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1964年當 Simon & Garfunkel 發了首張專輯Wednesday Morning 3 AM後﹐因為唱片並沒有取得成功﹐故此兩人就拆夥了﹐Garfunkel 則在 Columbia University 繼續學業﹐而 Paul Simon 移居到英國發展﹐因為在當地他還有 Folk Music 的生存空間﹐在一些地下 Folk Club或咖啡店演出。

可是英國方面﹐Columbia 並沒有發行Wednesday Morning 3 AM﹐市場上只有零星幾張Tom & Jerry或早期 Paul Simon 以Paul Kane 名義出版的單曲﹐而他的合約還屬於 Columbia﹐於是在英國旗下 CBS﹐也就灌錄了一張 Paul Simon Song Book 的專輯﹐以照顧當地的樂迷了。

Paul Simon Song Book (1965/Columbia) Track List:
01 I Am A Rock
02 Leaves That Are Green
03 A Church Is Burning
04 April Come She Will
05 The Sound Of Silence
06 A Most Peculiar Man
07 He Was My Brother
08 Kathy's Song
09 The Side Of A Hill
10 A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara'd Into Submission)
11 Flowers Never Bend With The Rainfall
12 Patterns
Bonus Track:
13 I Am A Rock (Alternate Version)
14 A Church Is Burning (Alternate Version)


這張專輯灌錄過程非常簡單﹐雖然多首歌曲都錄了幾 Take﹐不過只得一個米克峰﹐來為他的人聲及結他收音﹐加上這些歌曲﹐2首取自“Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.”專輯的歌曲﹑9首歌曲其後再次灌錄於Simon & Garfunkel的專輯中﹐一首的歌詞被使用於Scarborough Fair/Canticle 的合音中﹐故此現在看來﹐Paul Simon Song Book 就仿似一張 Simon & Garfunkel 的 Demo 專輯﹐而製作仍然跟隨著“Wednesday Morning, 3 AM”的Acoustic 模式﹐只是這次來得更簡單而已。

但從另一個角度來看﹐原來Paul Simon 把自己的作品循環再用率極高﹐不過這批錄音我珍貴處﹐就是記錄著Paul Simon 當時的失落﹑甚至是憤怒的一面﹐如 The Sound Of Silence 及 I Am A Rock 都有點“過激”。至於唱片封套取景於倫敦的一條以鵝卵石鋪成的街﹐跟Paul Simon對坐的就是他的女友 Kathy Chitty﹐這也是Kathy's Song 的主人翁。

Paul Simon Song Book 灌錄於1965年6月﹐並於10月出版﹐CD版要到2004年才發行﹐並且加入了兩首 Alternate Version﹐不過有說 I Am A Rock 的 Alternate Version 其實是當年為是張專輯發行的單曲版本﹐跟 LP Version 是不同的﹐至於 A Church Is Burining 的分別就是那6線及12線結他。當筆者首次接觸這CD時﹐是把它當作 Simon & Garfunkel 精選來買的﹐心想這又是唱片公司的變相把戲吧﹐Simon & Garfunkel 大部份的歌曲不是 Paul Simon 創作嗎﹖這又有甚麼稀奇了﹖倒是後來才發現這專輯製作背景。


I Am A Rock (Edited Short Version)﹕之後再次被灌錄﹐收錄於“Sounds Of Silence”(1966/Columbia) 專輯中。
(Paul Simon)


A winters day
In a deep and dark December;
I am alone,
Gazing from my window to the streets below
On a freshly fallen silent shroud of snow.
I am a rock,
I am an island.
I’ve built walls,
A fortress deep and mighty,
That none may penetrate.
I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain.
It’s laughter and it’s loving I disdain.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

Don’t talk of love,
But I’ve heard the words before;
It’s sleeping in my memory.
I won’t disturb the slumber of feelings that have died.
If I never loved I never would have cried.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

I have my books
And my poetry to protect me;
I am shielded in my armor,
Hiding in my room, safe within my womb.
I touch no one and no one touches me.
I am a rock,
I am an island.

And a rock feels no pain;
And an island never cries.

**********

April Come She Will (Edited Short Version)﹕之後再次被灌錄﹐收錄於“Sounds Of Silence”(1966/Columbia) 專輯及“Graduate”(1968/Columbia) OST 中。
(Paul Simon)


April come she will
When streams are ripe and swelled with rain;
May, she will stay,
Resting in my arms again.
June, shell change her tune,
In restless walks shell prowl the night;
July, she will fly
And give no warning to her flight.

August, die she must,
The autumn winds blow chilly and cold;
September I’ll remember
A love once new has now grown old.

**********

The Sound Of Silence (Edited Short Version)﹕原版本收錄於“Wednesday Morning, 3 AM”(1964/Columbia) 專輯中﹐除了這個 Solo 版本次外﹐還有以後的眾多版本﹐收錄於“Sounds Of Silence”專輯及“Graduate”OST 專輯中。
(Paul Simon)


Hello darkness, my old friend,
I’ve come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
‘Neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of
A neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one deared
Disturb the sound of silence.

Fools said I,you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you.
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon God they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the signs said, the words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls.
And whisperd in the sounds of silence.

***********

Flowers Never Bend With The Rainfall (Edited Short Version)﹕之後再次被灌錄﹐收錄於“Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme”(1966/Columbia) 專輯中。
(Paul Simon)


Through the corridors of sleep
Past the shadows dark and deep
My mind dances and leaps in confusion.
I don’t know what is real,
I can’t touch what I feel
And I hide behind the shield of my illusion.

So I’ll continue to continue to pretend
My life will never end,
And flowers never bend
With the rainfall.

The mirror on my wall
Casts an image dark and small
But I’m not sure at all its my reflection.
I am blinded by the light
Of God and truth and right
And I wander in the night without direction.

So I’ll continue to continue to pretend
My life will never end,
And flowers never bend
With the rainfall.

It’s no matter if you’re born
To play the king or pawn
For the line is thinly drawn tween joy and sorrow,
So my fantasy
Becomes reality,
And I must be what I must be and face tomorrow.

So I’ll continue to continue to pretend
My life will never end,
And flowers never bend
With the rainfall.



筆者相關貼文﹕
Simon & Garfunkel - Old Friends Live On Stage
Simon & Garfunkel - Wednesday Morning, 3 AM. (1964)



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