It seems like Simon & Garfunkel are building a bridge over troubled water once and for all.
In a recent interview with The Sunday Times, Art Garfunkel, one half of the legendary Jewish folk rock duo, revealed that the pair recently reunited over lunch. (Simon and Garfunkel, who grew up together in the Jewish community of Forest Hills, Queens, have long had a tenuous friendship, marred by jealousy and a sense of competition. As Simon & Garfunkel, they broke up in 1970.)
“I looked at Paul and said, ‘What happened? Why haven’t we seen each other?'” Garfunkel recounted to The Sunday Times. “Paul mentioned an old interview where I said some stuff. I cried when he told me how much I had hurt him. Looking back, I guess I wanted to shake up the nice guy image of Simon & Garfunkel. Y’know what? I was a fool!”
Though the pair have reunited and performed together since 1970, notably at their Concert in Central Park in 1981 and at an American Film Institute event commemorating “The Graduate” in 2010, in recent years Simon and Garfunkel haven’t had many kind words for each other. In 2015, Garfunkel told the Daily Telegraph that Simon was an “idiot” and a “jerk.” (Perhaps this is the interview Simon was referring to in their conversation?) Meanwhile in 2018, Simon told NPR that he and Garfunkel likely would never reunite. “Quite honestly, we don’t get along. So it’s not like it’s fun,” he explained at the time.
But, in The Sunday Times interview, Garfunkel went on to reveal that he and Paul Simon have made plans to meet again. “Will Paul bring his guitar? Who knows. For me, it was about wanting to make amends before it’s too late. It felt like we were back in a wonderful place. As I think about it now, tears are rolling down my cheeks. I can still feel his hug.”
Whether they realize it or not, the two 83-year-old Jews seem to be practicing teshuvah, the Jewish concept of repentance and return. According to Jewish thinker Maimonides, teshuvah requires an acknowledgment of wrongdoing, remorse and resolution to be better in the future. Of course, we can’t know the details of these private conversations between Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. But based on the interview, Garfunkel has shown acknowledgment, remorse and resolve for the future. And a future meeting between the two reflects that Paul Simon is open to this process of reconciliation.
One can only hope that a healed friendship between Simon and Garfunkel will be as harmonious as the music they once made together.
