The Dangling Conversation

"The Dangling Conversation"
"The Dangling Conversation"
Single by Simon and Garfunkel
from the album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
B-side	"The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine"
Released	July 1966
Recorded	June 1966
Genre	Folk rock
Length	2:37
Label	Columbia Records
Songwriter(s)	Paul Simon
Producer(s)	Bob Johnston
Simon and Garfunkel singles chronology

"The Dangling Conversation" is a song by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel, released in September 1966 as the second single from the duo's third studio album, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966).

Background[]

The theme is failed communication between lovers. The song starts in a room washed by shadows from the sun slanting through the lace curtains and ends with the room "softly faded." The two are as different as the poets they read: Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost. Simon has compared this song to "The Sound of Silence", but says "The Dangling Conversation" is more personal.^[1]

Simon & Garfunkel's opinion of the song varied over time. According to biographer Peter Ames Carlin, they both considered it their favorite song on the album at the time of its release.^[2] Marc Eliot, who wrote Paul Simon: A Life, disputes this, arguing that Garfunkel always disliked the song and felt it was pretentious.^[3] When the single did not perform as well as they had hoped, Simon told Record Mirror's Norman Jopling that the song was "above the kids." In 1993, when asked about the song, he commented, "It's a college kid's song, a little precious."^[2]

Commercial performance[]

The song peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100,^[4] and never made it onto the UK charts. Simon viewed "The Dangling Conversation" as an "absolutely amazing" disappointment to him at the time, as the previous three Simon & Garfunkel singles were reasonable "hits". He felt as though the song may have been "too heavy" for a mainstream audience.^[5]

Charts[]

Chart (1966)	Peak position
Canada 100 (RPM)^[6]	27
US Billboard Hot 100^[4]	25
US Cashbox Top 100^[7]	15

Notes[]

References[]

^ "Show 36 - The Rubberization of Soul: The great pop music renaissance. [Part 2]". UNT Digital Library. University of North Texas. Retrieved 2016-01-15.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b Carlin 2016, p. 138.
^ Eliot 2010, p. 74.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Simon & Garfunkel Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
^ Jon Landau (July 20, 1972). "Paul Simon: The Rolling Stone Interview". Rolling Stone (113). Retrieved May 27, 2016.
^ "RPM Top 30 Rock Report". RPM. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada. 6 (4). September 19, 1966. OCLC 352936026. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
^ "Cashbox Top 100: September, 10, 1966". cashboxmagazine.com. Retrieved 2021-01-25.

Sources[]

Carlin, Peter Ames (2016). Homeward Bound: The Life of Paul Simon. Henry Holt and Co. ISBN 978-1-627-79034-5.
Eliot, Marc (2010). Paul Simon: A Life. John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-43363-8.

External links[]

Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics

[1] "Show 36 - The Rubberization of Soul: The great pop music renaissance. [Part 2]". UNT Digital Library. University of North Texas. Retrieved 2016-01-15.

[FOOTNOTECarlin2016138-2] Jump up to: ^a ^b Carlin 2016, p. 138.

[FOOTNOTEEliot201074-3] Eliot 2010, p. 74.

[hot100-4] Jump up to: ^a ^b "Simon & Garfunkel Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved March 27, 2016.

[rs72-5] Jon Landau (July 20, 1972). "Paul Simon: The Rolling Stone Interview". Rolling Stone (113). Retrieved May 27, 2016.

[can1-6] "RPM Top 30 Rock Report". RPM. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada. 6 (4). September 19, 1966. OCLC 352936026. Retrieved March 27, 2016.

[7] "Cashbox Top 100: September, 10, 1966". cashboxmagazine.com. Retrieved 2021-01-25.

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show v t Simon & Garfunkel
Paul Simon Art Garfunkel
Studio albums	Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. Sounds of Silence Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme Bookends Bridge over Troubled Water
Live albums	The Concert in Central Park Live from New York City, 1967 Old Friends: Live on Stage Live 1969
Compilation albums	Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits The Simon and Garfunkel Collection 20 Greatest Hits The Definitive Simon and Garfunkel The Best of Simon and Garfunkel Two Can Dream Alone Tales from New York: The Very Best of Simon & Garfunkel Tom & Jerry The Essential Simon & Garfunkel
Box sets	Collected Works Old Friends The Columbia Studio Recordings (1964–1970) The Collection: Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel: The Complete Albums Collection
Soundtrack albums	The Graduate
Videos	The Concert in Central Park Old Friends: Live on Stage
Discographies	Simon & Garfunkel Art Garfunkel Paul Simon
Other	Songs recorded Paul Simon solo albums Paul Simon songs Art Garfunkel solo albums Bridge over Troubled Water (Paul Desmond album)
Category

show v t Simon & Garfunkel singles
Discography List of songs recorded
Sounds of Silence	"The Sound of Silence" / "We've Got a Groovey Thing Goin'" "I Am a Rock" / "Flowers Never Bend with the Rainfall"
Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme	"Homeward Bound" / "Leaves That Are Green" "The Dangling Conversation" / "The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine" "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" / "April Come She Will"
Bookends	"A Hazy Shade of Winter" / "For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her" "At the Zoo" / "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" "Fakin' It" / "You Don't Know Where Your Interest Lies" "Mrs. Robinson" / "Old Friends" / "Bookends"
Bridge over Troubled Water	"The Boxer" / "Baby Driver" "Bridge over Troubled Water" / "Keep the Customer Satisfied" "Cecilia" / "The Only Living Boy in New York" "El Cóndor Pasa (If I Could)" / "Why Don't You Write Me"
Other singles	"America" "My Little Town" "Wake Up Little Susie"
Other songs	"Richard Cory" "Patterns" "A Simple Desultory Philippic (or How I Was Robert McNamara'd into Submission)" "7 O'Clock News/Silent Night" "Save the Life of My Child" "Overs" "Punky's Dilemma" "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright"
Category