Simon & Garfunkel's 7 o'clock News/Silent Night

[stella]

In light of Christmas, I have a question regarding what is possibly the only Christmas song that Simon & Garfunkel released on their many albums. In "7 o'clock News/Silent Night", Simon & Garfunkel sang Silent Night while a male radio news anchor broadcast the 7 o'clock evening news in the background. I have pasted the radio news broadcast below. When I first heard the song, I naturally thought that the actual news broadcast was on a Christmas Eve or Christmas Day of a particular year. But further research indicates that the date was not during Christmas. The part that gives away the date of the actual broadcast is when the anchor says that comedian Lenny Bruce died that day in Los Angeles of a drug overdose.

Research on the internet shows that the news broadcast was on August 3, 1966 - the day Lenny Bruce died. That is during the middle of the summer and nowhere near Christmas as the Silent Night song would imply! I must admit I was quite disappointed to find out that the news broadcast was not related to Christmas.

Does anyone know why Simon & Garfunkel chose to superimpose that particular news broadcast with Silent Night?

Also, I wonder if that male news broadcaster was ever revealed - his name, his station, etc. I wonder if Simon & Garfunkel gave him credit for using his broadcast. On the album, I don't think it identifies who that anchor was.

=======The 7 o'clock radio news on August 3, 1966=======

This is the early evening edition of the news.

The recent fight in the House of Representatives was over the open housing section of the Civil Rights Bill. Brought traditional enemies together but it left the defenders of the measure without the votes of their strongest supporters.
President Johnson originally proposed an outright ban covering discrimination by everyone for every type of housing but it had no chance from the start and everyone in Congress knew it. A compromise was painfully worked out in the House Judiciary Committee.

In Los Angeles today comedian Lenny Bruce died of what was believed to be an overdoes of narcotics. Bruce was 42 years old.

Dr. Martin Luther King says he does not intend to cancel plans for an open housing march Sunday into the Chicago suburb of Cicero. Cook County Sheriff Richard Ogleby asked King to call off the march and the police in Cicero said they would ask the National Guard to be called out if it is held. King, now in Atlanta, Georgia, plans to return to Chicago Tuesday.

In Chicago Richard Speck, accused murderer of nine student nurses, was brought before a grand jury today for indictment. The nurses were found stabbed an strangled in their Chicago apartment.

In Washington the atmosphere was tense today as a special subcommittee of the House Committee on Un-American activities continued its probe into anti-Vietnam war protests. Demonstrators were forcibly evicted from the hearings when they began chanting anti-war slogans.

Former Vice-President Richard Nixon says that unless there is a substantial increase in the present war effort in Viet nam, the U.S. should look forward to five more years of war. In a speech before the Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in New York, Nixon also said opposition to the war in this country is the greatest single weapon working against the U.S.

That's the 7 o'clock edition of the news,
Goodnight.
=======================================

[Steve M.]

Simon and Garfunkel juxtaposed a radio news report against a traditional Christmas ballad to illustrate the irony of people singing Yuletide hymns about heavenly peace when the real world was experiencing anything but peace. Also, the softness Paul and Art's relaxed, enunciated choir-boy harmonies was deliberately disrupted by the newsman's brisk, terse delivery, which was more indicative of how the world is. I don't know who the newsman was, but Ralph Gleason wrote on the liner notes of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme ( the album this track appeared on) that it brought tears to his eyes when he first heard it.

The album came out in late November 1966, just in time to remind folks what was really going on during Christmas.

[Jrnygrl]

The radio stations used to play this every year, now no one does.

Thanks for posting this, it is still timeless.

[Steve M.]

It blows my mind how little has changed since 1966.

[Jrnygrl]

Originally posted by Steve M.
It blows my mind how little has changed since 1966.

True!

Think about it, you could insert the name of ODB in place of Lenny Bruce. You could insert what is going on in Iraq for Vietnam. You could insert the name of the woman who killed the pregnant woman, in place of Richard Speck. Place the names of the Senate member who are calling for the resignation of the Defense Secretary with that of those who were being investigated for protesting the Vietnam war.

I could go on and on.

[musicradio77]

I don't know the song though, I've never heard that one yet. It's from the album "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme" by Simon & Garfunkel. The album includes the song "Scarborough Fair".

[Steve M.]

Originally posted by Full House
I don't know the song though, I've never heard that one yet. It's from the album "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme" by Simon & Garfunkel. The album includes the song "Scarborough Fair".

It's their best album!

[stella]

Thanks to Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_O%27C...s/Silent_Night

The newsman was Charlie O'Donnell. He just passed away recently on November 1, 2010. R.I.P.

[Zoneboy]

Originally Posted by stella

Thanks to Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_O%27C...s/Silent_Night

The newsman was Charlie O'Donnell. He just passed away recently on November 1, 2010. R.I.P.

I haven't heard it but Wikipedia is not a reliable source for information. If anyone can find another source to back up Wikipedia then please post it.

[MrCleveland]

That song can probably be updated.

Silent Night is a peaceful Holiday Song and using the 7 o'clock news shows that even you can't escape reality on Christmas.

Even the song "White Christmas" has some undertones...it was released in WWII when many saw fighting and hate.

Even God knows that Christmas is overlooked and has been bastardized by commercialism....

[AKA]

Originally Posted by Zoneboy

I haven't heard it but Wikipedia is not a reliable source for information. If anyone can find another source to back up Wikipedia then please post it.

Wikipedia is plenty reliable. Yes, it's user-generated, but it's moderated. People can't just post falsehoods willy-nilly without being scrutinized. Anyway, here's another source:

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertain...s_angeles.html

Besides announcing for dozens of popular game show, O'Donnel played a small but striking role in the history of 1960s "protest" music and the career of Paul Simon – as the news announcer on Simon & Garfunkel's "7 O'Clock News/Silent Night."

[Zoneboy]

Originally Posted by AKA

Wikipedia is plenty reliable. Yes, it's user-generated, but it's moderated. People can't just post falsehoods willy-nilly without being scrutinized. Anyway, here's another source:

Sorry but we'll have to respectfully disagree where that is concerned. I've corrected and deleted countless entries on that site where someone didn't have their facts straight. In this case however, I listened to the song on YouTube and was convinced that it was indeed Mr. O'Donnell but I appreciate your posting of another source just the same.

[Steve M.]

Originally Posted by MrCleveland

Even the song "White Christmas" has some undertones...it was released in WWII when many saw fighting and hate.

Dave Marsh said he once appreciated the irony of "White Christmas" sung by the Drifters becuase they were black. WTF? THe song is about snow, not Caucasians!