Simon and Garfunkel were a gifted vocal duo. Their list of hit songs is long and they have enjoyed the adulation of several generations of devoted fans. Many of the best renditions in their musical songbook still resonate with audiences, reflecting on troubled times and unresolved social issues.
One of the merits of their longevity is that they are easy on the ears. Their harmony could turn ordinary songs into ballads that are often used at weddings and funerals.
Their hits include “America,” “The Sound of Silence,” “Mrs. Robinson,” “Scarborough Fair,” and “Old Friends/Bookends.”
A favorite of mine is “Bridge Over Troubled Waters.”
America is in deep, troubled waters.
Read or listen to the daily news for any length of time and you will head straight to your medicine cabinet for headache relief. Talking heads and politicians of various descriptions try to cajole us into believing that only they have the answers to all of our problems. If their solutions had worked well, then we should now be high in clover.
America has a lot on its plate. A health pandemic, wealth disparities, deteriorating race relations, a leadership vacuum, a struggling economy, and high unemployment all contribute to the prospect that, unless we enact dramatic political changes, we will descend into becoming a third-world country.
There is a solution. Vote.
It is disheartening to witness the low percentage of eligible voters who actually vote. Those who do not vote offer all sorts of poor excuses: “I don’t have the time to vote,” “My arthritis bothers me,” “I don’t have transportation,” “My vote won’t count,” “The system is rigged,” “I don’t like any of the candidates,” and the list goes on.
If you cannot make it to the polls, mail-in voting is a safe and effective alternative. Members of our armed forces have been voting by absentee ballot for years without problems. Even when we were at war.
Some countries take voting seriously. They have compulsory voting and will issue you a fine for not voting. I am not suggesting that is a good idea.
Citizens of good will should honor all the members of our armed services who gave their lives to protect our Constitution and the cultural values that it represents. The right to vote is one of the those values.
We have three months until the November elections, which gives you plenty of time to decide which of the various candidates running for political offices you will vote for.
This is serious stuff. The results of the November election will decide what the future of the American experiment will look like for you, your children, and your grandchildren.
If you do not plan to cast a ballot in the November election, please spare us your empty platitudes and opinions for whom we should vote.
Sail on silver girl.
(Jim Baer lives in Concord.)