1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: 73. Simon and Garfunkel – Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966)

You kind of know what to expect from Simon and Garfunkel, especially by this, their third studio album. Wonderful harmonies, folky elements, and Paul Simon’s clever lyrics. And we certainly get those here. Scarborough Fair Canticle (from whence comes the album title) is probably their most famous, and most folk-driven, track on here, but we also get Homeward Bound, For Emily Whenever I May Find Her, and 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy). There are a lot of songs about alienation, of which most of the previously listed are amongst. The narrator character is alone, or lost, somewhere, often at night, and this is something that carries throughout Paul Simon’s songwriting. 

Other times, though, the duo are bitingly satirical. They skewer hippy culture with the jaunty Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine, make fun of Bob Dylan with A Simple Desultory Philippic, which mimics Dylan’s penchant for listing culture figures with a Subterranean Homesick Blues sound. And the final track is the two of them singing Silent Night over the top of Walter Kronkite reading the headlines for the Seven O Clock News (made up from current news bulletins rather than one specific one). The song is all about heavenly peace, while down on Earth there are civil rights riots, the Vietnam War, and the House Un-American Committee. It’s a very powerful track, but perhaps one that loses its impact on repeated listening. Could easily be made again today to the same effect. 

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