Five songs that prove Simon & Garfunkel were better as a duo
Despite their successes as solo artists, Simon & Garfunkel were better as a duo, which is an easy case to make when you look at their individual achievements, especially Paul Simon.
Aside from his more easily measurable achievements and milestones, Simon’s material also provides a masterclass in artistic development beyond initial breakthrough and the payoffs of exploring different ideas, genres, and styles.
However, while there’s a lot to be said about all of that, there’s no denying that everything they did on their own will never be comparable to what they built together as a duo. Even when they were at their wits’ end with each other, they were at their best artistically, and that’s saying something considering that most bands or duos dissolve into nothing the moment they lose their ability to see eye to eye.
But with Simon & Garfunkel, the magic was always there, and sure, we can celebrate songs like ‘Graceland’ and ‘Bright Eyes’, but it’s clear that they don’t hold a candle to timeless masterpieces like ‘America’ and ‘The Sound of Silence’. What the pair did together wasn’t just create great music, but they captured the spirit of an entire generation, and here are five songs that prove they were better together.
Songs that prove Simon & Garfunkel were better as a duo:
‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’
Behind almost every great song in music history, there’s a poignant story about what inspired it into existence, and ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ is no different, coming at the tail-end of Simon & Garfunkel’s reign, when their collaboration was at its rockiest.
There’s much to latch onto when it comes to the song’s emotional core, especially when you’re more attuned to the broader contexts of the pair’s frayed dynamic and how much of a struggle it was until the bitter end, but when you listen to the song as a standalone piece, it’s hard to resist being pulled in, with the pair bidding farewell to one another in the most spine-tinglingly raw way possible.
‘Homeward Bound’
Although this one is technically more a standalone Simon piece than a Simon & Garfunkel masterpiece but it’s the nature of the contribution of each which is precisely why it makes its way onto this list. Simon had the idea to channel homesickness into a delicate story, and with Garfunkel’s input, it became one of the most touchingly vulnerable pieces in their broader discography.
It also proves the simplicity of their partnership and ability to create timeless melodies and arrangements that anybody can resonate with, regarding which Simon once said, “It’s like a photograph of a long time ago. I like that about it, but I don’t like the song that much. There’s something naive and sweet-natured, and I must say I like that about it… And that’s my memory of that time: it was just about idyllic.”
‘Mrs Robinson’
‘Mrs Robinson’ was created entirely for director Mike Nichols, who’d loved their music and wanted them to write something specifically for the film, The Graduate. A mark of true collaborative genius, Garfunkel said of the song that the original idea was something of a throwaway, a “trifle song we were about to throw out”, but it became its own beast when Nichols asked them to work on it for his story.
The pair rose to the challenge, editing the lyric, tightening the melody, and generally making it into the magic that you hear on the recorded version, all with a simple idea they hadn’t really believed in at first. In the end, ‘Mrs Robinson’ became one of their most defining hits, and if that’s not proof of their unmatched magic, then nothing is.
‘The Sound of Silence’
‘The Sound of Silence’ might not have attracted the legacy that it did were it not for its second wind, having originally been written as an acoustic version for their first album, Wednesday Morning, 3 AM. When the record failed to perform well, the duo decided to call it a day on their musical partnership, but producer Tom Wilson revisited it and added some more electric elements before releasing it as a single, and then it became a hit.
Again, if for nothing else, the song serves as a testament to how intricate their work together seemed to be, and sure, had Wilson not stepped in, it’s unlikely that their material would have gone anywhere, but the potential was always there. Much like many things they did together, it needed to be nurtured in the right way, at which point, their position in the folk rock arena came second to none.
‘America’
There’s a reason why ‘America’ became the go-to for most coming-of-age dramas, and it’s because it holds all the complexities at the heart of youth, including the lighthearted mood of hanging out with friends who accept you as you are, as well as the constant hum of uncertainty that pulsates through your blood at any given moment.
‘American’ captures all of those notes beautifully, oscillating between joyful lines and ones filled with more obvious sadness, which makes sense, considering it was inspired by a road trip taken by Simon with Kathy Chitty. As such, the most hard-hitting lines come from this strange sense of malaise, for instance, “‘Kathy, I’m lost’, I said, though I knew she was sleeping / I’m empty and aching and I don’t know why”.
