The Only Living Boy in New York

I'm still in the process of listening to all my CDs. (I won't even come close to finishing before January 1. But who's counting?) This morning I put on Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water (which still holds up well). As soon as the soft guitar strumming of "The Only Living Boy in New York" sounded, I was taken back to 1970 when the record came out. I was just a kid, listening to my older brother's records while he was at college. I thought "The Only Living Boy" was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever heard.

Like a lot of songs I heard as a kid, I didn't really think much about the lyrics. Years later, I discovered that the song was sort of a "good luck" send-off to Garfunkel from Paul Simon. During the late 60's, Garfunkel was getting into acting. (In fact the filming of Carnal Knowledge delayed the Bridge recording sessions.) At the time Simon wrote the song, Garfunkel (referred to in the song as "Tom" from the days when the duo were known as Tom and Jerry) was about to fly to Mexico to film Catch-22.

The song is a touching tribute. Garfunkel's single contribution to the song consists of the "Ahhh" backing vocals. I wonder if he even knew what the song was about? Maybe Simon planned it that way.

Aside #1 – I just watched Garfunkel in Nicholas Roeg's Bad Timing (1980), a very powerful and somewhat disturbing film co-starring Theresa Russell. Russell's performance is so strong that Garfunkel often comes across looking uncertain. Although in his scenes with Harvey Keitel, Garfunkel really holds his own. I don't know much about Garfunkel's acting career after this film, but I wonder if it was all he thought it was going to be. Just think how much more he and Simon could have done. Ah, the possibilities...

Aside #2 – A film with the title The Only Living Boy in New York will be released in 2006.