Song 340: This week on the playlist you’ll find I Am a Rock by Simon and Garfunkel, written by Paul Simon. Not long before school let out in the late spring of 1966, as I was finishing my freshman year, this cut started making a lot of noise on the airwaves, and I remember hearing it one afternoon from a passing convertible as I was walking back up to the school building from down in the football field/running track area. Not long after that, my best friend got a copy of the Sounds of Silence LP, and it became a regular spinner that he would play during my visits with him, as would the other S&G albums over the next few years. I quickly got to know this song, not just from listening, but also courtesy of a music book I managed to find at our HS, so I learned how to play it both on the guitar and on the piano. In that long ago era before Musixmatch and A-Z Lyrics, I always appreciated having an official source for lyrics, which meant I wouldn’t have to guess. My best friend and I both being bookish types, we had at least one conversation about how each of us identified with the singer who had his books and his poetry to protect him. I don’t know that I would have ever claimed to be a rock, though, but I certainly wouldn’t mind calling myself a rockstar, and I guess I now can do that, thanks to my spot on the latest Coast to Coast Rockstars Mix Tape, which you can find here.
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