He met his future singing partner, Paul Simon, in the sixth grade. Between 1956 and 1962, the two had performed together as Tom & Jerry. Garfunkel ("Tom Graph") chose his nickname because he liked to track, or "graph" hits, on the pop charts. Garfunkel attended Columbia University in the early sixties, where he sang with the Kingsmen, an all-male a cappella group. While at Columbia, he was also a Brother of the Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity. In 1962 Garfunkel earned a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in art history, followed eventually by a Master's degree in mathematics.
In 1963 he and Simon reformed the duo under their own names as Simon and Garfunkel and released their first album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. on Columbia Records in October 1964. It was not a critical success, and the duo effectively split again after recording. The next year their producer Tom Wilson lifted the song "The Sound of Silence" from the record, redubbed an electric backing onto it, and released it as a single, which eventually went to #1 on the Billboard pop charts. They reunited and went on to become two of the most popular artists of the 1960s, releasing a total of five studio albums. However, citing personal differences and divergence in career interests, they split following the release of their most critically acclaimed album, Bridge Over Troubled Water, in 1970.
Solo career
In the 1970s, Garfunkel released a few solo albums, and although he did not reach the heights that Simon and Garfunkel had reached, he still scored hits with "I Only Have Eyes For You" (a 1934 song originally written by Harry Warren [1]) and "Bright Eyes" (both British #1 hit singles), and "All I Know" (#9 in the United States). A version of "Bright Eyes" also appeared in the movie Watership Down. He briefly reunited with Paul Simon in the 1975 hit "My Little Town".
Art Garfunkel (centre) with his band after the show at Liseberg fairground on June 4 1998
Enlarge
Art Garfunkel (centre) with his band after the show at Liseberg fairground on June 4 1998
In between, he also acted in a few movies, including Catch-22 and Carnal Knowledge (1971) with Jack Nicholson, Candice Bergen, and Ann-Margret.
Following disappointing sales of his 1981 album Scissors Cut, Garfunkel reunited with Paul Simon for the famous concert in Central Park. The subsequent world tour went well musically, but they had disagreements during the tour, with the disappointment for Art Garfunkel that Paul Simon excluded Art's voice from the new album that was announced as a S&G album and came out as a new Paul Simon solo album Hearts and Bones. The reason for that was that Paul Simon's songs were very personal. After this, Garfunkel left the music scene for several years, but returned in 1988 with the album Lefty. None of these projects garnered much critical success, and Garfunkel did not release another album until 1993's Up 'til Now. Perhaps his most noteworthy recent release is his live 1996 concert Across America, recorded live at the registry hall on Ellis Island. The concert features several musical guests, including James Taylor, Garfunkel's wife, Kim, and his son James Arthur.
Garfunkel also performed the theme song for the 1991 television series, "Brooklyn Bridge", and in 1998 Garfunkel sang "The Ballad of Buster Baxter" for an episode of the PBS Kids cartoon Arthur.
Recent events
In 2003, Garfunkel made his debut as a songwriter on his well-received Everything Waits to Be Noticed album. Teaming up with singer-songwriters Maia Sharp and Buddy Mondlock, the album represented some of Garfunkel's strongest solo performances to date, and contained several songs whose origins were poems penned by Garfunkel. Everything Waits to Be Noticed is recognized as his first true effort at songwriting, save his teenage years with Paul Simon in Tom and Jerry.
In 2003, Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon reunited one more time and buried their disagreements once and for all. The world tour in 2003 and 2004 that followed was this time very joyful and was a big success. After the tour, they went their own ways.
Garfunkel made news in early 2004 when he was arrested for possession of cannabis.
The only new recording on the collection The Art Garfunkel Album (1984), the song "Sometimes When I'm Dreaming" (written by Mike Batt), was re-recorded in 2005 by ex ABBA singer Agnetha Fältskog on her comeback album My Colouring Book.
