Why Paul Simon Believes He Will Always Come in Second to This Storied Artist

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel were rising in the ranks of the music industry in the early and mid-1960s. Though given the time frame in which their climb occurred, they had quite a bit of competition. Competition that included both start-up artists and bona fide legends. Concerning the latter of those two, the world of popular music had already seen its fair share of folk music players. After all, when Simon and Garfunkel hit it big with “The Sound Of Silence” in 1964, Joan Baez, Phil Ochs, and other folk acts already cemented themselves as the major players of the 60s movement.

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel made it big at the end of the 60s folk movement; there is no question about that. That being so, they felt as if they couldn’t find a place to fit in. Furthermore, and regarding being a popular music act, Simon and Garfunkel also had to compete with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and The Beach Boys. Seemingly an impossible task, but an impossible task the two did complete.

While Simon and Garfunkel did achieve mass popularity and critical acclaim, Paul Simon did once divulge that they would always stand in the shadow of the wordsmith who partially paved the way for them and many others. That wordsmith is, of course, Bob Dylan.

If Not for Dylan, There Might Not Be a Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel are wonderfully talented musicians; there is no doubt about that. However, if it weren’t for Bob Dylan, there is a likelihood that their music, as well as other popular folk music, would not have been as well-received. Dylan did carve out a place for folk music in the mainstream, so, in a sense, he is the creator of popular folk music, and consequently, every folk musician to come after him is compared to him in some way, shape, or form.

Simon seemingly agrees with this notion, as he told Rolling Stone, “There’s always some kind of com­parison between us.” “I usually come in second. I don’t like coming in second. In the very, very beginning, when we were first signed to Columbia, I really admired Dylan’s work. ‘The Sound of Silence’ wouldn’t have been written if it weren’t for Dylan. But I left that feeling around The Graduate and ‘Mrs Robinson.’ They weren’t folky anymore,” added Paul Simon.

While the two parties differ in a lot of ways, they are also similar in a lot of ways. As a result, they will always be thrown into the same category. A category that Bob Dylan rules.

Photo by Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns