"Leaves That Are Green" | |
---|---|
Song by Simon and Garfunkel | |
from the album Sounds of Silence | |
A-side | " Homeward Bound" |
Genre | Folk pop, folk rock [1] |
Length | 2:20 |
Label | Columbia Records |
Songwriter(s) | Paul Simon |
"Leaves That Are Green" is a song written and originally recorded by Paul Simon for his 1965 album The Paul Simon Songbook. [2] [3] It was later re-recorded with Art Garfunkel for the 1966 album Sounds of Silence, adding an electric harpsichord, rhythm guitar, and bass. [4] It was also the B-side to the hit song " Homeward Bound".
Cash Box described the song as a "melodic ballad about the ever-constant aging process." [5] Allmusic critic Matthew Greenwald described the music as having a "sprightly folk-pop tempo and feel" with "inventive percussion and harpsichord," and described the lyrics as using "changing seasons to convey the feelings at the disintegration of a romance." [6] Simon biographer Laura Jackson described the song as "peaceful number" in which Simon uses the changing seasons to illustrate that time goes on, and all things come and go. [7] Simon biographer Cornel Bonca criticizes the "cliched nature imagery" but notes that the "delightful" harpsichord opening "belies the lyrics' winsome gloom." [8] On the other hand, music critic Paul Williams used a line from "Leaves That Are Green" to demonstrate Simon's skill as a phrasemaker with a gift for words: "She faded in the night like a poem I meant to write...and the leaves that are green turn to brown." [9]
Music journalist David Browne considered the theme of the song to be "premature nostalgia." [10] Music journalist Chris Charlesworth considers "Leaves That Are Green" to be Simon's first and possibly prettiest of many of Simon's songs that deal with the passage of time. [11] Charlesworth praised the "intricate guitar picking" but criticizes a "failure of the imagination" in the 3rd verse, where the lyrics just say hello and goodbye. [11]
Simon played "Leaves That Are Green" at a live concert at his alma mater Queens College in 1964, where he also played " The Sound of Silence." [3] Simon & Garfunkel performed the song live on their 2004 tour. [3]
The opening lines were quoted by Billy Bragg's song " A New England". [12]
Dorris Henderson covered "Leaves That Are Green" as a single in 1965. [13] Ronnie Hawkins covered it in 1971 on his album The Hawk. [14] J.D. Crowe covered it on his 1973 album Bluegrass Evolution. [15]