What a simply stunning performance! The brilliant alchemy between you both is very special indeed: Arthur sings with such power and passion; and you, Tom, provide the most wonderfully sensitive piano accompaniment, and with what I imagine is your own beautiful arrangement. You are a most impressive partnership and I hope you work together for a long time to come, thrilling your audiences not only with classic songs, but also with your own compositions. Never mind 'Simon and Garfunkel' from the past - right now, and for the future, it's 'Summerfield and Hull'! More than half a century on, this remains Simon and Garfunkel’s most famous song. It is an eternally affecting evocation of the need for solidarity and comfort amidst the emotional or physical wreckage of loss and grief. ‘Bridge over Troubled Water’ has become the template for countless songs about stoicism in the face of adversity - and particularly with the current Covid crisis sweeping the world, it has an especial resonance right now. Simon acknowledged his major influences for the song as being a mixture of Bach’s ‘O Sacred Head, Now Wounded’, and the gospel song ‘Mary Don’t You Weep’, which contained the line: ‘I’ll be your bridge over deep water if you trust in my name’. Speculation about the much-debated third verse ('silver girl') has seen a possible reference to a needle with the interpretation that the song was really about heroin use. But Simon eventually set the record straight when he revealed that the silver line is actually an innocent inside joke aimed at his first wife, Peggy Harper. Simon started calling her “Silver Girl” after she noticed her first silver-grey hairs aged thirty, which had made her very upset! Simon originally intended this song to be a simple two-verse gospel hymn with a guitar accompaniment. The third verse was added at the recording studio after Garfunkel and producer Roy Halee insisted that the song needed a “bigger” sound at the end and so Simon wrote the third verse on the fly and producer Roy Halee arranged for the song’s famous orchestral crescendo. The guitar was traded in for a piano to better support Garfunkel’s falsetto, and instead of singing the song together, Simon insisted that Garfunkel perform the song alone. When Clive Davis at Columbia Records heard “Bridge” for the first time, he told Simon that it was destined to be a monster hit. It went on to sell six million copies and dominate the 1971 Grammy Awards, including a win for Song of the Year. The song was on the last album Simon & Garfunkel released before they split up. It has now sold well over an amazing 25 million copies; one of the best albums, both commercially and artistically, of all time.
What a simply stunning performance! The brilliant alchemy between you both is very special indeed: Arthur sings with such power and passion; and you, Tom, provide the most wonderfully sensitive piano accompaniment, and with what I imagine is your own beautiful arrangement. You are a most impressive partnership and I hope you work together for a long time to come, thrilling your audiences not only with classic songs, but also with your own compositions. Never mind 'Simon and Garfunkel' from the past - right now, and for the future, it's 'Summerfield and Hull'!
More than half a century on, this remains Simon and Garfunkel’s most famous song. It is an eternally affecting evocation of the need for solidarity and comfort amidst the emotional or physical wreckage of loss and grief. ‘Bridge over Troubled Water’ has become the template for countless songs about stoicism in the face of adversity - and particularly with the current Covid crisis sweeping the world, it has an especial resonance right now.
Simon acknowledged his major influences for the song as being a mixture of Bach’s ‘O Sacred Head, Now Wounded’, and the gospel song ‘Mary Don’t You Weep’, which contained the line: ‘I’ll be your bridge over deep water if you trust in my name’. Speculation about the much-debated third verse ('silver girl') has seen a possible reference to a needle with the interpretation that the song was really about heroin use. But Simon eventually set the record straight when he revealed that the silver line is actually an innocent inside joke aimed at his first wife, Peggy Harper. Simon started calling her “Silver Girl” after she noticed her first silver-grey hairs aged thirty, which had made her very upset!
Simon originally intended this song to be a simple two-verse gospel hymn with a guitar accompaniment. The third verse was added at the recording studio after Garfunkel and producer Roy Halee insisted that the song needed a “bigger” sound at the end and so Simon wrote the third verse on the fly and producer Roy Halee arranged for the song’s famous orchestral crescendo. The guitar was traded in for a piano to better support Garfunkel’s falsetto, and instead of singing the song together, Simon insisted that Garfunkel perform the song alone. When Clive Davis at Columbia Records heard “Bridge” for the first time, he told Simon that it was destined to be a monster hit. It went on to sell six million copies and dominate the 1971 Grammy Awards, including a win for Song of the Year. The song was on the last album Simon & Garfunkel released before they split up. It has now sold well over an amazing 25 million copies; one of the best albums, both commercially and artistically, of all time.