It could have been worse .

At least it wasn’t Common or Kanye West .

Too bad Art couldn’t have joined him.

???? and what is exceptionally wrong with common and kanye west?

Yes, Kanye and Common are not perfect but I am curious as to why you mention 2 rappers out of all other musicians with shady pasts

Yes, when the thought of getting someone to sing at a memorial service, the first people we think of are rappers.

Rolls eyes- palm to forehead.

Pretty strange and pointless comment, Big Ed.
What exactly are you trying to say?

Do you think that all rappers are gangsters? Rappers can sing as well- have you heard of Drake?

I am a rap artist , Sir !  My early hit :

YO . A RAPPER’S CREED

Be nice to your neighbor

Don’t rip off his stuff

Even if you want it

What you got is enough .

Eat your vegetables

Squash and green beans

Get those vitamins 

You know what I means !      

Get back !

Rap music is not what ya want to hear at  a memorial service any more than hard rock or heavy metal.

I am a rap artist , Sir !  My early hit :

YO . A RAPPER’S CREEDBe nice to your neighbor Don’t rip off his stuff Even if you want it What you got is enough .

Eat your vegetables Squash and green beans Get those vitamins  You know what I means !      Get back !

“Rap music is not what ya want to hear at  a memorial service any more than hard rock or heavy metal”
Not true. These rap songs have been played at some funerals;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP1PXRiVoJw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM0-ZU8njdo

Your lyrics are wack!

Go and listen to some Jay-z, tupac and biggie! You lack swag

Ummmm, that Puff Daddy song is a stalker song originally performed by the Police!

Why listen to a racist, and two thugs who were shot to death?

lol……Puff Daddy (now known as P. Diddy) made the song better with vocals from Faith Evans. He also added meaning to the song as he was mourning the death of his pal, Chris Wallace aka Biggie.

Still, it doesnt change the fact that rap is versatile. Ignore fox news, not all rap is bad

how is Jay-z a racist? 

As for tupac and biggie- they had to be thugs to survive on the streets. It doesnt make them bad.

Jay-z, tupac and biggie are all great poets with inspiring words

If ” wack ” is a compliment , Big Eddie is down with that .

Really prefer some other artists :

Yo Yo Crunchy and Dippin’ Sauce
Chuck Roast and the Potatoes
Frank Sinatra , Jr.

cool, no probs then! 

Yawn. Longest week-end e-v-e-r, wading through tearful treacle & maudlin mush. Thank goodness for the NFL, boorish, overpaid slobs that they are.

Come on you’ve got to be kidding

Graceland is still one of the best album/cd’s of all time.    

http://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?p=paul+simon+graceland+album&n=21&ei=utf-8&fr2=sg-gac-sy&tnr=21&js=1

You people are SO rude.

I guess you’d prefer conservative family entertainment like draft-dodging Ted Nugent screaming ‘suck on my machine gun, you b—h!” Or Hank Williams Jr. drunk and staggering around on stage? Or Jackie Mason giving people the finger from the stage?

typical conservative tactic. Spew racism, by bringing up rappers for no apparent reason. Then try to turn around and claim the other side is racist.

That was beautiful.

It’s silly 60s crap.

True.  And it could have been Judy Collins doing Both Sides Now.

yeech…

Well..  something unpretentious and real.

Paul was Great

nough said,

The end of great music ended in 1980. There is some who shine but not as much and not as mainstream.
Name me a band that will ever rival the Beatles or the Stones. Don’t get me wrong there is some good music by good new artist out there they are just hard to find. I am a musician myself.Music has been the driving force within me. Paul Simon was great . He doesn’t have Art’s voice but you could feel the emotion.

Let’s make the next decade one of peace

Let’s make the next decade one of peace

The end of great music ended in 1980.
repeat a lie so many times and it starts to sound true. Yes, commercial music of today is plain rubbish but there are new talents and good music that still exist.

With new technology, electro house now has deeper and crazier sounds.
Also, different genres are getting mshed up to make even better music like rock and rap or bangra hip hop etc.

this is 2011…..if you want to live in the past with dead music, feel free to look for Elvis in a spaceship in Roswell 1947

ELVIS was the king.

ELVIS was the king.

Touching and intensely sad.  Reminded me that those who lost loved ones never get to see or talk to them again, and it captured their profound loss.  God bless them all.  

true…..cant argue with that

The Sound of Silence. Many heard it. Many felt it. I clearly heard and felt it. Today the words of this song I know so well had a new context. It was as if Simon had written them for this very moment in history. The version today cannot be repeated. I am reminded of Elton John’s Candle in the Wind for Diana. I still hear Paul Simon’s guitar and his voice and see the powerful images of the WTC memorial… expressing both grief and renewal and calling us to attend to both. How amazing that such a massive memorial can still feel so personal. 

