Sunday, February 13, 2011

"My Little Town" by Simon and Garfunkel.

OK, back to the 70's: This poignant '75 Paul Simon composition reunited him with Art Garfunkel in the recording studio for the first time since their breakup in 1970. Debuted during the 2nd episode of SNL which Simon hosted with Garfunkel as a guest. Appeared on each of the artists' solo albums from that year. Paul wrote the tune "for Artie" about his strict Jewish upbringing and his desire to leave his birthplace as a "nasty song because he had been singing too many sweet songs". Art plays the piano at the beginning and there are no solos - all two-part harmonies. Peaked at #9.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxuEr_p8Z4o

Comment: One of my greatest musical memories was seeing S&G live in St. Paul a few years ago. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, they bring the Everly Brothers onstage and do 4 songs together - INCREDIBLE!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxuEr_p8Z4o

Comment from Dr. Dan Rogers:
‎"Poignant:" what an interesting word You know, don't you, that it is derived from a rather sad (thus the modern usage of the word) French fairy tale. The first part of the word comes from the French "pois" (pronounced pwah) or pea; natu...rally, we have changed the pronunciation to sound like the Hawaiian word for lutefisk. Anyway, the story is about a small sand fly, a gnat, which was the insect that pollinates all French pois verts. This gnat (thus pois + gnat = poignant) was a real fan of round, plump behinds of the girl bugs, so when it saw the shape of a pea in one of the pods he became smitten! Just hung around that round shape and ignored the alluring girl gnats. When the pea shrivelled and fell to the ground, our little gnat was heartbroken, devastated, and himself wasted away. This tragic folk tale has come, in French Valentine's Day tradition, to represent the feeling of deep loss and sadness that comes from having your Valentine card rejected by one's love. It is also the reason why the French never, ever eat green pea soup on Valentine's Day, although the British do.

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