Simon and Garfunkel’s classic hit “The Sound of Silence” is still recognizable more than 50 years after it was first released. It made number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and was a top ten hit worldwide.
It’s also appeared in a number of movies from The Graduate to children’s animation hit The Trolls.
Now it’s been covered again by members of Irish supergroup Celtic Thunder and the performance has gone viral.
People are amazed by Celtic Thunder’s cover for more than one reason.
Celtic Thunder singers Colm Keegan and Keith Harkin sound so much like Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. Their performance takes the audience back in time.
The story behind the song is one that may surprise a lot of people. When it was first released it was a complete failure and the duo ended up slitting up, Simon returned to England and Art Garfunkel to his studies at Columbia.
Then their producer, Tom Wilson, decided to revamp the song without their knowledge. They were not aware of the remix until the song was released in 1965.
It went straight to number one and was a hit around the world, leading the duo to reunite and quickly record and release their second album.
Simon, who wrote the song explained why he thought people all over the world connected with it so strongly.
“Really the key to ‘The Sound of Silence’ is the simplicity of the melody and the words, which are youthful alienation,” he said. “It’s a young lyric, but not bad for a 21-year-old. It’s not a sophisticated thought, but a thought that I gathered from some college reading material or something.
“It wasn’t something that I was experiencing at some deep, profound level – nobody’s listening to me, nobody’s listening to anyone – it was a post-adolescent angst, but it had some level of truth to it and it resonated with millions of people. Largely because it had a simple and singable melody.”
Celtic Thunder’s performance of the classic hit offered fans a Gaelic twist.
Founded in 2007 Celtic Thunder often sings traditional songs from Ireland and Scotland. They have 173,000 subscribers on YouTube.
‘These guys are the best’
Celtic Thunder singers, Colm Keegan and Keith Harkin show impeccable harmonies as they showcase their singing talents performing this duet.
The Irish-born-and bred duo’s beautiful performance of the song has been praised by thousands of fans. “I seriously love this song, it’s been sung by a few people but in my opinion, these guys are the best,” one fan commented on YouTube.
See what all the excitement is about in the video below.
[arve url=”https://youtu.be/8HNHKvtjoj8″ /]
If you love this performance as much as I did and the tens of thousands of others who have watched it, please share.
