Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘The Sound Of Silence’ To Be Preserved By U.S. Library Of Congress

Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” has been selected as one of 25 recordings to be preserved at the U.S. Library of Congress. The track, which was originally released on the duo’s first album, Wednesday Monring, 3 A.M., became a #1 hit in 1966 after Columbia Records producer Tom Wilson overdubbed drums, electric guitar and electric bass for the song’s release as a single. Recordings are added to the National Recording Registry for long-term preservation due to cultural, artistic and historic importance to the nation’s aural legacy.

Garfunkel, 71, told The Associated Press he’s thrilled and flattered to have his work preserved in the Library of Congress. He said the hit album was a life changer for him and Simon. “Da da dee, da dee, da dee,” he sang in an interview. “There’s something fundamentally appealing about the simplicity of those lines.”

“When you look at the little mesh, wire microphone … and you address people on the other side of the mic, you hope that your performance will be special, and you hope that it will have lasting power,” he said, adding that he remembers thinking in the 60s that “if we do really good and give a very special performance to these great Paul Simon songs, we might last right into the next century and be appreciated.”

Read more at The Associated Press.