The Dangling Conversation Explained

The Dangling Conversation
Cover:The Dangling Conversation single.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Simon and Garfunkel
Album:Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
B-Side:The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine
Released:July 18, 1966
Recorded:June 21, 1966
Genre:Folk rock
Length:2:37
Label:Columbia Records
Producer:Bob Johnston
Prev Title:I Am a Rock
Prev Year:1966
Next Title:A Hazy Shade of Winter
Next Year:1966

"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

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. Marc Eliot, who wrote Paul Simon: A Life, disputes this, arguing that Garfunkel always disliked the song and felt it was pretentious. 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."

Reception

Cash Box said that it is a "gentle pop-folk ode which underscores some of life’s everyday hypocrisies" and expected it to "become a smash."[1] Record World said that "the pretty tune with vivid lyrics of aloneness will catch."[2]

Commercial performance

The song peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100, 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.[3]

Charts

Chart (1966)Peak
position
Canada 100 (RPM)[4] 27
scope="row"
US Cashbox Top 100[5] 15

In popular culture

The song features in Frederick Wiseman's 1968 documentary film High School in which a young teacher plays it, and enthusiastically advocates for its artistic qualities, while her class listens and looks rather bored. (As with all of Wiseman's work, the filmmaker's possible satirical intent always remains ambiguous.)

Sources

Notes and References

  1. CashBox Record Reviews . July 30, 1966 . 20 . 2022-01-12 . Cash Box.
  2. Single Picks of the Week. Record World. July 30, 1966. 1. 2023-07-15.
  3. Paul Simon: The Rolling Stone Interview. 113. Jon Landau. July 20, 1972. Rolling Stone. May 27, 2016.
  4. RPM Top 30 Rock Report. 6. 4. RPM. September 19, 1966. Ottawa

    Library and Archives Canada

    . 352936026. March 27, 2016.
  5. Web site: Cashbox Top 100: September 10, 1966. cashboxmagazine.com . 2021-01-25.