This is the album that introduced me to the incomparable Art Garfunkel. For what seems like ages, my favorite song was Feuilles-Oh / Do Space Men Pass Dead Souls on their Way to the Moon? This rather pointless song is nonetheless beautiful, especially as sung by Mr. Garfunkel. The French is extremely enjoyable, even though I still haven't quite figured out what it means (something about leaves). And while the question in the English portion doesn't have much to do with Billy's garden store, it does raise an interesting point that I must have pondered many times as a young child. In my eagerness to get to this song, I have too often skipped over the first four songs on this side, but his voice makes each one exquisite.

I have listened to the second side in its entirety much more often because my favorite song on this side is the first. All I Know is to romance what Bridge Over Troubled Water is to friendship. Starting out with a lovely piano solo and ending as it started, the singing begins slow and low and, like Bridge, winds up in the near-impossible singing range in a thrilling fortissimo. Art, of course, pulls it off beautifully.

In Mary Was an Only Child, the singing is almost overshadowed by Paul Simon's brilliant guitar playing. Almost. At any rate, the electric guitar adds great depth to this rather sad song about an unappreciated young woman who grew up in a trailer, a girl who "shone like a gem in a five-and-dime store."

Woyaya borrows the voices of young children to join Mr. Garfunkel. The words are simple. "We are going. Heaven knows where we are going. We'll know we're there. We will get there. Heaven knows how we will get there. We know we will. It will be hard, we know, and the road will be rocky and rough but we'll get there..." But like the All This Joy, a John Denver song which also used a chorus of children, beauty is found in the simplicity.

Barbara Allen is the long, tragic ballad of two ill-fated lovers who die for love of one another. Perfectly suited to Art Garfunkel's flowing voice, the traditional English ballad is more beautiful than ever. And Another Lullaby is the perfect way to conclude the album and send the listener off to dreamland.

* * * Thanks to a new friend I made through Art Garfunkel's website (www.artgarfunkel.com), I now know the meaning of the French portion of "Feuilles-Oh". It turns out that it is not French but Haitian-Creole, and the meaning is:

"Oh leaves, save my life, in my wet eyes oh (wet=tear-filled) I am poor, my daughter is sick. We're going to the voodoo priest (a name is given), please save my daughter."


Garfunkel reviews:
Up 'Til Now
Everything Waits to Be Noticed
Garfunkel
Songs from a Parent to a Child
The Animals' Christmas
Angel Clare
Across America - DVD
Pittsburgh in Concert
Erie in Concert
Art Garfunkel website

Recommended: Yes