For the month of January, I’m selecting some of the most memorable and influential songs of the 60’s. While they all hail from the same decade, these are some of my favorite songs of any era. They remind me that the 60’s were so much more than just Woodstock and psychedelic rock. It was a flourishing period for blues, folk, progressive and straight-ahead rock. #31DaysOf60sSongs
Simon & Garfunkel’s big breakthrough may be The Graduate soundtrack. But the album that will always have the greatest meaning to me is Bookends. Not only was it my first Simon & Garfunkel recording, it was also my first real exposure to folk rock, a genre that I would enjoy immensely over the years through a number of different acts, everyone from Indigo Girls to the Barr Brothers. Bookends contains several key anthems from the duo’s catalog, including “Mrs. Robinson”, “America” and under-the-radar tracks like “Hazy Shade of Winter” made popular by The Bangles. The album had weighty moments and light moments, and “Punky’s Dilemma” was a prime example of the latter.
Light, airy and almost breezy. That’s how “Punky’s Dilemma” feels. Lyrics like “I wish I was a Kellogg’s Cornflake”, the intermittent whistling and Simon’s upbeat acoustic guitar strum give the song a buoyancy. But upon closer inspection, the song’s lyrics are far from light. The dilemma was whether or not to go along with the military draft at the height of the Vietnam War. Punky was deciding if it was worth going through with it or dodging the draft. By giving the song a lighthearted feel, Simon & Garfunkel did an ingenious thing, making the song less about the issue and more about the character.
“If I become a first lieutenant would you put my photo on your piano?”