Those first six seconds. Those first six seconds. I could just listen to those on a loop forever, even though it’s a coiled spring preparing you for the dual harmonied “Time, time, time/See what’s become of me” that follows. That’s the story of this song, in short: The tension between the vocals and the arrangement they’re on top of; one is calming and beautiful, the other tetchy and tense (with such a great riff). That neither side wins, as such – The song just stops, wonderfully – makes it even more compelling.
Amusingly, when I tweeted this song the other day, someone (Hi, Adam) responded by saying that he felt guilty for preferring the Bangles version of the song:
Considering the Bangles take that riff and make it work as hard as it can, I don’t think there’s anything to feel guilty about at all. This is a great version, if one that forgoes the tension of the Simon & Garfunkel original for something more immediate and glossy. Wish they’d worked in that final “HA!” at the end, though…