Simon & Garfunkel's
Bridge Over Troubled Water

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Album information

Album title: Bridge Over Troubled Water
Date of album release: January 26, 1970
Album producers: Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel, and Roy Halee
Entrance of album to Billboard Pop Chart: February 14, 1970
Highest position held by album in Billboard Pop Chart: #01
Number of songs: 11
Notes: INSERT ALBUM NOTES HERE

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Album synopsis

     One of Simon & Garfunkel's most important album is Bridge Over Troubled Water. This is their last studio-recorded album and precedes their mutual breakup. Bridge Over Troubled Water is their most successful album in their recording careers as a duo. The 1970 album won Grammy nominations and the subsequent awards. A deep study and analysis of the album reveals how critical the album is in reflecting what would become the fate of the duo after its success.
     The album begins with "Bridge Over Troubled Water", written by Simon as a ballad about friendship, is sung completely by Garfunkel with Larry Knetchel on the piano. The proceeding song is "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)": the musical track is a Peruvian tune by Los Incas and the English nursery-rhyme lyrics written in by Simon. The album's pace is kept fresh and lively with the hand-clapping "Cecilia" and head-bopping tunes of "Keep The Customer Satisfied" and "Baby Driver".
     "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright" is a soft melody sung once again by Garfunkel about architects--a subject request by Garfunkel for Simon to tackle as a song. "The Boxer" is another ballad but more on a personal level about striving through hardships in life. The orchestrations and accompanying lyrics transform this song into an instant favorite. "The Only Living Boy In New York" is Simon's solo song about the hardship and endurance of the duo in recording the album (when Garfunkel ("Tom") was in Mexico acting in Mike Nichols' Catch-22 film).
     Simon & Garfunkel return to their musical roots towards the closing of the album. "Why Don't You Write Me" has a musical and lyrical quality of a late 1950s or early 1960s popular music groove. Then they give tribute to their idols, The Everly Brothers, by singing "Bye Bye Love". Just as Garfunkel opened the album, Simon closes Bridge Over Troubled Water with "Song For The Asking"--a ballad about change (a prevalent theme throughout the album).


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Track listing

Click on a song title to view the respective lyrics.

Track listing and approximate lengths (mins:secs):

  1. Bridge Over Troubled Water
  2. El Condor Pasa (If I Could)
  3. Cecilia
  4. Keep The Customer Satisfied
  5. So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright
  6. The Boxer
  7. Baby Driver
  8. The Only Living Boy In New York
  9. Why Don't You Write Me
  10. Bye Bye Love
  11. Song For The Asking
4:52
3:06
2:55
2:33
3:41
5:08
3:15
3:57
2:45
2:55
1:49

Total time: 33:40
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Track One: Bridge Over Troubled Water
by Paul Simon
(c) 1969 Paul Simon (BMI)

When you're weary, feeling small,
When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all;
I'm on your side. When times get rough
And friends just can't be found,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

When you're down and out,
When you're on the street,
When evening falls so hard
I will comfort you.
I'll take your part.
When darkness comes
And pain is all around,
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down.

Sail on silvergirl,
Sail on by.
Your time has come to shine.
All your dreams are on their way.
See how they shine.
If you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind.

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Track Two: El Condor Pasa (If I Could)
by Paul Simon, Jorge Milchberg, D.A. Robles
English lyrics by Paul Simon
(c) 1970 Charing Cross Music, Inc.
Arrangement of 18th-Century Peruvian
Folk Melody by Jorge Milchberg,
(c) 1933, 1963, 1970 Edward B. Marks Music Corporation and Jorge Milchberg
Instrumental Track by Los Incas

I'd rather be a sparrow than a snail.
Yes I would.
If I could,
I surely would.

I'd rather be a hammer than a nail.
Yes I would.
If I could,
I surely would.

Away, I'd rather sail away
Like a swan that's here and gone.
A man gets tied up to the ground,
He gives the world its saddest sound. Its saddest sound.

I'd rather be a forest than a street.
Yes I would.
If I could,
I surely would.

I'd rather feel the earth beneath my feet,
Yes I would.
If I could,
I surely would.

