"7 O'Clock News/Silent Night" is a song by American music duoSimon & Garfunkel from their thirdstudio album,Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme (1966). The track is asound collage juxtaposing a rendition of theChristmas carol "Silent Night" with a simulated "7 O'Clock News" bulletin consisting of actual events from the summer of 1966.

The track is asound collage and simply constructed: it consists of the duo singing "Silent Night" in two-partharmony over anarpeggiatedpiano section.^[1] The voice of the newscaster is that ofCharlie O'Donnell, who was then a radio disc jockey. As the track progresses, the news report assumes a greater presence through an increase in volume. "The result rather bluntly makes an ironic commentary on various social ills by juxtaposing them with tenderly expressed Christmas sentiments."^[1] The mix on the track purposefully clashes with the piano accompaniment mixed solely to the left channel and the news solely to the right channel while vocals remain in the middle.

The following events are reported in the order given:^[2]

• A dispute in theHouse of Representatives over "the civil rights bill". It is stated thatPresident Johnson had originally proposed a full ban on discrimination for any type of housing — dismissed as "having no chance" — and that "a compromise was painfully worked out in theHouse Judiciary Committee."
• The death of comedianLenny Bruce from anoverdose of narcotics at the age of 42 [actually 40].
• Martin Luther King Jr. reaffirming plans for anopen housing march intoCicero, Illinois, a suburb ofChicago. It is stated thatCook County sheriffRichard Ogilvie urged its cancellation, and that Cicero police plan to ask theNational Guard to be called in.
• Thegrand jury indictment ofRichard Speck for the murder of nine [actually eight] student nurses.
• Disruption by protesters atHouse Committee on Un-American Activities hearings intoanti-Vietnam War protests.
• A speech by "former Vice-PresidentRichard Nixon" to theVeterans of Foreign Wars [actually to theAmerican Legion] urging an increase in the war effort in Vietnam, and calling opposition to the war the "greatest single weapon working against the US".

Phoebe Bridgers released a cover version of this song in 2019. The song featured Bridgers andFiona Apple singing over a different news report read byMatt Berninger. The news featured the announcement of a settlement that would not force theSackler family, owners ofPurdue Pharma, to admit wrongdoing in the deaths of hundreds of thousands related to their opioid products, the first all female spacewalk, themurder of Botham Jean, the Supreme Court hearingthe case of a restrictive abortion law from Louisiana, and the testimony ofMick Mulvaney in thefirst impeachment trial of Donald Trump.^[3]

• Bennighof, James (2007).The Words and Music of Paul Simon. Greenwood Publishing Group.ISBN 978-0-275-99163-0.
• "Songs + Lyrics:7 O'Clock News/Silent Night".Paul Simon official website. RetrievedApril 19, 2017.

• Simon & Garfunkel songs
• 1966 songs
• American Christmas songs
• Song recordings produced by Bob Johnston
• Songs about the United States
• Songs based on actual events
• Songs of the Vietnam War
• American political songs
• Sound collages

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