"Duncan" | ||||
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Single by Paul Simon | ||||
from the album Paul Simon | ||||
B-side | "Run That Body Down" | |||
Released | July 1972 | |||
Recorded | 1971 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:34 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | Paul Simon | |||
Producer(s) |
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Paul Simon singles chronology | ||||
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"Duncan" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the third and final single from his second self-titled studio album (1972), released on Columbia Records in July 1972 backed with "Run That Body Down". [1]
A ballad in E-minor, "Duncan" tells the story of Lincoln Duncan, a fisherman's son. An inability to fall asleep in a cheap motel due to the loud sex that a couple is having next door sends Duncan off on a long reverie. He recalls his decision to leave "the boredom and the chowder" of his hometown in the Canadian Maritime Provinces and head towards New England. He recalls running out of money, losing his confidence and faith in himself, and gaining them back after losing his virginity to a young female street preacher – "just like a dog I was befriended". The cult Children of God, later known as the Family International, founded by David Berg used girls and women in their group to proselytize towards the cult with sex, sometimes referred to as, "Happy Hookers for Christ". The cult referred to this as, "Flirty Fishing," in. [2] This verse may describe an encounter with one of these girls. In the last stanza, he is lying on the ground at night playing his guitar and thanking God for his fingers. Between the stanzas, the song features instrumental interludes, played on 2 flutes, by Los Incas, an Andean group which had previously collaborated with Simon & Garfunkel on "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" in 1970. [3] [4]
Cash Box said that "the instrumental bridge is straight out of the Pied Piper mystique." [5] Record World felt it was "slightly more subdued" than the first two singles from the album. [6]
"Duncan" peaked at No. 52 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in 1972. [7] [4]
A concert rendition featuring Urubamba performing the interludes was included on the 1974 album Paul Simon in Concert: Live Rhymin' . It gained radio airplay itself, and has gone on to become a semi-regular on satellite radio's Deep Tracks station. [8] Simon has included the song in his set lists for some subsequent tours as well.
A demo version of the song appears as a bonus on the 2004 CD rerelease of the album. This version is shorter and faster, and has very different lyrics, yet displays the same melancholy tone as the released version.
The song was used in the 2006 film 10 Items or Less .
During a show in Toronto on May 7, 2011, Rayna Ford, a fan from Conception Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador, called out for Simon to play the song, and said something to the effect that she learned to play guitar on the song. Paul Simon invited her on stage, handed her a guitar and asked her to play it for the crowd. [9] [10] [11]
Chart (1972) | Peak position |
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Canada ( RPM ) [12] | 39 |
US Easy Listening ( Billboard ) [13] | 30 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [14] | 52 |
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme is the third studio album by American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Produced by Bob Johnston, the album was released on October 24, 1966, in the United States by Columbia Records. Following the success of the re-release of their debut single "The Sound of Silence", Simon & Garfunkel regrouped after a time apart while Columbia issued their second album, a rushed collection titled Sounds of Silence. For their third album, the duo spent almost three months in the studio working on instrumentation and production.
"The Sound of Silence" is a song by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel, written by Paul Simon. The duo's studio audition of the song led to a record deal with Columbia Records, and the original acoustic version was recorded in March 1964 at Columbia Studios in New York City for their debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., released that October to disappointing sales.
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Bridge Over Troubled Water is the fifth and final studio album by American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, released on January 26, 1970 on Columbia Records. Following the duo's soundtrack for The Graduate, Art Garfunkel took an acting role in the film Catch-22, while Paul Simon worked on the songs, writing all tracks except Felice and Boudleaux Bryant's "Bye Bye Love".
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