* Parsley Sage Rosemary And Thyme *

 

* Parsley Sage Rosemary And Thyme *

  • Scarborough Fair/Canticle (P. Simon/A. Garfunkel, 1966)
  • Patterns (P. Simon, 1965)
  • Cloudy (P. Simon, 1966)
  • Homeward Bound (P. Simon, 1966)
  • The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine (P. Simon, 1966)
  • he 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)
  • he Dangling Conversation (P. Simon, 1966)
  • Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall (P. Simon, 1965)
  • Simple Desultory Philippic, Or How I Was Robert McNamara'd into Submission)
  • For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her (P. Simon, 1966)
  • A Poem on the Underground Wall (P. Simon, 1966)
  • o'clock News/Silent Night (P. Simon, 1966)


    • Scarborough Fair/Canticle (P. Simon/A. Garfunkel, 1966) Patterns (P. Simon, 1965) Cloudy (P. Simon, 1966) Homeward Bound (P. Simon, 1966) The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine (P. Simon, 1966) The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) The Dangling Conversation (P. Simon, 1966) Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall (P. Simon, 1965) Simple Desultory Philippic For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her (P. Simon, 1966) A Poem on the Underground Wall (P. Simon, 1966) o'clock News/Silent Night (P. Simon, 1966)


    Scarborough Fair/Canticle (P. Simon/A. Garfunkel, 1966)



    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.
    On the side of a hill in the deep forest green. Tracing of sparrow on snow-crested brown. Blankets and bedclothes the child of the mountain Sleeps unaware of the clarion call.
    Tell her to make me a cambric shirt: Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme; Without no seams nor needle work, Then she'll be a true love of mine.
    On the side of a hill a sprinkling of leaves. Washes the grave with silvery tears. A soldier cleans and polishes a gun. Sleeps unaware of the clarion call.
    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.
    War bellows blazing in scarlet battalions. General order their soldiers to kill. And to fight for a cause they've long ago forgotten.
    Tell her to reap it with a sickle of leather: Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme; And gather it all in a bunch of heather, Then she'll be a true love of mine.

    Patterns (P. Simon, 1965)



    The night sets softly With the hush of falling leaves, Casting shivering shadows On the houses through the trees, And the light from a street lamp Paints a pattern on my wall, Like the pieces of a puzzle Or a child's uneven scrawl.
    Up a narrow flight of stairs In a narrow little room, As I lie upon my bed In the early evening gloom. Impaled on my wall My eyes can dimly see The pattern of my life And the puzzle that is me.
    >From the moment of my birth To the instant of my death, There are patterns I must follow Just as I must breathe each breath. Like a rat in a maze The path before me lies, And the pattern never alters Until the rat dies.
    And the pattern still remains On the wall where darkness fell, And it's fitting that it should, For in darkness I mst dwell. Like the color of my skin, Or the day that I grow old, My life is made of patterns That can scarcely be controlled.

    Cloudy (P. Simon, 1966)



    Cloudy The sky is gray and white and cloudy, Sometimes I think it's hanging down on me. And it's a hitchhike a hundred miles. I'm a rag-a-muffin child. Pointed finger-painted smile. I left my shadow waiting down the road for me a while.
    Cloudy My thoughts are scattered and they're cloudy, They have no borders, no boundaries. They echo and they swell >From Tolstoi to Tinker Bell. Down from Berkeley to Carmel. Got some pictures in my pocket and a lot of time to kill.
    Hey sunshine I haven't seen you in a long time. Why don't you show your face and bend my mind? These clouds stick to the sky Like floating questions, why? And they linger there to die. They don't know where they are going, and, my friend, neither do I.
    Cloudy, Cloudy.

    Homeward Bound (P. Simon, 1966)



    I'm sitting in the railway station. Got a ticket to my destination. On a tour of one-night stands my suitcase and guitar in hand. And ev'ry stop is neatly planned for a poet and a one-man band. Homeward bound, I wish I was, Homeward bound, Home where my thought's escaping, Home where my music's playing, Home where my love lies waiting Silently for me.
    Ev'ry day's an endless stream Of cigarettes and magazines. And each town looks the same to me, the movies and the factories And ev'ry stranger's face I see reminds me that I long to be, Homeward bound, I wish I was, Homeward bound, Home where my thought's escaping, Home where my music's playing, Home where my love lies waiting Silently for me.
    Tonight I'll sing my songs again, I'll play the game and pretend. But all my words come back to me in shades of mediocrity Like emptiness in harmony I need someone to comfort me. Homeward bound, I wish I was, Homeward bound, Home where my thought's escaping, Home where my music's playing, Home where my love lies waiting Silently for me. Silently for me.

    The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine (P. Simon, 1966)



    Do people have a tendency to dump on you? Does your group have more cavities than theirs? Do all the hippies seem to get the jump on you? Do you sleep alone when other sleep in pairs? Well there's no need to complain, We'll eliminate your pain. We can neutralize your brain. You'll feel just fine Now. Buy a big bright green pleasure machine!
    Do figures of authority just shoot you down? Is life within the business world a drag? Did your boss just mention that you'd better shop around To find yourself a more productive bag? Are you worried and distressed? Can't seem to get no rest? Put our product to the test. You'll feel just fine Now. Buy a big bright green pleasure machine!
    You better hurry up and order one. Our limited supply is very nearly gone.
    Do you nervously await the blows of cruel fate? Do your checks bounce higher than a rubber ball? Are you worried 'cause your girlfriend's just a little late? Are you looking for a way to chuck it all? We can end your daily strife At a reasonable price. You've seen it advertised in Life. You'll feel just fine Now. Buy a big bright green pleasure machine.

    he 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)



