Leaves That Are Green
{{infobox song
|artist = Simon and Garfunkel
|name = Leaves That Are Green
|writer = Paul Simon
|album = Sounds of Silence
|genre = Folk pop, folk rock{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/leaves-that-are-green-mt0041197519|title=Leaves That Are Green - Simon & Garfunkel | Song Info | AllMusic|via=www.allmusic.com}}
|length = 2:20
|A-side = Homeward Bound
|label = Columbia Records
|year = 1966 (1965 original Paul Simon version)
}}
"Leaves That Are Green" is a song written and originally recorded by Paul Simon for his 1965 album The Paul Simon Songbook.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-paul-simon-songbook-mw0000050335|title=The Paul Simon Songbook - Paul Simon | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic|via=www.allmusic.com}} It was later re-recorded with Art Garfunkel for the 1966 album Sounds of Silence, adding an electric harpsichord, rhythm guitar, and bass.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/sounds-of-silence-mw0000195709|title=Sounds of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic|via=www.allmusic.com}} It was also the B-side to the hit song "Homeward Bound".
Reception
Cash Box described the song as a "melodic ballad about the ever-constant aging process."{{cite magazine |title=CashBox Record Reviews |date=February 5, 1966 |page=12 |access-date=2022-01-12 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/60s/1966/CB-1966-02-05.pdf |magazine=Cash Box}} Allmusic critic Matthew Greenwald described the music as having a "sprightly folk-pop tempo and feel" with "inventive percussion and harpsichord," and described the lyrics as using "changing seasons to convey the feelings at the disintegration of a romance."{{cite web|title=Leaves That Are Green|author=Greenwald, Matthew|url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/leaves-that-are-green-mt0011914215|accessdate=2022-01-19|publisher=Allmusic}} Simon biographer Laura Jackson described the song as "peaceful number" in which Simon uses the changing seasons to illustrate that time goes on, and all things come and go.{{cite book|title=Paul Simon: The Definitive Biography|author=Jackson, Laura|date=April 2004|page=73|publisher=Kensington|isbn=9780806525396}} Simon biographer Cornel Bonca criticizes the "cliched nature imagery" but notes that the "delightful" harpsichord opening "belies the lyrics' winsome gloom."{{cite book|pages=29, 31|title=Paul Simon: An American Tune|author=Bonca, Cornel|year=2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9780810884823}} On the other hand, music critic Paul Williams used a line from "Leaves That Are Green" to demonstrate Simon's skill as a phrasemaker with a gift for words: "She faded in the night like a poem I meant to write...and the leaves that are green turn to brown."{{cite book|title=The Crawdaddy! Book: Writings (and Images) from the Magazine of Rock|page=12|author=Williams, Paul|year=2002|publisher=Hal Leonard|isbn=9780634029585}}
Music journalist David Browne considered the theme of the song to be "premature nostalgia."{{cite book|title=Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY, and the Lost Story of 1970|year=2012|author=Browne, David|publisher=Hachette|isbn=9780306822131}} Music journalist Chris Charlesworth considers "Leaves That Are Green" to be Simon's first and possibly prettiest of many of Simon's songs that deal with the passage of time.{{cite book|title=The Complete Guide to the Music of Paul Simon and Simon & Garfunkel|author=Charlesworth, Chris|page=19|year=1997|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=0711955972}} Charlesworth praised the "intricate guitar picking" but criticizes a "failure of the imagination" in the 3rd verse, where the lyrics just say hello and goodbye.
Performances
Simon played "Leaves That Are Green" at a live concert at his alma mater Queens College in 1964, where he also played "The Sound of Silence."{{cite book|title=Paul Simon FAQ|pages=42, 53, 257|author=Thompson, Dave|year=2019|publisher=Backbeat|isbn=9781493050758}} Simon & Garfunkel performed the song live on their 2004 tour.
Influence and covers
The opening lines were quoted by Billy Bragg's song "A New England".{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/simon-and-garfunkel-18-best-songs/ |title=Simon & Garfunkel: 18 best songs |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=July 5, 2017 }}
Dorris Henderson covered "Leaves That Are Green" as a single in 1965.{{cite book|title=Eight Miles High: Folk-rock's Flight from Haight-Ashbury to Woodstock|year=2003|author=Unterberger, Richie|publisher=Backbeat|isbn=9780879307431}} Ronnie Hawkins covered it in 1971 on his album The Hawk.{{cite news|title=Billboard Album Reviews|newspaper=Billboard|page=45|date=March 6, 1971|accessdate=2022-01-19|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5AgEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Leaves+that+are+green%22+simon&pg=RA1-PA45}} J.D. Crowe covered it on his 1973 album Bluegrass Evolution.{{cite web|title=Bluegrass Evolution|author=Hage, Erik|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/bluegrass-evolution-mw0000044038|publisher=Allmusic|accessdate=2022-01-19}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Paul Simon songs}}
{{Simon and Garfunkel singles}}
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