I never cease to be amazed at the way the human mind works . . . How a single sound, or picture, or scent can conjure up a memory, which in turn leads to another, and then connects to something entirely different.

Last evening I was listening to the cover of “The Sound of Silence” by the heavy metal band Disturbed, which naturally made me think back to the days of Simon and Garfunkel. And suddenly it was the summer of 1991 again, and I was mentally back in Prague, working in the newly established office of an American law firm and reveling in the excitement of Czechoslovakia’s freedom from Soviet occupation.

The Berlin Wall had come down a year and a half earlier, and the Soviet Union was on the cusp of breaking apart. When I arrived in Prague, it was the week that the last of the Soviet military troops left the city, and the people were in full celebration mode. One of our drivers — a local man named Rudy — had scored a handful of tickets to a concert the following weekend at the Sparta football (soccer to us Americans) stadium . . . and there was a ticket for me.

It was also the “Summer of Mozart” in Prague, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth. Mozart was everywhere — in concerts, posters, memorabilia — and I soaked up as much of it as I could. But the event at the Sparta stadium was special, because the performer was an American star.

I had traveled 4,300 miles to see Paul Simon’s “Born At the Right Time” tour. I just happened to be there at the right time.

It was a magical night: a warm summer evening under the stars, the familiar music wafting through the air, younger people from the audience dancing on the stadium grounds . . . and Czech President Vaclav Havel in attendance, clearly visible from our seats.

One of the women in our office had a tape of an earlier Simon & Garfunkel concert and brought it into the office, where we had a boombox (remember those?). One of the songs on that tape was “Homeward Bound,” and as the summer wore on — though it was clearly the best summer of my life — I became a little homesick and played that one song over and over again, until I nearly wore the tape out.

When it was time to leave my new Czech “family” and return home to the U.S., though, it was with a heavy heart. That summer had given me so much: my first experience of living as an expatriate; immersion in the culture and history of a place that had survived World War II and occupations by Nazi Germany and the USSR; the music of Mozart; side trips to castles, mountains, and a town called Pisek; all of the sights, sounds, tastes and smells of a previously unfamiliar place; and a raft of wonderful new friends.

*. *. *

“The Sound of Silence” was on that tape too. And I had always considered the Simon & Garfunkel arrangement to be unbeatable. But not long ago, younger family members suggested I listen to a version of it by someone (or something) called “Disturbed.”

“Who?” I asked.

“Never mind who it is; just listen,” they told me.

So I did, on YouTube, with the video of a man with a strong, gravelly voice and the most compelling eyes: David Draiman, lead singer of a heavy metal band called Disturbed. And . . . full disclosure here . . . I was transfixed, transported, and transformed. It is now the only version of that song that I can listen to. It is mesmerizing.

Heavy metal? Me?!! Never! Except for this one song by this one singer.

Sorry, Paul and Art. I love you still; and to this day, “Homeward Bound” takes me back to that unforgettable summer in Prague and Paul’s concert at the Sparta stadium.

But — though in an aesthetic sense it does “disturb” me to admit it — Disturbed’s rendition of “The Sound of Silence” wins the day.

You’re never too old to try something new.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/24/25