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Mon 17 November 2025 19:31, UK
In 1970, at the height of their fame, Simon and Garfunkel unceremoniously split. Only a few months before the break-up, Bridge Over Troubled Water was romping through the charts, pushing the duo towards a new global pinnacle that humble old folk was never meant to hit.
It soon became the best-selling album of all time, and at the close of the 1970s, it remained in the top spot with over 25million sales recorded, nearly twice that of Led Zeppelin III in second place. Despite the end of the duo, their ubiquity had never been more pervasive.
In truth, they had been far from strangers to the masses in the 1960s. Their acclaimed debut, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., might have only peaked at 30 in the US album chart and 24 in the UK, but they went on to close the decade of peace and love with just shy of 90million record sales, making them the fourth most popular musical act of the 1960s. The third-placed artist with 110million sales was none other than The Rolling Stones.
However, it says an awful lot about Paul Simon’s strong will that he gave up this esteemed position so easily. He knew his craft well enough to be confident that calling quits on Simon and Garfunkel would be far from the closing chapter of his career. This was also born from a degree of fierce competitiveness. His songs might be sweet, but there is a bite to the little songwriter that far outstrips his bark.
As he once proclaimed when it comes to the figurative songwriter’s championship, “I don’t like being second to Bob Dylan,” and that’s a position he’s found himself in frequently. Thus, when he sees a chance to call a spade a spade, or more specifically, call a subpar track from a peer “garbage”, he doesn’t pass it up.
With that in mind, we’ve looked at the songs he loathes to gather greater insight into Simon’s thoughts. As a result, you can imagine what he does like and the pitfalls he looks to avoid. It has served him well bashing these tracks, as he remains one of the premier songwriters modern music has produced.
Five songs Paul Simon hates:
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