Cecilia is the patroness saint of music. She “left” him (Paul Simon) in the mid-60s or so. But “she” came back to him (“Jubilation! She loves me again!”)
The story of the "drums" was actually Paul and Art at a party at their home with friends and everyone was pounding on something together in a rhythm that Paul recorded. There was a section of about a minute that Paul liked, so he looped the recording and added effects and created this song from it. Genius.
Having been named for the patron saint of music, I still have this song sung to me by strangers! Shows how much this song sticks in your ear. I still have the old 45 record from my childhood.
Why is there an older Barry Manilow in the background of the thumbnail? lol It helps to know that St. Cecilia is the patroness of music. So what the song is actually about is seeking musical inspiration. I guess he was writing a song and got up to take a break, but when he got back ... suddenly inspiration was gone. So he had to woo her back.
Song Facts notes: As Paul Simon explained in an interview with Rolling Stone: "Every day I'd come back from the studio, working on whatever we were working on, and I'd play this pounding thing. So then I said, 'Let's make a record out of that.' So we copied it over and extended it double the amount, so now we have three minutes of track, and the track is great. So now I pick up the guitar and I start to go, 'Well, this will be like the guitar part' - dung chicka dung chicka dung, and lyrics were virtually the first lines I said: 'You're breakin' my heart, I'm down on my knees.' They're not lines at all, but it was right for that song, and I like that. It was like a little piece of magical fluff, but it works." According to the liner notes to Paul Simon's Anthology album, the strange sounding rhythm to this particular track was Paul and Art slapping their thighs, while Paul's brother Eddie thumped a piano bench and a friend named Stewie Scharff strummed a guitar with its strings slackened to the point of atonality. This all happened at a house Paul and Art were living in on Blue Jay Way in the summer of 1969, not long after the Charles Manson murders took place at the nearby home of the actress Sharon Tate. After they started the pounding and came up with the rhythm, they got out their Sony reel-to-reel tape recorder and made the recording. There was a 1:15 section that Simon thought was great, so they looped it in the studio, which wasn't easy in 1969 - you had to actually cut out the tape and put it on the recorder in a loop. Their producer Roy Halee added some reverb, and they had their basic backing track from this home recording. Worked into the mix is the sound of drumsticks falling on the parquet floor of the Columbia Records studio in Los Angeles. Simon also played a bit of xylophone that was heavily processed and added to the track. They had a lot of fun recording it and were enjoying various experiments in sound.
Discombobulated... my man BJ!!!! Yes, how often you get to work that into a conversation. I haven't used that word since 2018. Y'all from Texas Yoooouu Knnooowww!!!! Love you guys. Bridge over troubled water.
Paul Simon has always liked using African drums and rhythms in his music. He spent some time down there, and hired Ladysmith Black Mambazo to sing on his solo album Graceland in 1986.
One of my all time favorite duets. Their harmony is divine. Paul Simon's solo career has been robust, his concerts are emotionally profound experiences. Thanks for covering this song. Love your reactions,
I hope you'll consider doing their "Keep the Customer Satisfied". For some reason, reactors never seem to do that song, and I don't understand why. It's AWESOME.
Wife here..,Love Love Love this song!!..,Always Brings a smile to my face..Like You Guys!!..Hey you guys..,Is she really BREAKING his heart????...The Music is Cheerful.. 💔❤️👍..
My kindergarten teacher used to play this album during nap time. We had it at home also. Good times. With many of these famous folk artist (Simon and Garfunkel, Peter, Paul, and Mary, and even Gordon Lightfoot), it's fun to watch early performances of them in black and white - when they were young and their voices were in their prime. Their voices really impress in those.
This song came out my birthday month of 1970 and I was 7. I have vivid memories of growing up in Virginia Beach and hearing this song coming out of VW Beetles cars and people in their teens and 20's pretty much listening on transistor radios at bonfires on the beach in the sand dunes just exactly like BJ so astutely mentioned.
