Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2017 September 13

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September 13

Sound of Silence

(Inspired by a related discussion on the Language desk) Was the Simon Garfunkel song The Sound of Silence influenced in any way by Jean Cocteau's play of the same name? And/or, do they have any main themes in common? 2601:646:8E01:7E0B:992F:DDCF:CD34:2A70 (talk) 03:08, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

Almost certainly no influence that way around. The title Cocteau gave his play was Le Bel indifférent, and the English translation was only published in 1992. That doesn't prove that it wasn't performed under the title The Sound of Silence earlier, but I can't find any mention of it by that name on Google Books before the Simon and Garfunkel song. Maybe the question should be whether the translator was influenced by Simon and Garfunkel. Also, FWIW, the song was originally called "The Sounds of Silence" according to our article on it. --Antiquary (talk) 09:04, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

Just to further clarify, the English title of the play is not a translation of the French title. The French phrase lacks any good direct English translation, perhaps "the aloof beauty"? Maybe? The phase "the sound of silence" has nothing to do with the original French title. --Jayron32 11:04, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

Paul Simon has told the story repeatedly [1][2][3] that he wrote the song at night, in the bathroom, with the lights off. The phrase "hello darkness" is in reference to sitting in the dark. The images of the song came from his imagination of the running water from the tap and the cold tiles. He imagined being in a subway station or on a damp stone street. The entire aspect of the singer knowing what's right and everyone else being wrong was, as Simon put it, just teenage angst. 209.149.113.5 (talk) 11:31, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

Hence the line about "I turned my collar to the cold and damp". But as far as the last 2 verses, I have a different take on those -- I think it could be a statement on commercialized pop art vs. authentic folk art -- hence the line "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls". 2601:646:8E01:7E0B:3DB7:8D6E:A762:14CC (talk) 11:41, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

For prophesy being written on walls, see Belshazzar's feast. Alansplodge (talk) 19:45, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

Another twist is that there had been a legal battle in the US at about that time over scripts for the TV series, The Twilight Zone. Apparently a script called "The Sound of Silence" was submitted to the producers in 1961. In 1963, screenwriter Rod Serling wrote a similar story for the same series called "Sounds and Silences", which was only shown once before Serling was successfully sued by the original author (see A Critical History of Television’s The Twilight Zone, 1959–1964 p. 185 by Don Presnell, Marty McGee). Alansplodge (talk) 20:00, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

Stones gap in Ottawa

I believe the Rolling Stones have performed in Ottawa twice - with a 42-year gap. Is this true, and is this a record for their history? Hayttom (talk) 19:50, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

On This fansite's page about the concert at the "Frank Clair Stadium, Lansdowne Park, Ottawa, ON, Canada, Sunday, August 28, 2005" a reviewer writes: "the last time they played here was way back on April 24, 1965 at the YMCA Auditorium", so that would be a 40-year gap. With this info on date and location it should be possible to find links in local or national newspaper archives, for solid reference. Unfortunately not all the "Newslinks" listed there work. ---Sluzzelin talk 20:05, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

(No idea whether this is a record in time gap between performances in the same city) ---Sluzzelin talk 20:14, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

Wikipedia, interestingly, has an almost complete list of Rolling Stones concert tours indexed at The Rolling Stones concerts. The April 24, 1965 date is listed at The Rolling Stones 1st American Tour 1965 and the August 28, 2005 date is listed at A Bigger Bang (concert tour). It would take some work, but by perusing all of those articles, you could answer just about any question from those lists. There's a fansite here that promises a "complete concert log" for every Rolling Stones concert ever, it may fill in the few gaps the Wikipedia articles have. --Jayron32 20:21, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

Just checked that site and it does indicate the same as noted above, the only two concerts listed for Ottawa are the two above, 40 years apart. According to This page at same site, they also had a 40-year gap (1966-2006) between concerts in Wellington. --Jayron32 20:27, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

Here shows a 40-year gap between shows in Warsaw. --Jayron32 20:29, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

I point out that at 40 years and just over 4 months, the gap shown for Ottawa is longer than those other two. --69.159.60.147 (talk) 21:28, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

They could still theoretically return to Statesboro and beat the record soundly. They didn't like it 52 years ago, though. InedibleHulk (talk) 21:42, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

So they had the Statesboro Blues? --Jayron32 22:39, 13 September 2017 (UTC)

I think Honolulu is another one like that. They toured in The Rolling Stones American Tour 1966 and The Rolling Stones Pacific Tour 1973 but from what I can tell, haven't been back since. Strike that, found Bridges to Babylon Tour. I suspect there may be other American and other cities like that, but I'm not sure. Nil Einne (talk) 13:05, 18 September 2017 (UTC)

Resolved