Controversial Opinion - Simon and Garfunkle

[Magenta82]

I've long harboured this opinion and so far the people I've voiced it to have been split so I thought I would throw it out to you lovely ladies.

Paul Simon is a genius, his songs and music are amazing, however, pretty much every cover version is better than the original that was sung by Simon and Garfunkle.

So Mumsnet, AIBU?

I was 16, in Spain for the summer with my friend staying with my Spanish relatives. There were two boys our age in the next door apartment. We all had an incredible summer listening to Simon and Garfunkel on the beach morning, noon and night. For me, no other artist can sing their songs like they did.

💯

I'll also risk controversy by saying I prefer Nirvana's version of The Man Who Sold The World

Me too. And Johnny Cash’s Bird on a Wire over Leonard Cohen.

Most of the songs are sublime, and most of the covers are interesting, some are superb. But better? No, not to me.
It does depend what mood I'm in, whether I can listen to the Disturbed's version and enjoy it, likewise some of the other covers, but for me, there is a special merit in hearing the songs performed the way I first heard them all those years ago.

Another very important factor for me is hearing the songs performed by their writers. Whether they can sing well or not. It adds a certain something.
This goes for Bob Dylan and many others. Simon and Garfunkel are, of course, wonderful.
There is one exception to this, and that is With a Little Help from My Friends, sung by Joe Cocker.

I prefer Sting's version of Little Wing to Jimi Hendrix's original. I'm troubled by that, but there it is.

I have never and will never forgive that Madonna woman for ruining American Pie!
Some of the versions of S and G songs are simply different, not necessarily better. I listened to Elvis Presley and the London Philharmonic singing Bridge Over Troubled Water and it's wonderful but not necessarily better than the original.

Nirvana's version over Lulu's?? Madness!*

*not really

So have l. The clarity, harmony and just the sweetness of the voices in amazing.

That is the best version.

I have that wonderful concert on the Sky box as a 'keep' , I'd never heard the extra verse of The Boxer before, the thing that slightly detracts is the obvious poor relationship between them. An old friend used to talk about seeing Paul Simon in the UK before he hit the big time, would have been around the time he wrote Homeward Bound.

On our first US trip we landed at Newark airport and drove up to Connecticutt, the children started counting 1, 2, 3 etc, when I asked what they were doing they sang Counting the cars on the New Jersey turnpike!

I agree with the Nirvana cover, I absolutely love it.

Ironic, given they're both Jewish!

Thanks for whoever mentioned First Aid Kit. I hadn't heard them before and now want to hear more.

As the first person to mention Bob Dylan on this thread, I just want to clarify that there are some songs I can't imagine anybody performing better, notably all the songs on my favourite album, Blood on the Tracks, and especially Tangled up in Blue. I don't think a singer songwriter needs to have a fabulous voice to be a great performer. They need presence and musicality, and I agree with everybody who said there is an extra dimension when you listen to a song you know the lead singer wrote or co-wrote. Neil Young is a case in point, Leonard Cohen is another, so is Bob Dylan.

Paul Simon had a beautiful voice in his prime (he and Art are 82 now, no idea how they sound these days). It's very different from Art's but they were magical together.

It’s a hard no for the Disturbed version for me. Ditto the other mediocre cover versions.

YADBU. You cannot beat S&G at their own music. Mumford and Sons version doesn't touch the original.

Simon and Garfunkel take me back to when I first discovered DMs record collection. Nostalgia 😊

If you like S&G it’s worth seeing the tribute show The Simon and Garfunkel Story. The two men playing S&G are really good, obviously not as good as the real thing but a good evenings entertainment

Ooooh thems fightin' words...

Love Simon and Garfunkel. They are awesome.

Cover versions... I think their songs are good to cover as theres a lot of scope to play around with them, and they're solid songs to start with, you'd need to go some to fuck it up...

Disturbeds Sound of Silence... once you get past the 'loud and shouty'... it lacks depth and range, it is just loud. The original had subtlety and power that for all Disturbeds volume and rage, they just cannot capture. The more I hear it, the less I like it and prefer the original.

Agree with this!

YABU - I like the Lemonheads' Mrs Robinson but S&G are still better. Their voices and production are of their time and can't be improved on.

As for that Disturbed version of Sound of Silence?! I went to listen to it because of the Mumsnet raves but it is embarrassing. Singing like you have constipation does not make it sound emotionally meaningful.

Garfunkel's voice soars. He hasn't been able to sing for a long time whereas PS can still sing. But Garfunkel in his day was magnificent.

I've wondered whether most of the super talented BeeGees songs would have been better if done by other artists.. The Al Green version of How Can You Mend, as an example?

OP, if Bowie's version of America is anything to go by , I am totally in agreement with you.

I generally dislike cover versions, I prefer hearing the original artist. I really dislike that cover of SOS.

I have had time to explore Paul Simon's music recently. He's an amazing composer and singer. I consider Garfunkel to be the weaker link, but fab at melodies.

I really can't imagine, for example, a cover of Train in the Distance being sung without the intonation and meaning of the actual writer. PS's work is some of the best I have ever heard. One of the best first lines too in Graceland 'The Mississippi Delta was shining like a National Guitar' reflected by the crispness of the playing. Pure gold!

This. I must the only person who didn’t like Disturbed’s version of sound of silence.

Simon and Garfunkel are brilliant.

I hate Disturbed's version of Sound of Silence, it's absolutely awful.

YABU