“Here Comes The Sun” — Paul Simon and George Harrison
Five-timin’ Simon performed this duet during the second season of Saturday Night Live. (The full episode is available on Netflix). The episode may be most famous for a silly turkey costume, but it also featured this gorgeous rendition of a George Harrison classic.
“The 59th Street Bridge Song” — Nana Mouskouri
Certain Simon and Garfunkel songs occasion careful listening and thoughtful reflection. The moving poetry of the lyrics! The sublime beauty of vocal harmony! Others, well, not so much. This author was never fond of “Feelin’ Groovy” (credit traumatic memories of a mandatory second grade singalong), but this 1968 performance by franco-hellénique superstar Nana Mouskouri feels just right, in a “Foux du Fafa” sort of way. Plus, what is a Tumblr blog without at least one pretty girl in glasses?
“You Can Call Me Al” — Rough Island Band
The most notable things about “You Can Call Me Al” are its goofy music video and palindromic slap-bass solo. More interesting is the story of the Rough Island Band, who hail from from the Isles of Scilly, an outlying archipelago off the southwest tip of Britain. They recorded this terrific cover on St. Agnes, “a tiny scrap of wind-carved rock, gorsey downland and fine sand” home to only 80 inhabitants. Banjo and melodia are a fine replacement for the blaring keyboards and bongo drums of the original.
“The Boy In The Bubble” — Peter Gabriel
To call “Graceland” a “synthesized” album seems not too far off the mark. Outside of the synthesis of South African music that made the 1986 album so famous, its songs have a distinctive, almost synthetic sound—clean bass, precise production, those ’80s keyboards. For many, those sounds are bound up with memories, whether first heard in the front seat of the family Volvo or the car seat in the back.
“The Boy In The Bubble” is one specimen of that Graceland sound, paired with rather dark lyrics you might have missed as a kid who liked the parts about lasers. “Stripped back in the way we’ve done it, I think you hear the words in a different way,” said Peter Gabriel in one interview about this performance (part of the same cover song project that birthed new takes on Arcade Fire and Vampire Weekend). Paring away the exuberance and irony of the original leaves a song that’s no longer nostalgic—just haunting.
“American Tune” — Allen Toussaint & Elvis Costello
“American Tune” is itself a cover: Paul Simon borrowed the melody from Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. New Orleans legend Allen Toussaint and counting expert Elvis Costello performed this version at the 2006 Montreal Jazz Festival.
“Peace Like a River” — Spoon
“Peace Like a River” is a spare, simple song from the self-titled 1972 album that defined Paul Simon’s personal and creative break with Art Garfunkel. It’s a perfect match for Spoon, a band that does sonic economy better than anyone else.
