The Great Simon and Garfunkel Sing-Along

Back in 1993, before Heather Kropf had recorded her first album and I had no musical aspirations beyond wistfully wishing I could sing and play guitar at a campus-hosted coffee-house, I lived with 4 other young women in a rental house painted green, and consequently was called the Greenhouse. Technically, the Greenhouse was off-campus housing, but since it was right across the street from campus, we had the best of both worlds: easy access to classes and events without the hassle of so-called "open-house hours" whereby members of the opposite sex couldn't be in each others rooms past 11 pm on weekdays and midnight on weekends. I chafed at this rule, not because I had a boyfriend (I didn't) but because at least half of my good friends were male and we always had to cut our merry-making short or move to the common lounges.

The Greenhouse was a good place to gather. One week in late winter, Heather Kropf and I decided that the way to beat the chill of a northern Indiana town in February was to invite people to attend a pot-luck followed by a Simon and Garfunkel sing-along. We came up with the following flyer, which we printed up and hung around campus. If you're a Simon and Garfunkel/Paul Simon fan, see how many song-titles you can name from the flyer:

If you’ve got the paranoia blues from hangin’ around in Goshen…
If you’ve been seeking out the poorer quarters where the ragged people go…
If you’ve been Mick Jaggered and silver-daggered…
If you find someone’s taken your place after you’ve washed your face…
If you’ve heard words you’ve never heard in the Bible…
If the zookeeper is very fond of rum…
If you’ve seen a shadow touch a shadow’s hand…
If you dreamed you were dying…
If you thought the man in the gabardine hat was a spy…
If you read your Emily Dickinson while he reads his Robert Frost…
If you’re a Citizens for Boysenberry Jam fan…
If your group has more cavities than theirs…
If you’ve laughed them all with Frank Lloyd Wright…
If you think it will be terribly strange to be seventy…
If you’re only fakin’ it and not really makin’ it through the hazy shade of winter…

The game is over. Why don’t we stop fooling ourselves?
There must be fifty ways to have a good time. On February 16, 1993, at 9 p.m., say goodbye to the Queen of Corona and come to the big bright Greenhouse, where flowers never bend with the rainfall.

For all you Simon and Garfunkel fans that need a pre-midterm study break… or just an excuse to sing. Stop. Stop and think it over. Come to the Simon & Garfunkel Sing-A-Long at the Greenhouse.

People came with their guitars, Heather played the upright piano in the Greenhouse, and despite the lack of printed lyrics, we had a good time. If you weren't there, we missed you. We'll have to do it again. My rallying cry: Next time in Seattle!

To learn more about Heather Kropf beyond her website, check out this early article.

What Else is Love? Heather Kropf

What Else is Love, the new album by my friend, Heather Kropf, is finally complete and awaiting its official release on December 10. On Heather's website, you can download "Wish," a song off the new album, listen to short clips of other songs, and check out her earlier album, Sky (available for download from a couple of different music sites.)

Heather is the kind of unpretentious musician who is just as comfortable singing silly songs with her friends as she is working in a recording studio or on-stage live. Heather was the one who rearranged my parody* of Simon and Garfunkel's "El Condor Pasa" for a coffee-house performance. She has been an inspiration to me musically, not to mention a powerful influence in the ways of the Silly Side of the Force. If you don't believe me, just ask her to play Would You Rather.... She always gives me a run for my money.

Speaking of money, I am not getting paid to plug Heather's new album, nor did she ask me to mention the new album on my blog. However, I will not complain if, in an overwhelming rush of gratitude (and high level of cd sales), she brings her band to tour the Pacific Northwest.

*Here's the parody:

I'd rather be Paul Simon than Dan Quayle,
Yes I would, if I could, I surely would.
I'd rather eat a bagel fresh than stale,
Yes I would, etc.

Awake, I'd rather stay awake,
Than fall asleep, by counting sheep.
A Pan whose pipes are clean and sound
Does not exist, cannot be found, cannot be found.

I'd rather be a florist than chop meat,
Yes I would, etc.
I'd rather not give birth nor be in heat,
Yes I would, etc.

A steak, I'd rather have a steak,
Than squash and peas with anti-freeze,
And spam and tripe cannot compete,
With eating cake, and rubbing feet, and rubbing feet.