History YMMV / SimonAndGarfunkel

* TrueArtIsAngsty: Particularly on ''Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme'' and ''Bookends'', S&G could be every bit as inward-looking and melancholy as {{Emo|Music}} (Though usually much less {{Narm}}-y).

* AdaptationDisplacement: "Richard Cory" (the song) is much more well-known these days than "Richard Cory" (the poem by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Arlington_Robinson Edwin Arlington Robinson]] that the song is based on).

* MemeticMutation: "Hello darkness, my old friend..." is now a catch-all expression to describe despair after its use in Season 4 of ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment''.

** It's also been associated with various dark creatures from various corners of fiction, such as Dark Matter from the ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' series.

** For ''Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.'' and ''Sounds of Silence'' it's "The Sound of Silence", as it is on both albums. The second best-known song on the latter is "I Am a Rock".

** ''Bridge Over Troubled Water'': the title track, "Cecilia" and "The Boxer", with their English interpretation of "El Condor Pasa" and "The Only Living Boy in New York" as runner-up songs.

* SignatureSong: "The Sound of Silence" and "Mrs. Robinson" have become the main contenders as the duo's song most people are familiar with today. By album:

** Similarly, "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" adds new lyrics sung in counterpoint to the original folk ballad, and the particular arrangement of Scarborough Fair (the guitar backing melody etc.) was indebted to English folk singer Martin Carthy, who taught it to Simon. The original single didn't even say it was a traditional song to begin with, let alone credit Carthy for the arrangement, which is why people outside the UK tend to think the song was created by Simon and Garfunkel instead of being centuries old.

** Similarly, "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" adds new lyrics sung in counterpoint to the original folk ballad, and the particular arrangement of Scarborough Fair (the guitar backing melody etc.) was indebted to British folk singer Martin Carthy who taught it to Simon. The original single didn't even say it was a traditional song to begin with, which is why many outside the UK think the song was created by Simon and Garfunkel.

** Similarly, "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" adds new lyrics sung in counterpoint to the original folk ballad.

* SignatureSong: "The Sound of Silence" has become the duo's song most people are familiar with today. Although some might argue for "Mrs. Robinson" or "Bridge Over Troubled Water". By album:

** ''Parsley, Sage, Rossemary and Thyme'': "Homeward Bound" or "Scarborough Fair".

** ''Bridge Over Troubled Water'': the title track, "Cecilia" and "The Boxer", with "El Condor Pasa" and "The Only Living Boy in New York" as runner-up songs.

* SignatureSong: "The Sound of Silence" has become the duo's only song most people are familiar with today.
** Although some might argue for "Mrs. Robinson", "Bridge Over Troubled Water" or "Scarborough Fair".

* MostWonderfulSound: Art Garfunkel's voice. If Paul Simon was the brain of the group, then Art Garfunkel was certainly the soul with how he sang songs like "Bridge Over Troubled Water". Also applies to his solo work, most notably on "Bright Eyes".

** How about the next three songs after that, where all three title characters (Richard Cory, the Peculiar Man, and whoever "She" is) [[spoiler: die in very gruesome ways]]? It doesn't make it any less unsettling that the latter two songs-- ''especially'' "April Come She Will"-- [[DissonantSerenity are sung eerily soft.]]

** To be fair, it IS a proper use of the phrase.

* MemeticMutation: "Hello darkness my old friend..." has become a catch-all expression to describe despair after its use in the fourth season of ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment''.
* NightmareFuel: "The Sun is Burning", "Save the Life of My Child" (Also verges on TearJerker).

** To modern audiences, "Save The Life of My Child" might sound like an early example of {{Industrial}} and {{Sampling}}.

* TrueArtIsAngsty: Particularly on the ''Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme'' and ''Bookends'' albums, S&G could be every bit as inward-looking and melancholy as {{Emo}} (Though usually much less {{Narm}}-y).

** "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" from ''Music/BridgeOverTroubledWater'', which is just Simon's lyrics sung over the Los Incas version of the Peruvian folk song "El Cóndor Pasa" by Daniel Alomía Robles. Similarly, "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" adds new lyrics sung in counterpoint to the original folk ballad.
** Robles' son sued Simon and Garfunkel in 1970 to gain a writer's credit for "El Cóndor Pasa", but noted that the court case itself was friendly since the oversight was the result of Simon being misled to believe it was a traditional folk song, and has stated he bears Simon no ill will. Los Incas similarly did not mind the fact that their instrumental backing had been used without permission, and even became friends with Simon and had him produce their first English-language album.

*** Also with Harper's Bizarre and "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)".
* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: "The Sound of Silence", "Cecilia", "The Boxer"... Heck, let's just include most of their catalog.
** The epic closing of "Bridge Over Troubled Water".

** How about the next three songs after that, where all three titular characters (Richard Cory, the Peculiar Man, and whoever "She" is) [[spoiler: die in very gruesome ways]]? It doesn't make it any less unsettling that the latter two songs-- ''especially'' "April Come She Will"-- [[DissonantSerenity are sung eerily soft.]]

* CoveredUp: "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" from ''Music/BridgeOverTroubledWater'', which is just Simon's lyrics sung over the Los Incas version of the Peruvian folk song "El Cóndor Pasa" by Daniel Alomía Robles. Similarly, "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" adds new lyrics sung in counterpoint to the original folk ballad.

* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: Tons of interpretations of "The Boxer" say that its refrain of "Lie la lie" means something significant (e.g.: that the singer is actually lying about his whole tale). PaulSimon has gone on record as saying that he just couldn't think of [[SingingSimlish any words to sing there]].