I use to be very narrow minded when it came to music. You Know if it didn’t rock. It sucked. Then I found out a was missing out on a lot of great stuff. I like everything. I just like some types more than others. Rock,folk,country,jazz,blues Etc. I’ll listen to rap and hip hop but thats usally background party or dance music for me.Newer rock

; Linkin Park And Greenday or ok.i know it’s lame to consider them “new” But be open minded about music and all things. That is was being a liberal is all about Charlie Brown.

You did notice my name didn’t you?

Very cool. Is it a user name that you picked or is it your real name.Either way it’s cool!

new post to you below.

new post to you below.

It’s the one my parents hung on me.

I’m not anti-Simon.  I just don’t think Sound of Silence has held up over time and that it wasn’t appropriate for the day.

Cecilia , you’re breaking my heart …

“Cecilia” is a song written by Paul Simon and recorded by Simon and Garfunkel for their 1970 album Bridge Over Troubled Water. The “Cecilia” of the title is generally interpreted as being a capricious lover, causing both anguish and jubilation to the singer. However, another interpretation is that Cecilia might refer to St. Cecilia, patron saint of music in the Catholic tradition, and thus the song might refer to the frustration of fleeting inspiration in songwriting. St. Cecilia is mentioned in another Paul Simon song, “The Coast” (from his 1990 album The Rhythm of the Saints): “A family of musicians took shelter for the night in the little harbor church of St. Cecilia.”When the original album was released on vinyl, the song included sounds out of the human hearing range. This has led to rumors that Cecilia was actually written about Simon’s black labrador, Cecilia. When being transferred to CD in 1996, producers removed the ultrasonic sounds in order to lower the file size,[citation needed] allowing them to fit a 14th song on the “best of” album. When interviewed, Simon refused to comment. Garfunkel was quoted as saying that Simon had never dated anyone named Cecilia and the song was probably about the dog.

Well, we can all abbreviate the rap/hop-hip oeuvre in one stanza, can’t we?  Ahem:

“Gimme yo money, bitch”

Actually ,I was just being smart-alecky about Paul Simon . I saw Simon and Garfunkel long ago in a small venue and it was good . Looking at Simon’s long list of great songs ,he clearly is one of the best ever .

Somehow , it’s nice to know that a lot of these performers were friends and worked together way back . For example , Jimmy Buffett , John Prine and Steve Goodman wrote songs with each other . All were outstanding on their own . If you look at an early album cover of  Steve Goodman’s ,there’s an unknown Jimmy Buffett leaning on the fireplace mantle .

steve goodman

Woof…

 I would have liked to have seen The Who up there singing We Don’t Get Fooled Again:) Probably to much for a day like this but more relevant:) That being said I love Paul Simon!

Paul Simon is just a Left Wing shill for Obama and the Red Revolution.  I equate his song as little different than Herman Cain’s rendition of God Bless America.

Both men were playing to a particular political ideology, for political gain…

BACK TO REALITY:
Amazing how someone can twist something beautiful into something ugly vulgar, and I don’t mean Simon and Cain.  Rather, the shrill leftists who manage to to disrespect anything and everyhting American.

Go ahead, try to explain to me the difference between Cain’s and Simon’s intention?  I do understand, of course, that Simon was merely a “useful idiot” for Socialism.  However, was Cain motivated by self interest, or, love of country?  Either way, in the future, don’t be so quick to criticize?  Quid pro quo.

Purveyor

“Turn on, tune in, and drop out”

Hello Mr. Purveyor, I occasionally read your sanctimonious pronouncements with amusement, and wonder, exactly what is this guy up to. You pride yourself as a person of taste and discrimination except  you have some problems with judgment, in this case differentiating between the motives of Paul Simon and Herman Cain. Herman Cain, who is calling for the impeachment of Obama made a political ad for himself using “God Bless America” and imagery of 9/11 – pretty cheap stuff, a little bit like Glenn Beck holding his screwy event  in the shadow of Martin Luther King’s birthday. Paul Simon took one of his greatest songs and performed it beautifully for the whole country. And you think Simon is simply a “useful idiot” for Socialism. Not a sign of very good judgment. Because you write well and have had a good education, makes me wonder where the wiring went wrong and why people like you have such a disconnect from world culture and common sense.

Oh, you’re just mad that they didn’t bring in that blow-dried fake cowboy from the nashville pop scene to rhyme “bin laden” with “forgotten.”

I assumed someone would “take the bait,” so to speak.  Imagine my surprise to find it was you?  LOL  When it is “your Ox that is being gored,” the situation looks somewhat different. Oui?

Objectivity, neutrality and equal protection are vey difficult characteristics for a human to exhibit.  Hence, you immediately rushed to defend the Man, the song and ideology,etc., that that sustains your political inclination.

The difference between you and I is, that I promote my Philosophy of “Neutral Principle,” which is nothing less than applied “equal protection.”  However, I also, wear my political inclinations on my sleeve, so to speak.  Whereas you and your species pretend to be Americans, when in fact you are Socialists who desire and ends that weakens, not strengthens America.

Have an ordinary Day… 

Actually, you’ve left me quite speechless.  I didn’t understand your point, but, I used to sit up a night with Vodka and Cocaine too…

This is one of my all time favorite sad songs.  Anyone who hates on this song clearly hates America and has no clue what 9/11 was even about.