Simon said that most of the Simon and Garfunkel songs were written to suit Garfunkel's voice. His solo stuff usually incorporates Latina or African rhythms. While I love all of Paul Simon's solo stuff, a few stand out tracks are Late In The Evening, Kodachrome and Homeless.
When I was a kid, we thought this so naughty, like oh he's taking this girl to bed, don't let Mom and Dad hear it lol. Years later I found out he was talking about St Cecilia and how he didn't feel the inspiration to write anymore. I mean that was cool but I was a little disappointed! 😂
Patron Saint of Music. I went to St.Cecilia's in Philly. We changed the lyrics a little when this came out. It was more about dissing the nuns. LOLOLOL
As a teen I liked this song for its catchy chorus & didn't pay attention to the verse TILL my mom pointed it out! I quit letting my mom hear my music after that.
My favorite Venn diagram depicts this song,- it's perfect in every way. 1st circle contains people who break my heart 2nd circle contains people who shake my confidence daily And where the two circles overlap, there is just Cecilia
Bongo's? Could be. These guys had several quirky tunes like this. 'Call me Al' for example. Sound of silence is my fav, however, I also love their #1 hit 'Bridge over troubled water'. 'I am a rock' & 'The boxer' & Scarborough fair is awesome. 'The 59th street bridge song (Feelin' groovy) is very fun & upbeat. I grew up listening to these guys.
Sounds to me like it was just a fun song meant to mimic the Jamaican and East Indian music flavor. Paul Simon loved to work with ethnic musicians who could teach HIM.
Great reaction this song takes me back to 1970 of me as kid dancing and dancing to this song 😊 PS but why do you have Barry Manilow on your post ad ? 🤔
Asia & BJ do your selves a favor and watch their Concert In Central Park : 1981. They decided to do a free concert in Central Park & 500,000 people showed up. They do all the hits , including this song. Also the hand drum you were thinking of that is used in most drum circles is called a djembe ( jem - bay).
This is a really crazy tune, love the legs slaps and all the instruments and of course the vocals, the lyrics are a bit weird, I remember it well. Thanks Asia and Bj
S&G are kind of like the Beatles, they cover LOTS of ground musically. I Am A Rock, America, and Punky's Dilemma will show you three very different musical approaches.
@@michellekeyes1507 for a fun Manilow story check out Tippy Tom ( RIP), a homeless alcoholic who became a regular on Opie and Anthony, telling O&A stories about how Manilow basically paid Tom for man-i-love. He was tricking for Tippy effing Tom.
Cecilia is the patroness saint of music. She “left” him (Paul Simon) in the mid-60s or so. But “she” came back to him (“Jubilation! She loves me again!”)
Interesting, I never knew that, Thanks!
I wonder if he ever wrote a song for Edie...
@@mikelundquist4596 He did. Edie's Garden or something
@@mattjohn4731 thank you!
Wow! How cool! I'm so glad I started reading the comments under this one. You really enlightened me.
The story of the "drums" was actually Paul and Art at a party at their home with friends and everyone was pounding on something together in a rhythm that Paul recorded. There was a section of about a minute that Paul liked, so he looped the recording and added effects and created this song from it. Genius.
Having been named for the patron saint of music, I still have this song sung to me by strangers! Shows how much this song sticks in your ear. I still have the old 45 record from my childhood.
Were you named with this song in mind? Great name!
My friend was named after Jolene and she here’s the same thing
Such a stomp. Loved it since I was a kid. Best use of "jubilation" in a song ever.
The great Hal Blaine on drums, one of his 150+ Top Ten hits.
Please first check if Bach used it.
Asia & BJ, you'll love their "The Boxer", "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)"and "Homeward Bound" !!!!
Simon and Garfunkel were incredible together
Another surprising one of theirs is a cover of a Peruvian folk song "El Condor Pasa (I'd Rather Be a Hammer than a Nail).
This is the song that got all of us kids joining in with wooden spoons on pots and pans!
Those were the days!!!!