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Track Three: Cecilia
by Paul Simon
(c) 1969 Paul Simon (BMI)

Cecilia, you're breaking my heart,
You're shaking my confidence daily.
Oh Cecilia, I'm down on m my knees,
I'm begging you please to come home.

Cecilia, you're breaking my heart,
You're shaking my confidence daily.
Oh Cecilia, I'm down on m my knees,
I'm begging you please to come home.
Come on home

Making love in the afternoon with Cecilia
Up in my bedroom,
(Makin' in love in my bed)
I got up to wash my face
When I come back to bed,
Someone's taken my place.

Cecilia, you're breaking my heart,
You're shaking my confidence daily.
Oh Cecilia, I'm down on m my knees,
I'm begging you please to come home.
Come on home

(Pick it up, pick it up)

(Pick it up, pick it up)

Jubilation,
She loves me again,
I fall on the floor and I laughing

Jubilation,
She loves me again,
I fall on the floor and I laughing.

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Track Four: Keep The Customer Satisfied
by Paul Simon
(c) 1969 Paul Simon (BMI)

Gee but it's great to be back home
Home is where I want to be.
I've been on the road so long my friend,
And if you came along
I know you couldn't disagree.
It's the same old story
Everywhere I go,
I get slandered,
Libeled,
I hear words I never heard
In the Bible.
And I'm on step ahead of the shoe shine,
Two steps away from the county line,
Just trying to keep my customers satisfied,
Satisfied.

Deputy Sheriff said to me
Tell me what you come here for, boy.
You better get your bags and flee.
You're in trouble boy,
And you're heading into more.
It's the same old story
Everywhere I go,
I get slandered,
Libeled,
I hear words I never heard
In the Bible.
And I'm on step ahead of the shoe shine,
Two steps away from the county line,
Just trying to keep my customers satisfied,
Satisfied.

It's the same old story
Everywhere I go,
I get slandered,
Libeled,
I hear words I never heard
In the Bible.
And I'm on step ahead of the shoe shine,
Two steps away from the county line,
Just trying to keep my customers satisfied,
Satisfied.

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Track Five: So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright
by Paul Simon
(c) 1969 Paul Simon (BMI)

So long, Frank Lloyd Wright.
I can't believe your song is gone so soon.
I barely learned the tune
So soon
So soon.

I'll remember Frank Lloyd Wright.
All of the nights we'd harmonize till dawn.
I never laughed so long
So long
So long.

Architects may come and
Architects may go and
Never change your point of view.
When I run dry
I stop awhile and think of you

Architects may come and
Architects may go and
Never change your point of view.

So long, Frank Lloyd Wright,
All of the nights we'd harmonize till dawn.
I never laughed so long
So long
So long.
(So long Artie)

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Track Six: The Boxer
by Paul Simon
(c) 1968 Paul Simon (BMI)

I am just a poor boy.
Though my story's seldom told,
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocketful of mumbles,
Such are promises
All lies and jest
Still, a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest.

When I left my home
And my family,
I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of the railway station,
Running scared,
Laying low,
Seeking out the poorer quarters
Where the ragged people go,
Looking for the places
Only they would know.

iai iaaai iai iai iaai aaai iaaiaai (Li la li... li la la la li la li)
(Li la li... li la la la li la li)
(La la la la li...)
Lie-la-lie.....

Asking only workman's wages
I come looking for a job,
But I get no offers,
Just a come-on from the whores
On Seventh Avenue
I do declare,
There were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there.

Lie-la-lie.....

Then I'm laying out my winter clothes
And wishing I was gone,
Going home
Where the New York City winters
Aren't bleeding me,
Leading me,
Going home.

In the clearing stands a boxer,
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of ev'ry glove that laid him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame,
"I am leaving, I am leaving."
But the fighter still remains

Lie-la-lie.....

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Track Seven: Baby Driver
by Paul Simon
(c) 1969 Paul Simon (BMI)

My daddy was the family bassman
My mamma was an engineer
And I was born one dark gray morn
With music coming in my ears
In my ears.

