The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine

"The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine" is a 1966 song by Paul Simon released on Simon & Garfunkel's album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, and as a B-side of "The Dangling Conversation", which charted at number 25 on Billboard's Hot 100. It is a commentary on advertising.[1][2]

"The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine"
Song by Simon & Garfunkel
from the album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
A-side"The Dangling Conversation"
ReleasedOctober 10, 1966 (1966-10-10)
RecordedDecember 1965 – August 1966
GenreFolk rock
Length2:44
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Paul Simon
Producer(s)Bob Johnston

Writing and composition

"The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine" was written by Simon while he was in London apparently watching his clothes in a washing machine. It takes a cynical view of the advertising on Madison Avenue in New York City.[1] The song includes references to the hippie movement during the Vietnam War as well as a series of unanswered personal questions.[1]

The lyrics are "blisteringly satirical" and aimed at various popular culture targets.[3] In the original album notes, Ralph J. Gleason said this song and "The Dangling Conversation" were criticisms of television and radio commercials.[2] The notes for The Columbia Studio Recordings (1964–1970), a 2001 release of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme and four other albums, called the track "Simon's caricature of consumer culture".[4]

Release

"The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine" was the fifth track on Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, which was released on October 10, 1966 and peaked at number four on the Billboard 200.[5] It was then released as a B-side of "The Dangling Conversation", reaching number 25 on Billboard's Hot 100.[6] In the February 1968 release of the soundtrack for the movie The Graduate, the song appeared (in a different version) as the eleventh track.[7]

Reception

"The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine" received generally positive reviews.

Legacy

In a retrospective review for AllMusic Matthew Greenwald compares it to Marty Balin's "Plastic Fantastic Lover" (recorded by Jefferson Airplane on their 1967 album Surrealistic Pillow). Greenwald calls it "a great putdown song about the effect of television" that "succeeds precisely because the overall sound of the record conveys the over-saturation and ridiculous nature of the medium".[8] In Bruce Eder's review for AllMusic, he defines the song as a "sneering rock & roll-based social commentary".[9] Andy Fyfe of BBC Music said in his review of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme that the song "may seem slight on the surface, but their joy at merely being alive reflected the optimism of youth in a time of crisis",[5] referring to the Vietnam War.

In a 2006 review of The Graduate, John Nesbit said that although the duo's songs "blend in quite well", he called the track "a silly flop that no self-respecting young person played even back in the 1960s".[10]

gollark: I also accidentally configured it to ping every 5 seconds instead of 30 in the copy I sent ubq, which is way too high, oops.
gollark: Focus on the competition, yes.
gollark: Ah, you have returned from your ”walk”.
gollark: https://github.com/denghongcai/forsaken-mail looks neat.
gollark: Being a major English way to express a conditional.

References
  1. Chris Charlesworth (1997). The complete guide to the music of Paul Simon and Simon & Garfunkel. London, England; New York City, New York: Omnibus Press. p. 28. ISBN 978-0-7119-5597-4.
  2. Ralph J. Gleason (1966). Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (Vinyl booklet). Simon & Garfunkel. Columbia Records. CS 9363.
  3. Pete Fornatale (2007). Simon and Garfunkel's Bookends. New York City, New York: Rodale. p. 58. ISBN 978-1-59486-427-8.
  4. Scoppa, Bud (2001). The Columbia Studio Recordings (1964–1970) (CD booklet). Simon & Garfunkel. Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings. p. 37. C5K 63815.
  5. Andy Fyfe (September 2, 2009). "Its boldest themes are still worryingly pertinent today". BBC Music. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  6. "Simon & Garfunkel Billboard Singles". AllMusic. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  7. Ankeny, Jason. "The Graduate > Overview". AllMusic. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  8. Greenwald, Matthew. "The Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine". AllMusic. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
  9. Eder, Bruce. "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme > Review". AllMusic. Retrieved January 9, 2009.
  10. Nesbit, John (2006). "Mike Nichols, The Graduate". Old School Reviews. Retrieved January 9, 2010.
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