Never get tired of hearing Simon and Garfunkle. Grew up with them, and still remember every single song.
Why is there an older Barry Manilow in the background of the thumbnail? lol
It helps to know that St. Cecilia is the patroness of music. So what the song is actually about is seeking musical inspiration. I guess he was writing a song and got up to take a break, but when he got back ... suddenly inspiration was gone. So he had to woo her back.
Paul Simon tends to use bongo drums in several of his songs in his solo career. The beat and feel of Cecilia is upbeat like his solo music too
Don't pigeon-hole Simon. Not all of his solo stuff was upbeat. Doesn't need to be.
Great song by Simon and Garfunkel. Love the upbeat melody despite his frustration in the lyrics. Thanks guys for reacting to this one!🧡
Song Facts notes:
As Paul Simon explained in an interview with Rolling Stone: "Every day I'd come back from the studio, working on whatever we were working on, and I'd play this pounding thing. So then I said, 'Let's make a record out of that.' So we copied it over and extended it double the amount, so now we have three minutes of track, and the track is great. So now I pick up the guitar and I start to go, 'Well, this will be like the guitar part' - dung chicka dung chicka dung, and lyrics were virtually the first lines I said: 'You're breakin' my heart, I'm down on my knees.' They're not lines at all, but it was right for that song, and I like that. It was like a little piece of magical fluff, but it works."
According to the liner notes to Paul Simon's Anthology album, the strange sounding rhythm to this particular track was Paul and Art slapping their thighs, while Paul's brother Eddie thumped a piano bench and a friend named Stewie Scharff strummed a guitar with its strings slackened to the point of atonality. This all happened at a house Paul and Art were living in on Blue Jay Way in the summer of 1969, not long after the Charles Manson murders took place at the nearby home of the actress Sharon Tate. After they started the pounding and came up with the rhythm, they got out their Sony reel-to-reel tape recorder and made the recording. There was a 1:15 section that Simon thought was great, so they looped it in the studio, which wasn't easy in 1969 - you had to actually cut out the tape and put it on the recorder in a loop. Their producer Roy Halee added some reverb, and they had their basic backing track from this home recording.
Worked into the mix is the sound of drumsticks falling on the parquet floor of the Columbia Records studio in Los Angeles. Simon also played a bit of xylophone that was heavily processed and added to the track. They had a lot of fun recording it and were enjoying various experiments in sound.
😁🤣🤣"How long does it take to wash your face?"
You floored me, man thanks.
Glad you enjoyed!
I have heard this song since I was a child...had plenty of people sing it to me over the years.
Were you named with this song in mind? I love your name.
This is one of those songs you can't stop from bobbing your head, tapping your foot or whistling too. Love it
All stomps and claps. 🙌🏻👏🏻🥾
And that coy Saint Cecilia is ALWAYS messing with us musicians’ hearts.
😉
They are my all time favorite duo! Plenty of more hits!
Discombobulated... my man BJ!!!! Yes, how often you get to work that into a conversation. I haven't used that word since 2018. Y'all from Texas Yoooouu Knnooowww!!!! Love you guys. Bridge over troubled water.
Wait, is that Barry Manilow in the thumbnail though? Love the reactions.
Can you do VANILLA SKY (Tom Cruise) and or EYES WIDE SHUT?
👍
Fixed.
Cecilia broke Paul's heart, so sad. This is such a fun song. Song suggestion: Art Garfunkel--I Only Have Eyes For You.
Fantastic reaction! I do love some Simon and Garfunkel music!!🤓🤠🔥
Love your channel. Check your thumbnail for this one. Looks like Barry Manilow by accident. ❤
Paul Simon is one of the BEST songwriters ever. Rock on.
I remember listening to this song continuously when I played this album on my first decent stereo.
grats on the 250k
Paul Simon has always liked using African drums and rhythms in his music. He spent some time down there, and hired Ladysmith Black Mambazo to sing on his solo album Graceland in 1986.
