Video Spotlight: Simon and Garfunkel

Now that the internets have been around for, what, 20 years or so, I've pretty much got my expectations in line with the reality of the world.  I try to avoid the comment section of any post but every once in a while I scroll a little too far south, and I'm reminded why it is a bigger waste of time than polishing my shoes before jumping in the mosh pit at Lollapalooza.  Assuming that it rained all weekend and that I actually ever went to Lollapalooza and that I wasn't too old and refined to mosh.

So I expect, in the comment section, to see an occasional thoughtful remark.  A racist remark.  An illiterate remark.  A funny remark.  An incoherent remark.  Something attacking Obama, liberals, conservatives.  Angry people and unprovoked attacks.  No matter what the topic or original post, I've pretty much lowered the expectation so much that the bar is buried six feet under the ground with my dead granddad.  And yet today, I read a comment that I wasn't expecting.  On a Simon and Garfunkel video, of all things.

I was sitting at my kitchen table on a Sunday morning, eating a scone and sipping my chai tea and stroking the kitten on my lap while reading the New York Times and decided to add a little Simon and Garfunkel to the mix.  Summoned youtube and pulled up Bridge Over Troubled Water.  While waiting for the chai tea to cool, the comments loaded.  I expected comments such as:

"This song means so much to me.  It reminds me of having to overcome the death of my best friend."

"Paul Simon is a fag and so are you for listening to this."
"Bridge over My Pants... lol"

"Can somebody tell me which chord is played in the bridge after the A7m?"

"Why did Paul have to go to Africa to work with those apes?"

"Good luck getting over the bridge while Obama is in office."

"I cry every time, even though I made it through the pain."

"Beautiful!"

"37 people who gave a thumbs down are retarded."

"Your retarded"

"Thumbs up if Lebron James sent you here."

"My parents played this record every Sunday morning when I was growing up."

"Fox News bleaches my anus."

"Malaysian pursestring entering easy HVAC."

None of those comments would have surprised me.  In fact, there are a high number of thoughtful comments on this one, much higher than normal.  But on Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel, the "top comment" as determined by the Google itself was simply:

"My ex always played this song when she wanted a spot of back door action. Not sure why."

I didn't shake my head in disgust.  I didn't quite laugh.  I don't think he was trying to be funny or go for shock value.  It was relevant.  It was rather tactful given the subject.  It brought up a really good question.  One which I shall ponder as I finish my scone.