Simon and Garfunkel Trivia

1. What, according to Paul Simon, inspired the song "A Most Peculiar Man"?

From Quiz Song by Song: "A Most Peculiar Man"

Answer: Four lines in an article in a London paper

On his 1967 album "Live from New York City," Paul Simon recounts the inspiration for this song. "I wrote this song," he says, "when I was living in England. The seeds of the song were planted one day when I saw an article in a London paper about a man who had committed suicide. Four lines in the paper ... And I thought: 'That's a very bad way to go out. Bad eulogy. Four lines.'"

From Quiz Song by Song: "Homeward Bound"

Answer: 1966

"Homeward Bound" was released on January 19, 1966 as a single from Simon and Garfunkel's third U.S. studio album "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, & Thyme." However, it was originally recorded on December 14, 1965 for their second album, "Sounds of Silence," and it was included on that album in the U.K. The recording was produced by Bob Johnston.

From Quiz Bridge over Troubling Silence

Answer: Subway

"The Sound of Silence" was released in 1964 on Simon and Garfunkel's first album, "Wednesday Morning 3 am". It was originally not a success at all, reaching the charts only in the last weeks of 1965 and topping out at the number one Billboard slot on January 1, 1966. The original recording is in the rather unusual key of D# minor, requiring six sharps.

From Quiz Song by Song: "Bridge Over Troubled Water"

Answer: small

The song "Bridge Over Troubled Water" peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and held the position for six weeks. After the Eastern China flood in 1991, the song was translated into Cantonese and sung by Hong Kong singers to raise money for disaster relief.

From Quiz Song by Song: "Richard Cory"

Answer: Sounds of Silence

"Sounds of Silence" was Simon & Garfunkel's second studio album, after "Wednesday Morning, 3 AM" and before "Parsley, Sage Rosemary, and Thyme." Their fourth studio album was "Bookends," and their final studio album was "Bridge Over Troubled Water." The fourth choice, "Highway 61 Revisited," is a Bob Dylan album. "Sounds of Silence" was released in January of 1966 and peaked at number 21 on the Billboard 200 and at number 13 on the UK Official Albums Chart.

From Quiz Song by Song: "The Dangling Conversation"

Answer: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme

"Hearts And Bones" and "Graceland" are both Paul Simon albums. "Bridge Over Troubled Water" was Simon & Garfunkel's fifth studio album, but the song "The Dangling Conversation" can be found on their second studio album, "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme," which was released in October of 1966. The album peaked at number four on the U.S. Billboard 200.

From Quiz Simon & Garfunkel - "Bookends" Album

Answer: Mrs. Robinson

Possibly because of its prominent feature in the classic movie "The Graduate," "Mrs. Robinson" was a huge hit, and the duo's second number one Billboard Hot 100. When Paul Simon originally penned the song, he called it "Mrs. Roosevelt." For the sake of "The Graduate," he changed the name. "The Sounds of Silence," too, was a number one hit, but it is not a track in the "Bookends" album.

From Quiz Hello Darkness My Old Friend

Answer: He shot himself

Paul Simon wrote the song "Richard Cory" based on a poem by the same name, written by Edwin Arlington Robinson and first published in 1897. Both the poem and the song tell the story of a wealthy man who is envied by others. The song is written from the perspective of a worker in one of Richard Cory's factories and ends with Cory's suicide. However, in the song, the discovery of Cory's death ("So my mind was filled with wonder when the evening headlines read: 'Richard Cory went home last night and put a bullet through his head'") is followed by a final repetition of the chorus, implying that even though the worker is aware of Cory's death, he still wishes he could be... Richard Cory.

From Quiz Simon & Garfunkel - "Bridge" Album

Answer: "...feeling small"

"When you're weary, feeling small..." -"Bridge Over Troubled Water" Art's voice is just incredible in this song. And when they sing "sail on, silver girl..." together, its magical! Paul Simon allowed Art to sing it because he had written it a bit too high. Unfortunately, Art's incredible performance was not entirely appreciated by Paul, who was upset when people supposed that Art had written it; this is one factor that induced their break up.

From Quiz Did You Find Everything Alright?

Answer: Let us be lovers, we'll marry our fortunes together

"I'm sittin' in the railway station" is the opening line to their song "Homeward Bound", and "I am just a poor boy" is the first line of "The Boxer", another song of theirs. "I've got some real estate here in my bag" is the second line of "America", not the first. Looking at the first two lines of "America", you'll notice that this song does not possess rhyming lyrics.

From Quiz All About "Mrs. Robinson."

Answer: Jesus

The opening lyrics to this song are " And here's to you Mrs. Robinson Jesus loves you more than you will know, wo wo wo God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson" This song was used in the 1967 movie, "The Graduate."

From Quiz Groovy Simon and Garfunkel Quiz

Answer: drowsy

"Feelin' Groovy" is also known as "The 59th Street Bridge Song." Simon and Garfunkel had a break-up in 1970.

From Quiz Simon and Garfunkel Songs and Lyrics

Answer: The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)

The 59th Street bridge is located in New York and was completed in 1908.

From Quiz Anatomy of a Song: "Sounds Of Silence"

Answer: Darkness

"Hello darkness, my old friend I've come to talk with you again" This is a great way of setting the scene for the song. As a youngster I remember rationalising this by asking "Why doesn't he turn on the light?" Life was so much easier then!

From Quiz Anatomy of a Song: "The Boxer"

Answer: Poor boy

The opening line sets the scene: "I am just a poor boy though my story's seldom told".