More different sounds with Paul Simon's world music. "Me and Julio Down by the School Yard", "Diamonds on the Souls of Her Shoes", etc
If you want to hear another upbeat catchy S&G song : "Keep The Customer Satisfied" . ❤🙏🏼
One of my all time favorite duets. Their harmony is divine. Paul Simon's solo career has been robust, his concerts are emotionally profound experiences. Thanks for covering this song. Love your reactions,
I hope you'll consider doing their "Keep the Customer Satisfied". For some reason, reactors never seem to do that song, and I don't understand why. It's AWESOME.
My favorite S&G song! Reactors need to listen to this song. I’m sure 99% can relate! lol
My thoughts exactly ! .. It's one of their best songs IMHO, and yet it gets zero love from reactors .. Would love to see it get some attention.
Such a stomping classic
I listened to this with my Dad! Thanks for the memory and for keeping great music alive!
Brilliant melodies always with Simon & Garfunkel
This is my fave off this album. Fantastic choice. Haven't heard this in many years. My mom loves these guys.
BJ you are hilarious. Great fun tune for a dire situation!😄
You are both very likable people. Just wanted to say.
Wife here..,Love Love Love this song!!..,Always Brings a smile to my face..Like You Guys!!..Hey you guys..,Is she really BREAKING his heart????...The Music is Cheerful.. 💔❤️👍..
My kindergarten teacher used to play this album during nap time. We had it at home also. Good times. With many of these famous folk artist (Simon and Garfunkel, Peter, Paul, and Mary, and even Gordon Lightfoot), it's fun to watch early performances of them in black and white - when they were young and their voices were in their prime. Their voices really impress in those.
love this song
This song came out my birthday month of 1970 and I was 7. I have vivid memories of growing up in Virginia Beach and hearing this song coming out of VW Beetles cars and people in their teens and 20's pretty much listening on transistor radios at bonfires on the beach in the sand dunes just exactly like BJ so astutely mentioned.
Simon said that most of the Simon and Garfunkel songs were written to suit Garfunkel's voice. His solo stuff usually incorporates Latina or African rhythms. While I love all of Paul Simon's solo stuff, a few stand out tracks are Late In The Evening, Kodachrome and Homeless.
That's Barry lol
Cecilia always makes me feel like people sitting around at a house party or a campfire, just jamming and having a fantastic time
"Baby Driver" - same album, also upbeat - the inspiration for the highly entertaining movie "Baby Driver" (1997).
This brings back awesome memories of happy hour back in college 1990❤️
FYI,your thumbnail is of Barry Manilow, not S&G
Hey yall thanks for turning back the clock and giving me a smile for this classic.
The "drum" track literally a tape loop of various hand percussion sounds spliced together.
I love this song! Yes, this was later in their career. I think those are steel drums or kettledrums.
BJ and Asia look just as surprised as we are to see Barry Manilow in the thumbnail for a S&G song. 😋
El Condor Pasa is my favorite 😉👍
Enjoy your adventures in Music 🎶✌️❤️
When I was a kid, we thought this so naughty, like oh he's taking this girl to bed, don't let Mom and Dad hear it lol. Years later I found out he was talking about St Cecilia and how he didn't feel the inspiration to write anymore. I mean that was cool but I was a little disappointed! 😂
Why was there a pic of Barry Manilow in the thumbnail? 🤣
Look at BJ looking mighty smart in that white shirt! :) A compliment BJ
That's a pic of Barry Manilow 🤔
Patron Saint of Music. I went to St.Cecilia's in Philly. We changed the lyrics a little when this came out. It was more about dissing the nuns. LOLOLOL
Cecilia is the patron saint of the blind, and music, as with most saints , as years go by other attributes were added.
I love this song it is so fun.
As a teen I liked this song for its catchy chorus & didn't pay attention to the verse TILL my mom pointed it out! I quit letting my mom hear my music after that.
My favorite Venn diagram depicts this song,- it's perfect in every way.
