I love this album.
The interesting thing is that although its name is "Angel Clare" there is no mention of anyone or anything by that name in any of the songs (unless I'm missing something, which certainly is possible). The first several times that I listened to the album, I was puzzled...
I'm in the middle of "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" right now, though, and was surprised when I read the name of the handsome, valiant, noble lover of Tess: Angel Clare. WHOA! Okay, so as a wanna-be English major, I think, "How do I interpret Art Garfunkel's album in light of this new discovery???"
"Traveling Boy" fits the story perhaps better than any of the other songs, although there are some inconsistencies still. Angel Clare first sees Tess at a country dance. He's been traveling with his two older brothers, Clare sees a group of girls doing May Pole festivities and stops to join the party. He doesn't dance with Tess but on his way back to the road, he sees her looking at him and doesn't forget her.
Later they meet again coincidentally while both working at a dairy farm and fall in love. They get married but he leaves her after finding out her impurities...
I haven't finished the book yet, so I don't know how similar it actually is to the song. But I do know that Angel Clare is not just a "drifter" "passing through" and he definitely wants to say good-bye... so not quite parallel. Anyway, I'll be listening to other songs thinking about "Tess" too.
I love this album. The interesting thing is that although its name is "Angel Clare" there is no mention of anyone or anything by that name in any of the songs (unless I'm missing something, which certainly is possible). The first several times that I listened to the album, I was puzzled... I'm in the middle of "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" right now, though, and was surprised when I read the name of the handsome, valiant, noble lover of Tess: Angel Clare. WHOA! Okay, so as a wanna-be English major, I think, "How do I interpret Art Garfunkel's album in light of this new discovery???"
"Traveling Boy" fits the story perhaps better than any of the other songs, although there are some inconsistencies still. Angel Clare first sees Tess at a country dance. He's been traveling with his two older brothers, Clare sees a group of girls doing May Pole festivities and stops to join the party. He doesn't dance with Tess but on his way back to the road, he sees her looking at him and doesn't forget her.
Later they meet again coincidentally while both working at a dairy farm and fall in love. They get married but he leaves her after finding out her impurities...
I haven't finished the book yet, so I don't know how similar it actually is to the song. But I do know that Angel Clare is not just a "drifter" "passing through" and he definitely wants to say good-bye... so not quite parallel. Anyway, I'll be listening to other songs thinking about "Tess" too.
Food for thought :)