― timmy tannin (pompous), Wednesday, 26 July 2006 04:02 (nineteen years ago)
― Dee Xtrovert (dee dee), Wednesday, 26 July 2006 04:26 (nineteen years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 26 July 2006 04:37 (nineteen years ago)
They're kind of hard to compare somehow - they're both sort of wistful and all that but they're really doing different things, with Nilsson conveying the guarded, lonesome optimism of the new arrival and Simon tackling the somewhat bleaker loneliness of the one who's staying behind. I love Harry to death but I think S&G just inch this one out with those cavernous backing vocals. It's also one of those songs that benefits from being weirdly abstract in just the right places ("Half of the time we're gone, but we don't know where" - I know just what he means, maaan!), and Simon is very good at conveying genuine tenderness and vulnerability in his voice, where Nilsson tends to sound like he's playing a character. Not so much in this one, but it does creep in a little bit.
Did Harry ever cover Simon & Garfunkel, or talk about them even? Some of their more bombastic stuff seems right up his alley - "Bridge Over Troubled Water" etc.
― Doctor Casino (Doctor Casino), Wednesday, 26 July 2006 06:14 (nineteen years ago)
― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 26 July 2006 19:49 (nineteen years ago)
― Dan Heilman (The Deacon), Wednesday, 26 July 2006 20:08 (nineteen years ago)
Only Living Boy in New Cross is not bad, either.
― Steve Go1dberg (Steve Schneeberg), Wednesday, 26 July 2006 22:01 (nineteen years ago)
https://www.notreble.com/buzz/2012/07/27/simon-garfunkel-with-pino-palladino-the-only-living-boy-in-new-york/
― Goofy the Grifter (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 3 December 2021 01:41 (four years ago)
Which is mainly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR6IKt7tn2o
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/joe-osborns-mystery-8-string-bass.903066/
― Goofy the Grifter (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 3 December 2021 01:47 (four years ago)
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/27/arts/pay-phones-nyc.html
― Jimmy Jimmy Loves Mary-Anne Mary-Anne (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 15 June 2022 14:55 (four years ago)
Still obsessed with the Joe Osborn bass line on this. That and the angelic choir of overdubs singing "ah-aah-ah-aah"s all over the place
― Eric Blore Is President (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 10 February 2026 07:38 (four months ago)
Now recalling Richard Hell telling stories of going over to Robert Quine's apartment and Quine was listening to Carpenters records for the Joe Osborn bass parts.
― Eric Blore Is President (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 10 February 2026 07:53 (four months ago)
Glad to have the prompt to re-listen to "The Only Living Boy..". It's been a minute and it still gets me, maybe even more with twenty years gone by (and the last thirteen in New York) since my post upthread.
― Hiphoptimus Rhyme (Doctor Casino), Tuesday, 10 February 2026 11:17 (four months ago)
Cool! Came back to thread to replace the broken Pino Palladino link from the Old Friends tour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtmATwhY8Gc
― Eric Blore Is President (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 10 February 2026 11:52 (four months ago)
No mention of the Sagittarius cover of "Guess the Lord"? I think I prefer it the og, just beautiful delicate light kind of countrypolitan orchestration, which, with the vocal, illuminates the melody even more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP5LTSnBw9o
― glumdalclitch, Tuesday, 10 February 2026 15:11 (four months ago)
In fact, looking at the timeline, seems they may be emulating Everybody's Talkin' from a year earlier, with that score tbh.
― glumdalclitch, Tuesday, 10 February 2026 15:21 (four months ago)