by There was certainly a market for that when he began, but the greatest writers of his time were the ones who left listeners with something to think about that demanded repeated listens to figure out.
So when someone came out of the woodwork making bubble-gum pop, Simon wasn’t going to pretend that he was suddenly a massive fan or anything.
Because looking through Simon’s own solo discography, every one of his records felt like a new creative endeavour. There was no need for him to be the same folksy singer for the rest of his life, and when he wasn’t making musical detours into jazz and world music, he wanted the chance to make mature rock songs that people could relate to the same way that they would if a friend had dropped by to tell them a story.
While that freedom of expression did create a bit of a rub between him and Art Garfunkel back in the day, it’s not like his singing partner wasn’t justified. Neither of them was going to sing lyrics that they didn’t believe in, and even if it was at the cost of losing songs like ‘Cuba Si Nixon No’, it did end up making for a much better final product when listening to Bridge Over Troubled Water.
As Simon started flexing his muscles, though, pop music had started to go through a bit of a change. There had always been bubble gum artists from the days of listening to The Monkees, and while there’s nothing wrong with someone making a catchy tune that makes people tap their feet, no one had the same kind of staying power that Barry Manilow had at his prime in the 1970s.
Regardless of whether you were an avid top 40 listener or casually walking down the street, it was impossible to escape songs like ‘I Write the Songs’ or ‘Copacabana’ whenever they came on the radio. Each of them was an absolutely brilliant piece of music, but Simon was definitely looking for something with a bit more substance.
As far as he could see, all of Manilow’s work was nothing but shallow half the time, saying, “I question what emotion Manilow touches. People are entertained by him. But are they emotionally moved? I don’t believe anything that Barry Manilow sings.” While that’s certainly fair, listening to some of his more toothless productions, but that’s simply not how everyone chooses to listen to music, either.
There are always going to be people who flock to everyone from Simon to Dylan to Joni Mitchell to hear someone’s take on life, but there’s nothing wrong with the spectacle of it, either. After all, art is entertainment, and when someone has the right idea, they don’t always need the intimate songs in their arsenal. It’s nice when some of them can branch out, but it’s not like everyone is asking people like Alice Cooper or Kiss to suddenly get sentimental whenever they sing their classics.
That kind of music speaks to people in a much different way, and even if it isn’t the ideal model for songwriters like Simon thought, Manilow certainly deserves his place in the world. Not everything that he played was heartfelt in the same way ‘The Sound of Silence’ was, but there’s a reason why people are listening to his best material, much like everyone listened to songs by ABBA. They’re not always the most thoughtful thing in the world, but it’s easy to admire the sheer craftsmanship of those melodies.