    Slow down, you move too fast. You got to make the morning last. Just kicking down the cobble stones. Looking for fun and feelin' groovy.
    Hello lamppost, What cha knowing? I've come to watch your flowers growing. Ain't cha got no rhymes for me? Doot-in' doo-doo, Feelin' groovy.
    Got no deeds to do, No promises to keep. I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep. Let the morning time drop all its petals on me. Life, I love you, All is groovy.

    he Dangling Conversation (P. Simon, 1966)



    It's a still life water color, Of a now late afternoon, As the sun shines through the curtained lae And shadows wash the room. And we sit and drink our coffee Couched in our indifference, Like shells upon the shore You can hear the ocean roar In the dangling conversation And the superficial sighs, The borders of our lives.
    And you read your Emily Dickinson, And I my Robert Frost, And we note our place with bookmarkers That measure what we've lost. Like a poem poorly written We are verses out of rhythm, Couplets out of rhyme, In syncopated time And the dangled conversation And the superficial sighs, Are the borders of our lives.
    Yes, we speak of things that matter, With words that must be said, "Can analysis be worthwhile?" "Is the theater really dead?" And how the room is softly faded And I only kiss your shadow, I cannot feel your hand, You're a stranger now unto me Lost in the dangling conversation. And the superficial sighs, In the borders of our lives.

    Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall (P. Simon, 1965)



    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 it's 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.

    Simple Desultory Philippic, Or How I Was Robert McNamara'd into Submission)


    I been Norman Mailered, Maxwell Taylored. I been John O'Hara'd, McNamara'd. I been Rolling Stoned and Beatled till I'm blind. I been Ayn Randed, nearly branded Communist, 'cause I'm left-handed. That's the hand I use, well, never mind!
    I been Phil Spectored, resurrected. I been Lou Adlered, Barry Sadlered. Well, I paid all the dues I want to pay. And I learned the truth from Lenny Bruce, And all my wealth won't buy me health, So I smoke a pint of tea a day.
    I knew a man, his brain was so small, He couldn't think of nothing at all. He's not the same as you and me. He doesn't dig poetry. He's so unhip that When you say Dylan, he thinks you're talking about Dylan Thomas, Whoever he was. The man ain't got no culture, But it's alright, ma, Everybody must get stoned.
    I been Mick Jaggered, silver daggered. Andy Warhol, won't you please come home? I been mothered, fathered, aunt and uncled, Been Roy Haleed and Art Garfunkeled. I just discovered somebody's tapped my phone.

    For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her (P. Simon, 1966)



    What I dream I had: Pressed in organdy; Clothed in crinoline of smoky Burgundy; Softer than the rain. I wandered empty streets Down past the shop displays. I heard cathedral bells Tripping down the alley ways, As I walked on.
    And when you ran to me Your cheeks flushed with the night. We walked on frosted fields of juniper and lamplight, I held your hand. And when I awoke and felt you warm and near, I kissed your honey hair with my grateful tears. Oh I love you, girl. Oh, I love you.

    A Poem on the Underground Wall (P. Simon, 1966)



    The last train is nearly due, The underground is closing soon, And in the dark deserted station, Restless in anticipation, A man waits in the shadows.
    His restless eyes leap and scratch, At all that they can touch or catch, And hidden deep within his pocket, Safe within its silent socket, He holds a colored crayon.
    Now from the tunnel's stony womb, The carriage rides to meet the groom, And opens wide and welcome doors, But he hesitates, then withdraws Deeper in the shadows.
    And the train is gone suddenly On wheels clicking silently Like a gently tapping litany, And he holds his crayon rosary Tighter in his hand.
    Now from his pocket quick he flashes, The crayon on the wall he slashes, Deep upon the advertising, A single worded poem comprised Of four letters.
    And his heart is laughing, screaming, pounding The poem across the tracks rebounding Shadowed by the exit light His legs take their ascending flight To seek the breast of darkness and be suckled by the night.

    o'clock News/Silent Night (P. Simon, 1966)



    This is the early evening edition of the news. The recent fight in the House of Representatives was over the open housing
          section of the Civil Rights Bill. Brought traditional enemies together but it left the defenders of the
          measure without the votes of their strongest supporters. President Johnson originally proposed an outright ban covering discrimination
          by everyone for every type of housing but it had no chance from the start
          and everyone in Congress knew it. A compromise was painfully worked out in the House Judiciary Committee. In Los Angeles today comedian Lenny Bruce died of what was believed to be an
          overdoes of narcotics. Bruce was 42 years old. Dr. Martin Luther King says he does not intend to cancel plans for an open
          housing march Sunday into the Chicago suburb of Cicero. Cook County Sheriff Richard Ogleby asked King to call off the march and the
          police in Cicero said they would ask the National Guard to be called out
          if it is held. King, now in Atlanta, Georgia, plans to return to Chicago Tuesday. In Chicago Richard Speck, accused murderer of nine student nurses, was brought
          before a grand jury today for indictment. The nurses were found stabbed an strangled in their Chicago apartment. In Washington the atmosphere was tense today as a special subcommittee of the
          House Committee on Un-American activities continued its probe into anti-
          Viet Nam war protests. Demonstrators were forcibly evicted from the hearings when they began chanting
          anti-war slogans. Former Vice-President Richard Nixon says that unles there is a substantial
          increase in the present war effort in Viet Nam, the U.S. should look forward
          to five more years of war. In a speech before the Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in New York,
          Nixon also said opposition to the war in this country is the greatest single
          weapon working against the U.S. That's the 7 o'clock edition of the news, Goodnight.
    Silent night Holy night All is calm All is bright Round yon virgin mother and child Holy infant so tender and mild Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace.
    Kenneth Jennings kiii@u.washington.edu