They call me Baby Driver
And once upon a pair of wheels
Hit the road and I'm gone ah
What's my number
I wonder how your engine feels.
Ba ba ba ba
Scoot down the road
What's my number
I wonder how your engine feels.

My daddy was a prominent frogman
My mamma's in the Naval reserve
When I was young I carried a gun
But I never got the chance to serve
I did not serve.

They call me Baby Driver
And once upon a pair of wheels
Hit the road and I'm gone ah
What's my number
I wonder how your engine feels.
Ba ba ba ba
Scoot down the road
What's my number
I wonder how your engine feels.

My daddy got a big promotion
My mamma got a raise in pay
There's no-one home, we're all alone
Oh come into my room and play
Yes we can play.

I'm not talking about your pigtails
But I'm talking 'bout your sex appeal
Hit the road and I'm gone ah
What's my number
I wonder how your engine feels.
Ba ba ba ba
Scoot down the road
What's my number
I wonder how your engine feels.

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Track Eight: The Only Living Boy In New York
by Paul Simon
(c) 1969 Paul Simon (BMI)

Tom, get your plane right on time.
I know your part'll go fine.
Fly down to Mexico.
Da-n-da-da-n-da-n-da-da and here I am,
The only living boy in New York.

I get the news I need on the weather report.
I can gather all the news I need on the weather report.
Hey, I've got nothing to do today but smile.
Da-n-do-da-n-do-da-n-do and here I am
The only living boy in New York

Half of the time we're gone but we don't know where,
And we don't know here.
(Ahhh. . . here I am)

Half of the time we're gone but we don't know where,
And we don't know here.

Tom, get your plane right on time.
I know you've been eager to fly now.
Hey let your honesty shine, shine, shine
Da-n-da-da-n-da-da-n-da-da
Like it shines on me
The only living boy in New York,
The only living boy in New York.

(Ahhh. . . here I am)
(Ahhh. . . here I am)

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Track Nine: Why Don't You Write Me
by Paul Simon
(c) 1969 Paul Simon (BMI)

Why don't you write me,
I'm out in the jungle,
I'm hungry to hear you.
Send me a card,
I am waiting so hard
To be near you.
(La, la, la)
Why don't you write?
Something is wrong
And I know I got to be there.
Maybe I'm lost,
But I can't make the cost
Of the airfare.
Tell me why
Why
Why
Tell me why
Why
Why

Why don't you write me,
A letter would brighten
My loneliest evening.
Mail it today
If it's only to say
That you're leaving me.
(La, la, la)

Monday morning, sitting in the sun
Hoping and wishing for the mail to come.
Tuesday, never got a word,
Wednesday, Thursday, ain't no sign,
Drank a half a bottle of iodine.
Friday, woe is me
Gonna hang my body from the highest tree.
Why don't you write me?

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Track Ten: Bye Bye Love
by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant (The Everly Brothers)
(c) 1957 House of Bryant Publications (BMI)

Bye bye love
Bye bye happiness
Hello loneliness
I think I'm gonna cry
Bye bye love
Bye bye sweet caress
Hello emptiness
I feel like I could die
Bye bye my love, goodbye

There goes my baby
With someone new
She sure looks happy
I sure am blue
She was my baby
Till he stepped in
Goodbye to romance
That might have been

Bye bye love
Bye bye happiness
Hello loneliness
I think I'm gonna cry
Bye bye love
Bye bye sweet caress
Hello emptiness
I feel like I could die
Bye bye my love, goodbye

I'm through with romance
I'm through with love
I'm through with counting
The stars above
And here's the reason
That I'm so free
My loving baby
Is through with me

Bye bye love
Bye bye happiness
Hello loneliness
I think I'm gonna cry
Bye bye love
Bye bye sweet caress
Hello emptiness
I feel like I could die
Bye bye my love, goodbye

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Track Eleven: Song For The Asking
by Paul Simon
(c) 1969 Paul Simon (BMI)

Here is my song for the asking
Ask me and I'll play
So sweetly, I'll make you smile

This is my tune for the taking
Take it, don't turn away
I've been waiting all my life

Thinking it over, I've been sad
Thinking it over, I'd be more than glad
To change my ways for the asking

Ask me and I'll play
All the love that I hold inside

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