From Quiz The Paul Simon song quiz

Answer: The Dangling Conversation

"gazing from my window to the streets below" - (I am a Rock) "sitting on the window sill" - (Overs) "through the window of my eyes" - (Kathys Song)

From Quiz Simon and Garfunkel Trivia

Answer: The Sound of Silence

The released single had been remixed, with drums, bass, and electric guitar added to the original recording.

From Quiz Simon and Garfunkel Lyrics

Answer: 'Mrs. Robinson'

'We'd like to know a little bit about you for our files. We'd like to help you learn to help yourself. Look around you, all you see are sympathetic eyes. Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home.'

From Quiz Song by Song: "A Most Peculiar Man"

Answer: The song never says

The song never mentions a name, which adds to the sense of the peculiar man's isolation from the world. Throughout the song, he is simply "a most peculiar man." The name "Richard Cory" comes from another song on the same album. Frank Lloyd Wright was an architect and Simon & Garfunkel recorded a song titled "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright" on their 1970 album "Bridge Over Troubled Water."

From Quiz Bridge over Troubling Silence

Answer: Tumble

Like many songs from the 1967 album "Bookends", "At the Zoo" was written for the "The Graduate" soundtrack. However, the track was not actually used in the movie's zoo scene it was intended for. The rather funny lyrics later inspired Paul Simon to release an elaborately illustrated children's book.

From Quiz Song by Song: "Richard Cory"

Answer: Edwin Arlington Robinson

The poem was first published in 1897 as part of an anthology called "The Children of the Night." The poem was written during the depression that followed the Panic of 1893, which lasted until 1897. The economic crisis began with the collapse of the nation's two largest employers and led to a panic on the stock market and a run on the banks. The poor economic conditions for the average man, who often subsisted on day-old bread, are reflected in the poem.

From Quiz Song By Song: "The Boxer"

Answer: pedal-steel guitar and piccolo trumpet

According to an article on BMI.com, session musician Curly Chalker "cut the part on pedal-steel guitar. While recording their lead vocal tracks in a Columbia University chapel a month later, however, Simon and Garfunkel came up with the idea of using a wind instrument as an alternate solo, and the call went out for a piccolo trumpeter. Rather than choose one part over the other, Halee, back in his East 52nd Street control room, experimented by making a single dub of the two diverse instruments." Charlie McCoy played bass harmonica on the second and last verses of the song. The drumbeat, played only during the refrain (the "lie-la-lie" part) using a snare drum, was laid down by session drummer Hal Blaine.

From Quiz Song by Song: "The Dangling Conversation"

Answer: The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine

"Bridge Over Troubled Water" was not on the same album as the other choices. The "Dangling Conversation" was released as a single in September of 1966 with "The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine" on the B-Side. Deeper but less catchy than many of the other songs on the album, "The Dangling Conversation" never charted in the U.K., and it did not reach the top ten in the U.S. It peaked at number 25 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and at number 27 on the Canada 100.

From Quiz Bridge Over Troubled Water

Answer: El Condor Pasa (If I Could)

Paul Simon wrote the lyrics, using an arrangement of the musical piece 'El Cóndor Pasa' performed by Los Incas, which he was told had been arranged by them from a traditional piece of Andean music. Actually, it was composed in 1913 by Daniel Alomía Robles, who is now given credit in the song's listings. Paul Simon provided the words, which surprisingly do not mention a condor. However, when you listen to them, you can readily picture someone watching an elegant condor soaring overhead, apparently free of care, and able to go where it pleases. Herewith the second verse: "Away, I'd rather sail away Like a swan that's here and gone. A man gets tied up to the ground, He gives the world its saddest sound, Its saddest sound."

From Quiz Hello Darkness My Old Friend

Answer: He gassed himself

The peculiar man committed suicide by gas. "He turned on the gas and he went to sleep, with the windows closed so he'd never wake up, to his silent world and his tiny room." "A Most Peculiar Man" was recorded on December 22, 1965. Both "Richard Cory" and "A Most Peculiar Man" are songs about a man's suicide, and are back-to-back tracks on "Sounds of Silence".

From Quiz Simon & Garfunkel - "Bridge" Album

Answer: "...snail"

"I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail" -"El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" Throughout the song, Paul Simon tells us all the things he'd rather be in comparison to another: sparrow, snail; hammer, nail; forest, street. Paul was inspired by an Andean folk song for this track.

From Quiz Did You Find Everything Alright?

Answer: A pack of cigarettes and Mrs. Wagner pies

Mrs. Wagner pies were an actual food item sold in the United States for much of the twentieth century up until 1969. They were individually wrapped single-serving pies created by Mrs. Wagner's Home Made Pies.

From Quiz Simon and Garfunkel, The Albums

Answer: 1966

1966 was the year this album was first released. The song 'The Sound of Silence' also appeared on the first album 'Wednesday Morning 3am'. Following in the steps of Bob Dylan, who had used electric guitars at the Newport Folk Festival, much to the horror of some folk traditionalists, the producer of this album, Tom Wilson, also decided to give 'The Sound of Silence' a similar electric treatment.

From Quiz All About "Mrs. Robinson."

Answer: Mrs. Roosevelt

This song was first written about presidential wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, but was changed when the song was needed for the movie that made it famous. Eleanor Roosevelt was a female rights and black rights activist and she helped everyone as much as she could during the Great Depression.

From Quiz Groovy Simon and Garfunkel Quiz

Answer: dubious

Simon and Garfunkel did The Concert in Central Park, which was very succesful and attracted 500,000 people.

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