"The Only Living Boy In New York"

One of my favorite Paul Simon songs is “The Only Living Boy in New York,” the eighth track from my favorite Simon and Garfunkel album, Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970). Simon wrote it after Art Garfunkel had gone to Mexico to be in the film Catch-22.

Tom, get your plane right on time.
I know your part’ll go fine.
Fly down to Mexico.
Da-n-da-da-n-da-n-da-da and here I am,
The only living boy in New York.

“Tom” was the Tom in the early 1960s’ Tom (Garfunkel) and Jerry (Simon) folk duo.

Half of the time we’re gone but we don’t know where,
And we don’t know where.

The background vocals were recorded multi-tracked in an echo chamber. The simple, sparse lyrics and the resonate sound evoke abandonment and loneliness, a longing for something that had passed by, a foreboding of the breakup that was soon to follow (Bridge Over Troubled Water would be the last studio album for Simon and Garfunkel).

There are currently two Honda Accord ads playing on TV that use the song – or at least the echoed background – to evoke . . . something:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSxz7XRAwtA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iicf3G4nfiE

The ads are devoid of people (even drivers for the cars) and are both set in the desert, so I guess they’re using the background vocal to suggest perhaps uniqueness, or individuality (the only lyric, vaguely rendered, is “Here I am,” the final phrase from the song). I doubt they intend to signify abandonment or loneliness.

And that’s what pisses me off. Stop pilfering the songs that I grew up with. Especially when they’re distorted into some sort of corporate message contrary to the message of the song. There’s a music list that plays always in my mind, memory and understanding, and I don’t want those memories and that understanding corrupted by commercial shill (replace the “ll” with “t” if you like).

But I understand well that I rail against windmills. There is no battle, let alone war, to be won. Here I am. The only living boy.