This would’ve been a good song at 9/11 if you ask me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9IXAJg4Vm0

LOL

 I think there are a lot of ways to commemorate 9/11 and cocaine + vodka is as good as any.  I personally wasn’t a big fan of the memorial services.  It seemed a bit too artsy to me.  I think that reading then names of everyone who died to the background of cello music was sort of creepy.  It’s a nice memorial though.  I’m not a big fan of the high rise though.

 Americans could be socialists and socialists could also be Americans.  America means different things to different people.  A lot of socialists could say many Americans are really confederates.  You could be a socialist confederate and still be an American believe it or not.

I’m socialist, he’s a socialist, wouldn’t you like to be a socialist too?

Dial 1-800- KARL MARX

Fact: Paul Simmon is just another liberal lunatic and doesn’t sound good anyway! Thank you inventor of the remote control!

OK, I do appreciate your, um, er, cryptic sense of humor.  Also, I agree, we, (America) tend get overindulgent with our grief lately?  There are “grief counselors” for everything!

I prefer the quiet stoicism of my parents (“Greatest”) generation.  BUT, I do desire we teach American History with an eye on nationalism to our youth.

“The road of excess leads to palace of wisdom”  William Blake.  You, being  ”Glutton,” should find the quote particularly endearing?

The Purveyor of Rhetoric

I like it! You don’t see someone with that name. it is beautiful.Kudo to your parents.

Jimmy Buffett , John Prine and Steve Goodman…..Love these guys. You have good taste in music Eddie! BTW “Martha my dear” by Paul of the Beatles was about his dog.

Is that you Tim?

Wasn’t that a Doctor Pepper ad?

Who your favorite? Ted Nugent?

There were many moving moments throughout the day and Paul Simon’s Sounds of Silence was one of them for me as well. Anything that brings us together, away from the acrimony, is a blessing right now

Quote, by Cecilia, regarding the song “Sounds of Silence: “I didn’t think it was appropriate for the day.”

Dare I say, there is a dumbing down of patriotism and concomitant imagery in America.

Can you imagine if the powers that be decided to have everyone recite “The Pledge of Allegiance?”  By the way, where are those Patriotic posters of Sailors and Soldiers in front of the Banks and Post Offices?  Also, where are the Norman Rockwell paintings?  

All of those American icons haven’t just faded away, rather, they have been ‘taught’ away, either proactively, or by omission.

CECELIA, I give you credit for making that statement, above.  Took some courage.  I think I am the only one who caught your philosophical slant?

Purveyor

When James Taylor sings about ”  Hercules ” in one or two of his songs , I forget which ones, he’s  singing about his dog .

“Grab a bucket and mop.

Clean the bottom and top,

There is nothing so clean, as my Burger machine,

You deserve a break today…

There is only one “Purveyor of Rhetoric,” and his name is not Tim.

My apologies, the format misplaced your comment…Hence, I was only guessing the context.  

However, and again, my name is not Tim.  Leary is at the very least orbiting the earth, quite possibly burned up by now.  Ouch! BUT, I am from Colorado and did rub shoulders with Hunter at Woody Creek in Aspen.  

Thompson was addled you couldn’t carry on a coherent conversation with him.  Sadly.

Just when I thought this thread had already started as low as it can possibly go with a load of white conservatives making rancid hip hop jokes then someone had to go and mention Jimmy Buffet. Ugh.

Thanks!  I like my name too.

Of course, as a girl I wished for something cool like Roxanne…

I think so, Purveyor.  Patriotism and the bittersweet vagaries of life.

Also anyone on this board with their political affiliation in their username or who refers to their own username in the third-person is a loser of almost unparalleled proportions. Farnsworth_Homo_Commie_666 just wanted to get that off his chest

The best song Simon and Garfundel recorded and one of the best songs of the 60s.

Roxanne (Greek/Pursian) : Star; bright; dawn

How is Jay-Z a racist?

That’s easy!

“    My president is black, in fact he’s half white. So even in a racist mind he’s half right. If you’ve got a racist mind it’s alright. My president is black, but his house is all white! My president is black, in fact he’s half white. So even in a racist mind he’s half right. If you’ve got a racist mind it’s alright. My president is black, but his house is all white! Never thought I’d say this shit, baby I’m good. You can keep your pussy because I don’t want no more Bush. No more war. No more iraq. No more white lies, my president is black.”

I didn’t ask ya boy, and my song for you is “Eat me Raw!”

I don’t agree with Paul Simon’s politics or his view of the world.  But this video is pure Americana.  This is what we fight and die for.  Wish I had been at Ground Zero for this occasion.  I’m sure there were other special moments, but this is unforgettable.

I don’t agree with Paul Simon’s politics or his view of the world.  But this video is pure Americana.  This is what we fight and die for.  Wish I had been at Ground Zero for this occasion.  I’m sure there were other special moments, but this is unforgettable.