7 O'Clock News/Silent Night
7 O'Clock News/Silent Night is the twelfth (and final, excluding the bonus demos) track on the album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme by Simon and Garfunkel. The song consists of a performance of the famous Christmas carol Silent Night, while famous (negative) historical events are reported in the background on the "7 O'Clock News".
The Events Reported in the News
The famous events mentioned in the news are (in order, as they are mentioned):
- A fight over a non-racially-discriminatory housing section in the "civil rights bill". It is mentioned that President Johnson had originally proposed a full ban on discrimination for any type of housing, but this is quickly dismissed as "having no chance". This is concluded with a statement that "a compromise was painfully worked out in the House Judiciary Committee."
- The death of comedian Lenny Bruce from an overdose of narcotics.
- Dr. Martin Luther King announcing that plans for a march into Cicero (a suburb of Chicago) for open housing are not to be canceled. "Sherriff Richard Ogleby" is mentioned as having asked King to cancel the march. The police in Cicero announce plans to ask the National Gaurd to be called if the march is held.
- The stabbings and stranglings of eight student nurses by Richard Speck.
- Federal regulations on anti-Vietnam war protests. Demonstrators are reported as having been forcibly evicted when they began chanting anti-war slogans. Richard Nixon is reported as announcing that unless there is an increase in the war effort, the United States will be facing five more years of war. He is also reported as saying that opposition to the war is the "single greatest threat facing the United States".
Analysis and Themes
The song can be interpreted in several ways. All of the events reported are of a definitively negative nature, either containing deaths and murders or curbs on liberties. As such, the song can be seen as a cynical comment on a joyous outlook on life (as represented by Silent Night). More pragmatically, this interpretation is a protest against what can be seen as joyous, pointless patriotism. Alternatively, Silent Night can be seen as a representation of timeless, universal values which stand regardless of tragic occurrences (as represented by the "7 O'Clock News".