Saturday, February 21, 2009

Simon & Garfunkel - So Similar

Art Garfunkel has stated that he and Paul Simon are planning to tour together again, though he didn't reveal in which countries, other than they will not be visiting England this time. (BBC NEWS).


The songs these artists have written and performed together are truly timeless classics. Great poetry, great melodies, simply and beautifully performed. I don't think they have ever been bettered, even by The Beatles. (And I shall not wash my mouth out!)

I'd never looked at their natal charts before, so -

Art Garfunkel born 5 November 1941 at 11pm, forest Hills, NewYork.
Paul Simon born 13 October 1941, Newark Heights, New Jersey.

There are subtle differences in how the planets relate to each other, because of degree variance, but on the whole the two charts are amazingly similar.

(Click on image to enlarge)



Here's a list of the planetary placements for easy reference:

Sun: Art 13 Scorpio Paul 19 Libra
Moon: Art 6 Gemini Paul 17 Cancer
Mercury: Art 26 Libra Paul 11 Scorpio
Venus: Art 29 Sagittarius Paul 2 Sagittarius
Mars: Art 11 Aries Paul 15 Aries
Jupiter: Art20 Gemini Paul21 Gemini
Saturn: Art 26 Taurus Paul 27 Taurus
Uranus: Art 28 Taurus Paul 27 Taurus
Neptune: Art 29 Virgo Paul 28 Virgo
Pluto: Art 5 Leo Paul 5 Leo
ASCENDANT: Art 13 Leo Paul 6 Virgo
MIDHEAVEN: Art 3 Taurus Paul 2 Gemini
(Paul's Uranus/Saturn is closer to Midheaven than Art's, (putting him rather more in front of the public ?)

Their elemental balances are quite similar: Paul has a little more Water, Art a little more Air, but it's a minimal difference.

Although their Suns are in neighbouring signs, note that Mercury in each case is in the other's Sun sign - which kind of balances the differences between Libra and Scorpio. Moons are one of two key differences - Simon's Moon in Cancer reflects a more sensitive nature than Garfunkel's Moon in mentally oriented Gemini - but even here there's a link because Simon's Cancer Moon trines Garfunkel's Sun in Scorpio (both are Water signs).

Their ascendants present the greatest potential for discord: a discerning Virgo rising in Paul Simon's chart and show-bizzy Leo in Garfunkel's. Judging from respective successes since their original breakup, I'd have guessed it would be the other way around, for Paul Simon has been seen on stage far more than Art Garfunkel, whose name has almost sunk into obscurity for the younger generations.

It's not surprising their charts are similar, they were born just 23 days apart, both in eastern states of the USA. Even so, there are more similarities than I'd have expected.

Numerous reports of disagreements between the pair have peppered entertainment columns over the years. It's possibly a case of their being just too similar for comfort. Perhaps the few differences there are between them take on extra importance due to rarity.

Conflicts were enough to cause discord in private life sufficient to merit break-up of the professional partnership.It was a great pity. Perhaps there's a lesson here: too many chart similarities between two people, in any type of relationship, is not necessarily a good thing. Complementary traits, and even opposing traits, could be more easily managed than a situation where each partner has an almost mirror image always beside them.

From the few videos left after the copyright purge on YouTube, here's an old clip from the duo's early days: a live performance of "The Sound of Silence". Simply presented, and all the more beautiful for it!


8 comments:

Shawn Carson said...

Big fan of these 2 also. Remember reading an article from years ago about Simon's chart, but I can't remember where. That astrologer placed Simon's Moon in the 12th house and made references to his devestating breakup with Carrie Fisher, and emotional sorrow of some of his hits.
Has any man ever sung more beautifully than Garfunkel? The ravages of time have taken their toll on the voices of these two, but they are surely still worth the price of admission.
Yes, Wichita is just about as flat as flat gets, and if I stand on my head...it becomes flat too!
Nice of you to put a link to my new blog on your site. I am not very computer savvy, so we'll see how it goes...
Jim Lewis pioneered Astro Carto Graphy. His latest work was published posthumously by some of his colleagues. This is a fascinating and worthwhile study of real astrology that "works" For instance, JFK's Pluto line passed thru Dallas. Jupiter lines are among the most favorable places to live. (Nice job by you).
Shawn

Twilight said...

Shawn ~~~ Hmmmm - I wonder if time of birth for Paul is a bit out of whack at Astrotheme then. They say 2.33 am. This is the problem with writing much about house positions, ascendant degree too - I rarely mention 'em, because time of birth is so nebulous, even when quoted in sources.

I shall make a point of looking further into astro cartography.
:-)

Wisewebwoman said...

I'm such a fan of S&G and also did you know Art is an avid reader and has a website devoted to this?
I've seen Paul in concerts a few times but never the two of them.
Very interesting charts.
XO
WWW

Twilight said...

WWW ~~~ No I didn't know about Art's site - I'll investigate. Thanks.

Himself saw the two singing together way back when they first set out.
Lucky!!

Anonymous said...

Agree with almost all you said about Paul 'n' Art, with one obvious exception to the comment about, well, YOU KNOW which one I mean!!

Am wondering if Himself has moved you out to the garage yet? Or perhaps you just received probation?

Twilight said...

TNPOTUS ~~~~ Chuckles--- you'll note he declined to comment! ;-)
My penance is light though, because he's very fond of the duo's work himself. Moving out to the garage would entail my saying something along the lines of, "jazz is a load of old....."

Would I ?? :-D

Michelle said...

Also both Snake year folk - elusive, mystical, magnetic snake plus Scorpio??? No surprise the kind of music they made together. ;-)

Twilight said...

Michelle ~~~ I wasn't aware of that - thanks for pointing it out.
:-)