Concepts of man in the ballads of Simon and Garfunkel

Abstract

There is literature in songs, the lyrics of a song qualifies it as one. On the other hand, ballads as work of the literature can be seen as a means to understand man. Man can be understood from different perspectives as shown in the ballads of Simon and Gurfunkal. He can be perceived as a social, an existential, a psychological, a spiritual and a rational being. Manifestations of these concepts of man are made possible by the political, social, historical and economic milieus where the individual belongs. A ballad is not to be considered a literary work if it merely communicates ideas of man and other social realities confronting him. A literary work should remain true to its identity as a work of art, thus how the content of these ballads are artistically communicated count much. In the ballads of Simon and Garfunkel, it was able to artistically depict the different concepts of man via the use of the following literary techniques: (1) imagery (2) symbolism; (3) use of refrain; (4) repetition; and (5) figurative language. Four literary approaches which include psychological, analytical, thematic, socio-historical and socio-biographical approaches were made use of to unravel the literary quality of the ballads. The paper was divided into the following parts: The first chapter gave the theoretical framework of the study, introduced the problem, presented the scope and delimitation of the study, defined the terms, and presented the significant of the study. The fourth chapter was the analysis of Simon and Garfunkel’s ballads. The chapter classified the ballads according to subjects tackled. The subjects on the ballads were on estrangement, escape mechanism, change, human relationships, discrimination, pretense, quest and choices. The different personae and characters in the ballads of Simon and Garfunkel are all mirrors to the different concepts of man; that is, man as a social, psychological, rational and existential being. Moreover, the different personae and characters in the ballads proved that man’s being is compartmentalized but when he functions, he functions as a whole using the different compartments of his being. Also, the ballads studied focused on the following subjects: change, discrimination, human relationships, indifference, pretense, quest, escape mechanism, choices and estrangement. On the other hand, the socio-economic, political, historical, and psychological milieus are the different factors that stimulated the personae and characters in the ballads of Simon and Garfunkel to manifest specific attitudes and reactions. Finally, imagery, symbolism, use of refrain, repetition and figurative language were utilized in the ballads to characterize man. This study concentrated on the analysis of man in the ballads studied. It is therefore recommended that other studies be made on the ballads of Simon and Garfunkel as focused on the use of thematic designs. It is further recommended that similar studies be conducted on the different songs by different composers focusing on thematic patterns.