A late '70s memory: A few days after hearing Simon & Garfunkel's "The 59th Street Bridge Song" on the radio, I asked a grade school classmate if she'd ever heard it.
"I have," she replied. "Some friends and I sang it for our parents at a talent show. I felt like an idiot afterwards."
Idiot is too harsh of a term, but I understand why anyone, especially kids, might feel self-conscious about performing that song in public. Lyrics that idealistic require a mixture of carefree abandon and confidence that's difficult to pull off--especially when you have to sing that you're "feelin' groovy," and that expression is no longer in vogue.
