History Music / SimonAndGarfunkel

* ShortLivedBigImpact: As a duo, Simon and Garfunkel only recorded five studio albums together over six years. So beloved are their songs that more than three times as many "Greatest Hits" albums have been released.

* RuleOfSymbolism: A lot of it. For example, any time a betrayal is implied, thirty pieces of silver (or dollars) is referenced.

* {{Rockumentary}}: ''Simon and Garfunkel: Songs of America'' is a rather unique television special that aired on CBS in 1969. Much of the special is a fairly conventional rockumentary featuring interviews with the duo, footage of the duo working in the studio, and film from the 1969 tour. This portion includes {{Early Bird Cameo}}s of "The Boxer", "Bridge Over Troubled Water", and "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright". The rest of the film is a series of montages of the social and historical upheavals of TheSixties (civil rights protest, Robert Kennedy's funeral train, etc), with Simon and Garfunkel songs as the musical accompaniment.

** "A Simple Desultory Philippic (or How I Was Robert Mc Namara'd into Submission)" is a rather savage Music/BobDylan parody, with the subtitle taking a subtle shot at Robert [=McNamara=], the Secretary of Defense under JFK and LBJ, who escalated U.S. involvement with the Vietnam War.

* GreatestHitsAlbum: They've had several. The first of them, released in 1972, is notable for its inclusion of live versions of "Homeward Bound" and a couple other songs in place of the studio originals.

* VocalTagTeam: Though Paul Simon did the vast majority of the songwriting, Art Garfunkel would sometimes take over the lead vocals (most notably on "Bridge Over Troubled Water", which only briefly features vocals from Paul Simon).

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Simon considered singing "Bridge Over Troubled Water", but gave it to Garfunkel instead. He now claims he regrets doing so, as he would get jealous while the crowd cheered at Garfunkel for signing a song he wrote and helped produce.

!!They/Their work feature examples of:

* CentralTheme: Nearly all of their songs involve an inability to communicate. Some overt, some subtle. Becomes HarsherInHindsight when they broke up.

* CallBack: "Save the Life of My Child" off of ''Bookends'' has a sample from "The Sounds of Silence".

Music/PaulSimon and Art Garfunkel (both born 1941) first came together in 1957 under the name "Tom & Jerry", but rose to fame as Simon & Garfunkel nearly a decade later, mostly due to their chart-topping 1965 hit "The Sound of Silence". Both men were childhood friends, having growing up in [[UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity Queens, New York]] a few blocks away from each other.

The duo split up following the release of their album ''Music/BridgeOverTroubledWater'' in 1970. Simon went on to experience a BreakupBreakout and a successful solo career, while Garfunkel is still best known for his efforts with the duo, although he's also known for singing the ThemeSong of ''WesternAnimation/WatershipDown'' and for his acting roles in such films as ''Film/CatchTwentyTwo'', ''Film/CarnalKnowledge'', and ''Film/BadTiming'' (while Paul Simon appeared in ''Film/AnnieHall'' and ''Film/OneTrickPony''). They have reunited (and broken up again) several times over the years. Most famously, they came together for a 1981 free concert in Central Park, which drew a crowd of over half a million.

Still remains within the sound of silence.''

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ea3701df_2dd3_4050_b344_6a8a7d068f7e.jpeg]]

-->A time it was and what a time it was, it was\\

[[RedScare Communist]], 'cause I'm left-handed\\

-->Time it was and what a time it was, it was\\

** Their rendition of "Go Tell It on the Mountain" from the first album. And "Seven O'Clock News/Silent Night", which turns into an AntiChristmasSong as it shifts from a simple rendition of "Silent Night" to a newscast with reports on UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar and other depressing stores playing in the background.

** Their rendition of "Go Tell It on the Mountain" from the first album. And "Seven O'Clock News/Silent Night", which turns into an AntiChristmasSong as it shifts from ''Silent Night'' to a pessimistic newscast with narration of TheVietnamWar in the background.