1st circle contains people who break my heart
2nd circle contains people who shake my confidence daily
And where the two circles overlap, there is just Cecilia
Bongo's? Could be. These guys had several quirky tunes like this. 'Call me Al' for example. Sound of silence is my fav, however, I also love their #1 hit 'Bridge over troubled water'. 'I am a rock' & 'The boxer' & Scarborough fair is awesome. 'The 59th street bridge song (Feelin' groovy) is very fun & upbeat. I grew up listening to these guys.
That's Barry Manilow in the thumb...which is an ironic reversal (if you know, you know).
I saw Cecilia in the thumbnail, but then it got confusing with Barry Manilows picture? However it was the right song. Thanks guys.
One of my favorite from them
Sounds to me like it was just a fun song meant to mimic the Jamaican and East Indian music flavor.
Paul Simon loved to work with ethnic musicians who could teach HIM.
Great reaction this song takes me back to 1970 of me as kid dancing and dancing to this song 😊 PS but why do you have Barry Manilow on your post ad ? 🤔
Asia & BJ do your selves a favor and watch their Concert In Central Park : 1981. They decided to do a free concert in Central Park & 500,000 people showed up. They do all the hits , including this song. Also the hand drum you were thinking of that is used in most drum circles is called a djembe ( jem - bay).
Asia and BJ I hope you will listen to Boy In The Bubble by Paul Simon. 😉 studio version
Their final album Bridge over troubled Water is full of different types of songs, not just this one.
I love this album and I love all the songs on it. Bridge Over Troubled Water is amazing too. Think some of the drums are bongos. My Uncle played them.
This was fun to watch. I kinda feel like Asia thought they were really, really dumb when they were singing about how “she loves me again.”
The cutest couple on UA-cam strikes again! Love you too! 🥰
My daughter and my names are Cecilia have had so many guys sing this lol
This sounds more like Paul's solo music, like 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover. I think this was on the last Simon and Garfunkel album.
I like the Tiger's cap!
A perfect song for double dutching.
Sunshine of my love 😍 cream and Ella's fritzgerald
This is a really crazy tune, love the legs slaps and all the instruments and of course the vocals, the lyrics are a bit weird, I remember it well. Thanks Asia and Bj
Sorry *BJ
So glad y'all went down the rabbit hole, great band and song
Check out their early album "Wednesday Morning 3 A.M." no one made videos back then!
Hal Blaine is the most-recorded drummer of all time.
You two are beautiful. B-E-A-utiful! So much love and fun with music of all ages. So glad I subscribed. Hit "like" and "subscribe" fools. :D
You guys should give a listen to Joe Bonamassa doing Going Down, live at the Greek Theater. It'll knock yer socks off
Again, I hope you guys can do more actually videos and live concert clips. They hit way different.
Check out The Wrecking Crew documentary
Asia just ain't quite sure how to moooove to this one! 😹
This is early Simon & Garfunkel
What a beautiful woman
Why do you have a picture of Barry Manilow in the thumbnail if it is Simon and Garfunkel?
Your icon doesn't have Simon and Garfunkel on it... That is Barry Manilow....Update, i see its correct now
You've got Barry Manilow on the preview?
S&G are kind of like the Beatles, they cover LOTS of ground musically. I Am A Rock, America, and Punky's Dilemma will show you three very different musical approaches.
She’s a saint. Haha
I was a kid when I heard this and I didnt know a lot but I knew that it was wrong when he went back to bed someone had taken his place lol
The beginning is clapping hands played backwards.
Why the Barry Manilow pic?
Please be Copacabana!
That's what I was wondering
@@michellekeyes1507 for a fun Manilow story check out Tippy Tom ( RIP), a homeless alcoholic who became a regular on Opie and Anthony, telling O&A stories about how Manilow basically paid Tom for man-i-love. He was tricking for Tippy effing Tom.
You should react to "Call me Al" .... The Lead singer might surprise you! Ha!
My cousin got her name from this song!
Rumor has it that Cecilia was Paul girlfriend's CAT at the time.