Simon & Garfunkel, Mrs. Robinson - A Classical Musician’s First Listen and Reaction

#virginrock #simongarfunkel
Meeting again two artists that I appreciated from my very first listen. "Mrs Robinson" - what a great and utterly unexpected great fun!

Here’s the link to the original song:

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Amy Shafer, LRSM, FRSM, RYC, is a classical harpist, pianist, and music teacher, Director of Piano Studies and Assistant Director of Harp Studies for The Harp School, Inc., holds multiple degrees in harp and piano performance and teaching, and is active as a solo and collaborative performer. With nearly two decades of teaching experience, she teaches privately, presents masterclasses and coaching sessions, and has performed and taught in Europe and USA.

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Credits: Music written and performed by Simon & Garfunkel

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[LeeKennison]

It is really great to see you return to Simon & Garfunkel. You still have a few really good ones to get to yet, for example, "Bridge Over Troubled Waters, " "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" and "Scarborough Affair / Canticle, " among others. I really enjoyed all your thoughts and commentary on the music and lyrics. For me it provides an abstract look into the typical American life at that time, not just the movie character. Both the surface life and the life that we sometimes keep hidden from others. I like what you said about how they like to prod us into thinking about life, without really pushing it in our face. Great reaction!

[GuitarNGrillnDad]

Mrs. Robinson in the movie was an alcoholic. That was the secret that she hides in the pantry with the cupcakes. She checks into a rehab center in the song - that’s why they need to check her in “for our files” and they are “sympathetic”. The Joe Dimagio reference is a loss of hero theme - common in literature. The upbeat a bouncy nature of the song is an intentional opposite of the dark theme - because they want to put on a happy face for the public. We studied this song and the entire movie in my high school English class and this is what I recall some many decades later.. : )

[chrisallen]

Don't ignore "Bridge Over Troubled Water, " you won't be sorry. The truth is the entire album is worth a listen, "Baby Driver, " "Cecilia, " "The Boxer, " "Only Living Boy in New York, " "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright, " El Condor Pasa..."

[aBeatleFanever]

"Going to the candidates debate... Laugh about it... shout about it... when you've got to choose. Anyway you look at this - you lose."
My favorite lines from this song. 57 years ago and 14 Presidential elections ago...

[strathman]

"Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you" I was a little kid in the UK hearing this on the radio, knowing nothing about baseball, the name meant nothing, the whole song was a charming puzzle... but the yearning nostalgia in that line hit me between the eyes and I remember it as one of the first times I listened to a pop record and realised, "that's real poetry!"

[mrlizard]

I took the Joe DiMaggio line to refer to a wounded nation looking for heroes or traditions to help liberate it from its misery or decline. But none is to be found. “Jolting Joe has left and gone away.” Fade out.

[seajaytea]

Great reaction. This song is a part of the satirical send-up and commentary that pervaded the 1960's musical scene. Other examples include The Monkees with Pleasant Valley Sunday (written by Carole King (and Gerry Goffin), another great pair of American song writers), the Rolling Stones with Mother's Little Helper and, perhaps most pointed of all, Dylan's It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding). The younger generation was talking about the hypocrisy of their elders. Nothing really changes.

[kishka]

The first and foremost rule with Simon & Garfunkel - is NOT TO OVERTHINK IT! The sixties were a time of bashing the establishment and not taking yourself too seriously! At the same time lamenting the fallibility of our heroes!

[fromchomleystreet]

I always imagined we’re listening to the staff of some sort of church-based sanitarium welcoming a new resident, who has come to recover from some sort of breakdown.

[bradwk]

I really enjoyed hearing you try to make sense of this song, because it takes me back to being eight years old and putting on my parent's S&G Greatest Hits vinyl and trying to make sense of this song too. Why are they telling her that Jesus loves her, what's she hiding in the pantry, and why is she going to lose no matter how she looks at "this"? Without seeing the movie it's a real puzzle for an adult to figure out what's going on. But instead of it feeling confounding, the song is really evocative of this multi-level emotional experience -- light and jumpy on the outside, with feelings of hopelessness dragging down the center. She should be happy, but she's not. Brilliant of Simon to make the parallel to the mood of the nation too.

[MichaelMarville]

Don't forget to listen to America, from Simon & Garfunkel

[robintougas]

Original title was Mrs. Roosevelt. If interpreting think of Her and her life and hiding Franklins Polio from the kids. Changed to Mrs Robinson for the movie.

[robertfindley]

I can't believe anyone on the planet hasn't heard this. Great song. But then Simon & Garfunkel is one of the most talented and consistent groups ever.

[keithbk]

As the song was in the works before the movie, the idea is basically about a woman who enters a convent because she's having a baby that isn't her husband's and she's hiding it from the world. Paul said the inclusion of "Joe DiMaggio" was because of the number of syllables he needed in that section. Also, there were "de-de-dees" in places where lyrics had not yet been written, and they ended up staying in because they sounded nice. As a result, a lot of the song is unrelated and full of poetic license. The song was as yet unfinished when the film deal developed. Art expressed to the producers that Simon was working on a song called "Mrs. Robinson" they might want to hear, and the producers jumped on it.

[VGKDean]

Every time I hear this song I picture the movie poster for The Graduate

[llw]

Great commentary! I hope you listen to Arlo Guthrie someday. One of my favourite songs of his is 'City of New Orleans.' And he has an epic saga, 'Alice's Restaurant', which has become a Thanksgiving song for many :)

[icmman]

i first heard this when it was released..i was about 10 or so and it.

[chrisallen]

You'll get more context from the film "The Graduate."

[okamino]

It is funny. There’s definitely a wink and a grin to the writing and the delivery, along with a bite to it. It leaves with a long look, standing there watching the bus driving away.

[williamduarte]

Please, react to "Scarborough Fair", another amazing tune by Simon and Garfunkel.