{"id":633662,"date":"2026-05-09T22:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T22:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/633662\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T22:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T22:34:11","slug":"paul-simon-says-writing-this-song-was-one-of-the-most-shocking-moments-of-his-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/633662\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul Simon Says Writing This Song Was One of the Most \u201cShocking Moments\u201d of His\u00a0Career"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Simon & Garfunkel released \u201cBridge Over Troubled Water<\/a>\u201d in 1970, they likely had no idea that the song would become their most popular hit. \u201cBridge Over Troubled Water\u201d is the title track of their fifth album together. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel enjoyed a six-week No. 1 hit with \u201cBridge Over Troubled Water\u201d. It also earned the duo<\/a> five Grammy Awards,<\/p>\n

A song about enduring friendship, \u201cBridge Over Troubled Water\u201d says, \u201cWhen you\u2019re weary, feeling small \/ When tears are in your eyes \/ I will dry them all \/ I\u2019m on your side \/ Oh when times get rough \/ And friends just can\u2019t be found \/ Like a bridge over troubled water \/ I will lay me down.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the time \u201cBridge Over Troubled Water\u201d was released, Simon & Garfunkel already had plenty of success. Their previous hits include \u201cThe Sound Of Silence\u201d, \u201cMrs. Robinson\u201d, and others. So no one was more surprised than Simon by \u201cBridge Over Troubled Water\u201d, \u201d which he wrote by himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no idea where it came from,\u201d Simon admits<\/a> in the documentary, The Making Of Bridge Over Troubled Water. \u201cIt came all of the sudden. It was one of the most shocking moments in my songwriting career. I remember thinking, \u2018This is considerably better than I usually write.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

What Paul Simon Says About Art Garfunkel Singing \u201cBridge Over Troubled Water\u201d<\/p>\n

Simon might have been the writer of \u201cBridge Over Troubled Water\u201d. But it\u2019s Garfunkel who sings lead on the song. It\u2019s a decision Simon later admits he regrets. It also became the beginning of the end for Simon & Garfunkel as a duo.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were really best friends up until Bridge over Troubled Water,\u201d Simon says<\/a> in the documentary, In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon. \u201c[Afterwards], it didn\u2019t have the harmony of the friendship\u2026 that was broken.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simon also admits he felt bothered that Garfunkel received so much praise for \u201cBridge Over Troubled Water\u201d, even though he wrote it. At the same time, recording was getting delayed because of Garfunkel\u2019s blossoming acting career, which took him away for extended periods of time.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring the making of Bridge Over Troubled Water, there were a lot of times when it just wasn\u2019t fun to work together,\u201d Simon tells Rolling Stone<\/a>. \u201cIt was very hard work, and it was complex. And both of us thought \u2013 I think Artie said that he felt that he didn\u2019t want to record \u2013 and I know I said I felt that if I had to go through these kind of personality abrasions, I didn\u2019t want to continue to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBridge Over Troubled Water\u201d was followed by \u201cCecilia\u201d, a Top 5 single. \u201cBridge Over Troubled Water\u201d is their last No. 1 single in the United States.<\/p>\n

Photo by Ian Gavan\/Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Simon & Garfunkel released \u201cBridge Over Troubled Water\u201d in 1970, they likely had no idea that the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":633663,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[2617,88,216,93345],"class_list":["post-633662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-classic-rock","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-paul-simon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/633663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}