ago that I heard this song for the first time on the "Concert in the Central park" album and I instantly loved this song. I did not know the original version, most of the songs on this album were way before my time :) For me it's the most beautiful song of the concert. Up until this day I still know the lyrics by heart. Being from Holland, my English teacher in Highschool did not understand it. I wish you would do your homework as well as you know all the lyrics of this album he said..hahaha. The blending of the voices of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel is still the best I have ever heard!
18 years ago today, all I could do was put this song on repeat and just listen. And listen. It was an anchor on a surreal day.
My comfort song, unbelievably beautiful. These two are gods of harmony.
Paul's very best piece of songwriting....the themes are just as true today as in 1973. Something for the working man, the immigrant, the downtrodden, etc. We all have fears but it's all right...
"Many's the time I've been mistaken..." beautiful words... kudos Paul Simon for song writing talent... his voice also beautiful.... nice faces both of them....
"We come on the ship they call Mayflower..."
How can someone not like this?
Yes, Bach was an amazing composer. ;-)
Probably all Paul Simon acccounts ... ;)
ImJuniperNow yea 37 dildos
idiots who listen ariana grande,justin bieber,nicki minaj vsvs
Never will quite understand how two people capable of creating such perfection together cannot get along at all. You’d think that everything else would somehow be manageable when you can do something like this.
I'm so grateful to have enjoyed so many years of these two singing together. Thank you both, gentlemen.
A beautiful statement of our national blues.
I regret.
2:47 says it all. Beautiful. I saw Art solo in 2005, and he still sounded exactly the same. Most beautiful singing voice I've ever heard -
Brad Brzozowski lucky, lucky you! Such beauty, such talent! ❤ xx
Ps, you are totally right; 2.46 to 2.53 are stunningly beautiful moments! xx
Another great decision by Paul to let Art start this wonderful song.
These two guys singing like this, hitting that harmony. This is it.
The unique duo. But I love Paul Simon with voice and quality of artistie
One of my favorite Paul Simon tunes.
It’s June 2021, i keep coming back to this song. Can’t get over Art’s voice, undeniably the best to conquer the music world.
This is one of those songs that is gaining momentum with time. Fitting that is is based on a classical tune. Now with lyrics. Meaningful then, even more meaningful now.
I am not a native English speaking S+G fan. In the Netherlands now (2022) a TV serie is playing about the Mayflower and the Pilgrim Fathers. In this serie I heard the song American Tune again after years. I searched for the relation between the song and the Mayflower. And so I found a good explanation about the disappointment and frustration of the split up of the American dream. And musical based on the work of Johann Sebastian Bach (O head full of blood and wounds). Very cool to sing a song so serene, and also so critical.
#RIP, America.
nobody does it better than Simon and Garfunkel
This whole special concert is possibly my favorite all time live recordings - especially for 1982? Special moment for me "Late in the Evening" when drummers Steve Gadd & Grady Tate show us how it is done !!!!! Magic .... and Central Park went nuts . The goose bumps that this legendary duo must have experienced from the stage ? Iconic duo - Iconic band - Iconic recording - all at an Iconic place & time ! HOW can anyone improve on that ????
These tunes impress me most. The duo is a moment that will remain forever in the catalog the voices that made this age last long.
I’m an expat living in the states and doing my citizenship. This song is so emotional too me ? Love it .
Many's the time I've been mistaken, and many times confused
Yes and I've often felt forsaken, and certainly misused
Ah but I'm alright, I'm alright, I'm just weary thru 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 alright, it's alright, for we live so well, so long
Still, when I think of the road we're traveling on
I wonder what's gone wrong, I can't help it I wonder what's gone wrong
And I dreamed I was dying, 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
But we come on a ship they called Mayflower
We come on a ship that sailed the moon
We come in the ages' most uncertain hours and sing an American tune
And it's alright, oh it's alright, it's alright, you can't be forever blessed
Still tomorrow's gonna be another working day and I'm trying to get some rest
That's all I'm trying, to get some rest
Tesfu Weldemikael thank you ❤️
Thank you! 😊👍
September 19, 1981 was that best evening I ever had so far in my life! I was 21 there with my girlfriend and proposed to her right after they sang Bridge Over Troubled Water. By the way she said "YES!" 37 years later and still "Happily Married!" Thank you Paul and Art for a most magical night. " Ooh and if you ever need a friend, Look around, I'm sailing right behind, Just like a bridge over troubled water... 🌹🌷💓💕 🌹
Respect
It's still hurting so much.