As long-time readers of our biweekly series know from our last Thanksgiving’s compliance parody, Paul Simon originally planned to become a lawyer and even attended Brooklyn Law School for a semester. So, in honor of the career that might have been — Paul Simon’s work as a leading lawyer and compliance specialist — we thought we would celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of Simon and Garfunkel’s first album with some further musings on Simon’s life as a compliance specialist. But first, here are a few little-known facts about Simon & Garfunkel’s first hit song:
- “Wednesday Morning, 3 AM,” which included a song you may have heard of, called “The Sounds of Silence,” was released in October 1964 and was a flop, selling only 3,000 copies and receiving no airplay. This led to both musicians temporarily abandoning their hopes of becoming recording artists, with Art Garfunkel going back to school to pursue a teaching degree in math and Paul Simon leaving the country.
- Totally unknown to either of the musicians, a producer at their record label decided to record an overlay of electric guitars, bass, and percussion for “The Sounds of Silence,” to take advantage of the growing popularity of electronic folk music. An amazed Paul Simon first found out when he bought a copy of a music magazine at a newsstand and saw that the number-one song was “The Sounds of Silence.”
- Although the song was originally released under the title of “The Sounds of Silence,” when it was re-released on Simon & Garfunkel’s second album, it was titled “The Sound of Silence,” which was a bit confusing because the album itself was titled “The Sounds of Silence.” But new research reveals that the title was all along intended to be …
O som que falta na conformidade
Hello, compliance, my old friend,
No one came to train again.
Compliance standards softly slipping,
Missing rules we’re not keeping.
And the warnings, that were written in our Code,
A useless bode.
The missing sound, of compliance.
In corporate halls I walk alone,
Internal controls left unknown.
‘Neath the halo of a dim desk light,
Our lack of training is a blight.
And my eyes were stabbed, by red flags all ignored,
Why bug the Board?
The missing sound, of compliance.
And in the light of day I saw,
Ten thousand workers, maybe more.
People working without knowing,
Compliance failures, all growing.
People signing certs they didn’t care to check,
What the heck?
The missing sound, of compliance.
“Fools,” said I, “you do not know!
Non-compliance makes trouble grow.
You brush aside every regulation,
As if it’s just an irritation.”
But my words, like silent red flags fell,
Whistleblower death knell.
The missing sound, of compliance.
And this lawyer bowed and prayed,
To the standards that I made.
Our Code flashed warnings loud and clear,
Through every audit that I revered.
And my emails said, “the rules are covered on our ethics calls!”
Ignored by all.
The missing sound, of compliance.
So it finally came to me,
This compliance reality.
Compliance needs backing from the top,
If they don’t care, it will all flop.
Employees take cues from management and the Board,
Get them aboard.
From them there can be, no silence.
Looking for more articles on the lighter side of compliance? Try out There Must Be Fifty Ways to Leave Your Agent, Internal Investigations Are a Poe Substitute for Compliance, The Grinch Who Stole Compliance, Peter Rabbit Discovers Compliance!, and The Compliance Mash! And if you would like to sign up for our biweekly series on “What Every Multinational Company Should Know About” various international trade and regulatory issues, click here to register.