In August 2005, Garfunkel received his second cannabis possession charge after a state police trooper found a joint in the ashtray of his car while in New York State. [2]
In 2006, Garfunkel signed with Rhino Records (revived Atco Records,) and his first Rhino/Atco album Some Enchanted Evening was released in America on January 30, 2007. [3] In late February 2007 during a German television interview to promote his new album Some Enchanted Evening, Garfunkel expressed interest in reuniting with Paul Simon on a new album.
Scarborough fair
Art Garfunkel Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine
Tell her to make me a cambric shirt
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
Without no seam nor needlework
Tell her to find me an acre of land
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
Between the salt water and the sea strand
Then she'll be a true love of mine
Tell her to reap it in a sickle of leather
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
And to gather it all in a bunch of heather
Then she'll be a true love of mine
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
She once was a true love of mine
The lyrics of Scarborough Fair are a conversation between a man and a messenger who is going to Scarborough fair. He asks the messenger to convey his message to his former love, who he wishes to meet again. The man sends a list of seemingly impossible tasks for her to complete before he will return to her.
The song mentions four herbs- parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme, which have been used for culinary and medicinal purposes for centuries. These were also believed to have magical properties and were used in love charms and potions. The use of these herbs in the song could have been to signify the magical and mystical nature of the relationship between the man and his love.
The man asks his former love to make him a cambric shirt without any seams or needlework, a task that seems impossible. This may represent his desire for perfection from his love and his unwillingness to settle for anything less. He also asks her to find him an acre of land between the sea strand and saltwater, which might have symbolized his desire for a calm oasis in the tumultuous sea of life.
Overall, the Scarborough Fair can be interpreted as a plea from a man to his former love to complete impossible tasks to prove her love for him, and his desire for a perfect, magical love.
Line by Line Meaning
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Are you planning to attend the annual fair held in Scarborough? This fair is known for its festivities, food, music, and events.
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
These are four herbs that were commonly used in medieval times for cooking, healing, and perfumery.
Remember me to one who lives there
Please give my regards to someone who resides in Scarborough. Perhaps this is someone with whom the singer has a romantic history.
She once was a true love of mine
The artist is reminiscing about a past lover who was once very dear to them.
Tell her to make me a cambric shirt
Please pass a message to the person who was once the artist's lover to make them a shirt made of cambric, a fine, lightweight fabric.
Without no seam nor needlework
The shirt should be seamless and made without any stitching or sewing.
Then she'll be a true love of mine
If the former lover makes such a shirt, the singer implies that they will be seen as a true love once again.
Tell her to find me an acre of land
Another plea to pass a message to the former lover, requesting that they find an acre of land.
Between the salt water and the sea strand
The land should be situated in a coastal area between the sea and salt water, likely close to where Scarborough Fair is held.
Then she'll be a true love of mine
If the former lover is able to find the land as requested, they will be considered as a true love once again.
Tell her to reap it in a sickle of leather
The former lover is requested to harvest the land using a leather sickle, a traditional tool used for agricultural purposes.
And to gather it all in a bunch of heather
After harvesting the land, the artist requests that the former lover gather all of the produce into a bundle made of heather, a flowering groundcover plant native to Europe.
Then she'll be a true love of mine
If the former lover successfully completes these tasks, they will be seen as a true love once again in the singer's eyes.
Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
This closing line is simply a repetition of the opening line, serving to bookend the song.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Arthur Garfunkel, Paul Simon
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@ginnychudgar9088
Two singers, blending their voices in masterful harmony, and one guitar. So simple and so elegant. And hundreds of thousands of people, listening in appreciative silence.
@rfmerrill
There're other instruments, you can hear a bass guitar at least
@gundabalf
and dat bass tho
@larry930legend
Those were the days my friend we thought they'd never end.
@DanVibesTV
and the guy playing the Synthesizer throws in some highlights every now and then. Very subtle, though.
@MB-jg4tr
Hidden within Hundreds of millions of comments and other videos that run the Gambit. Most not so elegant:)
@kubapuchalski8633
No autotune, just pure talent.
@armandocouso4051
I agree with you
@victorinelagoutte6782
Oui!!! Yes!!!
@bobsmith12345
was just talking to my mum about exactly this, scroll down and see it in the comments