"Punky's Dilemma" | |
---|---|
Song by Simon & Garfunkel | |
from the album Bookends | |
Recorded | October 5, 1967 |
Genre | Folk rock |
Length | 2:10 |
Label | Columbia |
Songwriter(s) | Paul Simon |
Producer(s) | Paul Simon , Art Garfunkel, John Simon |
"Punky's Dilemma" is a song by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel from their fourth studio album, Bookends (1968).
"Punky's Dilemma" was one of two songs (the other being "Overs") that Paul Simon offered to director Mike Nichols for his film The Graduate . [1] Nichols was not particularly taken with either, which led to Simon writing "Mrs. Robinson". [1]
The song was partially worked on by John Simon (no relation), [2] who was hired to "kick-start" the recording when Paul Simon had writer's block. [3] Morgan Ames, writer for High Fidelity magazine, attended a recording session during which "Punky's Dilemma" was being constructed, in October 1967. [2] The team spent over 50 studio hours recording "Punky's Dilemma," re-recording vocal parts, sometimes note by note, until they were satisfied. [4]
"Punky’s Dilemma" is breezy and minimal musically, with a soft jazz-style percussion and seemingly improvised guitar lines dominated by seventh chords. [5] As rock critic Robert Christgau wrote, the song "seems the essence of lightheartedness on casual hearing but is really a poignant and ironic presentation of a young man's military alternatives: resisting or playing along with the draft." [6]
Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music acts of the 1960s. Their most famous recordings include three US number ones: "The Sound of Silence" (1965) and the two winners of the Grammy Award for Record of the Year, "Mrs. Robinson" (1968) and "Bridge over Troubled Water" (1970). Other hits include "The Boxer" (1969), "Cecilia" (1970) and the four 1966 releases "Homeward Bound", "I Am a Rock", "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" and "A Hazy Shade of Winter", as well as the 1968 album track "America".
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme is the third studio album by the 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.
Bookends is the fourth studio album by the American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Produced by Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel and Roy Halee, the album was released on April 3, 1968, in the United States by Columbia Records. The duo had risen to fame two years prior with the albums Sounds of Silence and Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme and the soundtrack album for the 1967 film The Graduate.
"The Sound of Silence" is a song by the American folk rock 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's 7th Avenue Recording Studios in New York City for their debut album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., released that October to disappointing sales. An overdubbed electric remix was released the following year and went to number one on the Billboard singles chart.
"Bridge over Troubled Water" is a song by the American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, released in January 1970 as the second single from their fifth studio album, Bridge over Troubled Water (1970). It was written by Paul Simon and produced by Simon, Art Garfunkel and Roy Halee.
"America" is a song performed by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel, which they included on their fourth studio album, Bookends, in 1968. It was produced by the duo and Roy Halee. The song was later issued as the B-side of the single "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her " in 1972 to promote the release of the compilation album Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits. After peaking in the charts in July 1972, the song was switched to the A-side of the single and re-entered the charts in November 1972.
The Columbia Studio Recordings (1964–1970) is the third box set of Simon & Garfunkel recordings, released in 2001 by Columbia Records. This 5-CD set contains all of their studio albums from 1964 to 1970. The CDs are packaged in miniature recreations of the original LP jackets, and an annotated booklet is also included.
"Homeward Bound" is a song by the American music duo Simon & Garfunkel, released as a single on January 19, 1966, by Columbia Records. It was written by Paul Simon and produced by Bob Johnston. Simon wrote the song during his time in England, possibly while waiting for a train at Widnes railway station in the northwest of England. Although Widnes railway station is most often cited as the location where it was composed, Simon said in an interview on the Norwegian-Swedish television chat show Skavlan in 2016, that it was actually a railway station in Warrington where he began to compose the song.
"Mrs. Robinson" is a song by American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel from their fourth studio album, Bookends (1968). The writing of the song was begun before the 1967 film The Graduate, which contained only fragments of it. The full song was released as a single on April 5, 1968, by Columbia Records. Produced by Simon & Garfunkel and Roy Halee, the song was written by Paul Simon, who offered parts of it to movie director Mike Nichols alongside Art Garfunkel after Nichols rejected two other songs intended for the film. The Graduate's soundtrack album uses two short versions of "Mrs. Robinson". The song was additionally released on the Mrs. Robinson EP in 1968, which also includes three other songs from the film: "April Come She Will", "Scarborough Fair/Canticle", and "The Sound of Silence".
"A Hazy Shade of Winter" is a song by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel, released on October 22, 1966, initially as a stand-alone single, but subsequently included on the duo's album Bookends (1968). It peaked at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Save the Life of My Child" is a song by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel from their fourth studio album, Bookends (1968).
"Fakin' It" is a song recorded by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel for their fourth studio album, Bookends (1968). The song was initially released only as a single on July 7, 1967 through Columbia Records. It was later compiled into the second half of Bookends.
"Old Friends" is a song by the American music duo Simon & Garfunkel from their fourth studio album, Bookends (1968). On the album, it segues into the following song "Bookends Theme (Reprise)" with a single high, sustained note on the strings. "Old Friends" and "Bookends" were placed on the B-side of the "Mrs. Robinson" single, issued on April 5, 1968, by Columbia Records.
"For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her" is a song written by Paul Simon and recorded by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel on their third studio album, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966). It is sung solely by Art Garfunkel, and consists mainly of his vocals with heavy reverb and a 12-string acoustic guitar. The lyrics concern finding a lover, although Simon once characterized the subject matter as being about a "belief," rather than about a specific individual.
"The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine" is a 1966 song by Paul Simon released on Simon & Garfunkel's album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, and as a B-side of "The Dangling Conversation", which charted at number 25 on Billboard's Hot 100. It is a commentary on advertising.
Bridge over Troubled Water is the fifth and final studio album by the American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, released on January 26, 1970, by 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".
"Overs" is a song by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel from their fourth studio album, Bookends (1968).
"Bookends", also known as "Bookends Theme", is a song by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel from their fourth studio album, Bookends (1968). It appears twice on the track listing, as the first and last songs on side one of the original vinyl LP. "Old Friends" and “Bookends” were placed on the B-side of the "Mrs. Robinson" single, issued on April 5, 1968 by Columbia Records. A "clean" version of "Bookends" was featured on Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits.
"Still Crazy After All These Years" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the third and final single from his fourth studio album of the same name (1975), released on Columbia Records. Though the song briefly reached the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S., it was a bigger hit on the magazine's Easy Listening chart, where it peaked at number four.