A Hazy Shade Of Winter (2:17)

„A Hazy Shade of Winter“ is a song written by Paul Simon and recorded by Simon & Garfunkel in 1966 for their 1968 album, Bookends (although it also appeared on their Live from New York City, 1967). It peaked at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the second most popular song on the album after „Mrs. Robinson,“ which earlier reached #1.

The lyrics evoke the passage of the seasons, but (as the title suggests) focusing on the gloominess of winter.

A harder-edged cover of „A Hazy Shade of Winter“ was performed by The Bangles for the soundtrack to the 1987 film Less Than Zero. The Bangles version exceeded the popularity of the original, reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. Due to pressure from their record label, The Bangles removed the verse from the original song that contained the line „drinking my vodka and lime.“ This version was commonly used as bumper music for late night radio talk show Coast to Coast AM hosted by Art Bell in the mid to late 1990s.

Punk band Snuff included a cover of the song on their EP Flibbidydibbidydob in 1990.

German thrash metal band Sodom did a cover of the song for their 1997 album ‘Til Death Do Us Unite. However, they credited the song as a cover of the Bangles.

Japanese punk band Nicotine do an upbeat almost Ska version. Australian pop punk band Bodyjar produced a popular version of the song in 1999.

Les Fradkin has a version on his 2006 release: „Jangleholic.“