The Great American Songbook: "Bridge Over Troubled Water"

Written by: Paul Simon

First performed by: Art Garfunkel, 1970

For my Great American Songbook series, I try to spotlight songs that have become standards, not associated with just one artist. This latest entry in my desert island canon, though, was as iconic for its performers as for its timeliness. Released in January 1970 on Simon and Garfunkel's final studio album, the song captured the end of their relationship (until modern reunion concerts) and the end of the sixties. 

This year's end is fast approaching. Songs like this always seem at home to me over the holidays, joining seasonal weepers like "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." Paul Simon penned an anthem to a country losing its identity, while senseless wars raged on... sound familiar? Meanwhile, the tsuris over who would sing--Simon or Garfunkel--led to bitterness and the dissolution of a thirteen-year partnership. Their final album was due to have twelve tracks, but they cut it short bickering over the last song. 

Once it went big, the usual suspects ate it up. Johnny Cash's cover, in the lowest key imaginable, gets points on simplicity; Simon's composition sounds like a back-porch church-town strummer. Aretha Franklin amped up the production with background singers and organ (sometimes accompanying herself). She changes the last verse to "Sail on, Silverboy": is this suddenly about romantic heartbreak? Then there's Elvis giving a straightforward cover, few stylistic additions, with room to breathe. 

These are all fine, catapulted the song into the public consciousness, but it's tough to surpass the tension of Garfunkel's original take. The drum hit going into the third verse, like explosions; the strings building to the last chord. Heard in a demo recording by Garfunkel, the final verse was more passive originally, offering some unknown "it" as a crutch rather than the speaker:

Sail on, Silvergirl, sail on high

Your time has come to shine
Put your faith on me

And if it shines, I'll see the sun

Upon your bedroom blinds

Like a bridge over troubled water

Let it be your guide

Like a bridge over troubled water

Let it be your guide

The recorded version concludes, "I will ease your mind." A more proactive statement in the midst of uncertainty.