Hello Darkness My Old Friend Trivia Quiz

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.

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".

Answer: Blessed

"Blessed" represents a passionate and sometimes bitter appeal to God by a man who sees a myriad of unfair, violent, and unspeakable human behaviors in the world.

The repetition of the words "blessed are the..." (echoing Jesus's "Sermon on the Mount"), followed by lists of the city's down-and-outs such as "meth drinkers, pot sellers, and cheap hookers", illustrates one of the reasons that the singer feels that God has forsaken him.

This song was first released on "Sounds of Silence" in 1965.

Answer: Bright green

"The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine" is Paul Simon's scathing indictment of advertising. The song lists common problems, from cavities to depression, and offers a big bright green pleasure machine as the cure-all. "Well there's no need to complain, We'll eliminate your pain. We can neutralize your brain. You'll feel just fine, Now, Buy a big bright green pleasure machine!"

This 1966 Paul Simon song was released as a 45 (remember 45s?), with "Dangling Conversation" (A side), and the "The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine" (B side). It peaked at number 25 on Billboard's Hot 100.

Answer: The Dangling Conversation

"The Dangling Conversation" tells the story of two people who have become virtual strangers, even though they are still together as a couple. They "speak of things that matter, in words that must be said", but in the end the singer expresses that he can "only kiss your shadow, I cannot feel your hand, You're a stranger now unto me, Lost in the dangling conversation, And the superficial sighs, In the borders of our lives".

Joan Baez covered this song on her 1967 album, "Joan". She changed one of the lines, and the cover notes state: "Paul Simon asks Joan to note that the original line is, 'Is the theater really dead?'" Joan sang, "Is the church really dead?"

Answer: 7 O'Clock News/Silent Night

The musical part of this song is a soft and haunting rendition of the Christmas carol "Silent Night". It is overlayed with a newscaster reading the early edition of the 7 O'Clock News, reporting only very negative and violent stories. One such is the death of Lenny Bruce. "In Los Angeles today comedian Lenny Bruce died of what was believed to be an overdose of narcotics. Bruce was 42 years old."

"7 O'Clock News/Silent Night" is from the 1966 album "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme". Disc jockey Charlie O'Donnell is the voice of the newscaster.

And just to set the record (no pun intended) straight, Lenny Bruce was only 40 years old when he died, not 42.

Answer: A Poem On The Underground Wall

"A Poem On The Underground Wall" is a dark amuse bouche of a song, describing the action of a disturbed graffiti writer on a subway platform. He writes his graffito, and then leaves the subway. "And his heart is laughing, screaming, pounding, The poem across the tracks rebounding, Shadowed by the exit light, His legs take their ascending flight, To seek the breast of darkness and be suckled by the night."

Paul Simon's inspiration for this song came about during a photo shoot for the album, "Wednesday Morning, 3 AM". A photographer took various shots of the duo at the 5th Avenue subway station, next to an iron post. Most of the photographs taken couldn't be used because obscenities scrawled on the subway walls featured prominently in the shots.

Answer: Bye Bye Love

"I'm through with romance, I'm through with love, I'm through with countin' the stars above, And here's the reason that I'm so free. My lovin' baby is through with me." The song is so light and upbeat and... about a guy getting dumped!

When Simon and Garfunkel first began performing publicly, this song was one of their favorites. Because of the Everly Brothers' success with the song, it became an audience-participation number for Simon and Garfunkel. "Bye Bye Love" was written by Boudleaux and Felice Bryant, a very successful husband-and-wife songwriting team.

Answer: Patterns

This song is written from the point of view of a man pondering on the futility of trying to escape the fate chosen for him from birth. "From the moment of my birth to the instant of my death, There are patterns I must follow just as I must breathe each breath, Like a rat in a maze, the path before me lies, And the pattern never alters until the rat dies."

"Patterns" was included on Paul Simon's 1965 album "The Paul Simon Songbook", and also on Simon and Garfunkel's third album, "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme".

A heavy metal cover of this song was included on Warrel Dane's album "Praises to the War Machine". Dane adds a quality of harsh introspection to his interpretation of the song, introducing Simon's powerful lyrics to another generation.

Answer: The Boxer

This song relates the loneliness and discouragement, bordering on despair, of a young man newly come to New York City. With no job, friends, or prospects, he longs to go home. "Then I'm laying out my winter clothes, And wishing I was gone, Going home, Where the New York City winters aren't bleeding me, Leading me, going home."

There is a final verse to this song that is not included in the track from "Bridge Over Troubled Water". It was included by Simon and Garfunkel during their November 1969 tour, in their performance of the song on "Saturday Night Live" in 1975, and during their reunion concert "The Concert in Central Park" in 1981.

"Now the years are rolling by me they are rocking evenly,
and I am older than I once was and younger than I'll be that's not unusual.
Nor is it strange, after changes upon changes we are more or less the same.
After changes we are more or less the same."