Tuesday's Musical Notes - "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" (Simon and Garfunkel)

Tuesday January 8, 2013.....01082013......the first Tuesday of the New Year, that isn't New Year's day....Welcome to Tuesdays Musical Notes where Rock meets rumination....say friend how ya feelin?

     It is hard to imagine that 50 years have passed since the 1960s.  Sociologists tell us that the Baby Boomer generation ended in 1964.  That group of people turn 49 this year....like they needed the reminder.  These were the times that were sometimes described as "far out" or "a gas".  It was the post "Happy Days", pre "That 70s Show" era.    It was a time of great uproar and incredible exploration.  When hair mousse was in liquid form, came from a bottle and "just a dab would do ya" became the ad slogan for a generation.  It was the end of Eisenhower, the reign of Kennedy's Camelot, the transition to Johnson, and a time when Richard Nixon was considered a decent President.  Music was all over the charts in regards to styles and lyrics.  AM radio stations would feature everything from Beethoven's 5th to the Beatles.  You could hear Sinatra, both Frank and Nancy, and surfin' tunes.  You could turn the knob and hear Johnny Cash, Dolly Pardon and Hank Williams, then turn it again and hear The Supremes and Chubby Checker.  If you tuned your radio just right and the station was putting out enough wattage, on a crystal clear night, you might even hear the strains of acoustic guitar, hand drums and harmonicas, the instruments of folk music.  It might just sound something like this:

"The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" Simon and Garfunkel with an assist from the Smothers Brothers
Drinking coffee was cool before Starbucks and seeemingly much simpler to order. In fact, the earliest coffee house was recorded in the 1500s in the Middle East.  By the early 1950s, modern American coffee houses were a venue that acoustic musicians and poets would gather to ply their wares.  The coffee houses of the '60s served as cathedrals where the American Folk Music Revival would reintroduce softer sounds and lighter instruments to the "flower power" set and those who were tired of the experimental electronic sounds the era was producing.  The elders of this church were names like Baez, Seeger (Pete not Bob), and Guthrie.  Some early folk musicians were often accused of associations with communism and anti Americanism.  Politicized lyrics were at their peak during this time.  In some ways, music no longer was an expression of feelings of joy or sadness, but became an outlet where musicians and lyricists could express themselves politically. In the big middle of all of this political articulation came a song that pierced through the expressionism of the time.  "Slow down, you move to fast, you've got to make the morning last...."  Simply stated, acoustically driven and harmonically tight, Simon and Garfunkel released the 1:43 ode to happiness, "The 59th Street Bridge Song". 

     They had collaborated on music since becoming boyhood friends. They broke up as a musical act twice.  They only put out 5 studio albums.  Together they shaped 1 movie soundtrack, The Graduate.  But the musical influence of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel is felt 50 years later.  They have performed publicly together in every decade since the 1960s to sell out crowds.  Each has had some modicum of success as solo acts, but it was the duet that filled New York's Central Park with over 500,000 people that would propel them to iconic status with a new generation.  "Just kickin' down the cobblestones...."

   If coffee houses and folk music had existed during the time the Bible was written, one can easily imagine that the books of Psalms and Proverbs would have been a dominant influence on the patrons.  Seemingly every emotion that we feel as humans are represented somewhere in these two books, especially Psalms.  Intense angst, explosive anger, and eternal joy are all seen through the writings of ancient poets as they turned to written word as a manifestation of their emotions.


 
I’m thanking you, God, from a full heart,
    I’m writing the book on your wonders.
I’m whistling, laughing, and jumping for joy;
    I’m singing your song, High God.      Psalm 9:1-2  The Message
  
 Blessed be God—
    he heard me praying.
He proved he’s on my side;
    I’ve thrown my lot in with him.

Now I’m jumping for joy,
    and shouting and singing my thanks to him. - 
                 Psalm 28:6-7 The Message

We’re depending on God;
    he’s everything we need.
What’s more, our hearts brim with joy
    since we’ve taken for our own his holy name.
Love us, God, with all you’ve got—
    that’s what we’re depending on.  Psalm 33:19-21  The Message


     Each of these passages embody the extreme and eternal joy that is found in a life lived for God.  David had trying times in his family life.  His best friend's father was jealous of him and attempted to have him killed.  He committed adultery with a woman whose husband David had killed.  He had a child die at birth and another of his sons was in constant rebellion against him, yet through all of this...David retained the joy that he had found by serving God.  His example should provide hope for all of us regardless of what is going on in our life.  David was not always happy, yet he was joyful.  There is a huge difference between those two things.  Another poet put the reason for this joy likewise:

"Because Of You" Keith Green

     On those days where you don't feel "Christian", be joyful!  On those days you blow it, be joyful!!  On those days you feel like a "flake", be joyful!!!  On those days you're feelin' groovy.....you get the idea.

'Til Tuesday,

Loving Him by loving you,

Randy