Bridge Over Troubled Water - Tumblr Posts

like. a.

B R I D G E

o-ver

~troubled water~

i will

LAY

ME

D O W N

Cuties.

Paul and Art during the recording session of ’Bridge Over Troubled Water’.

Of bridges and old musicians

I've always been a Simon and Garfunkel fan.

When I say always, I mean for the last 20 years and counting. 

I first heard S&G in my parents' car (remind you of anything?), the Concert in Central Park was playing and I was blown away. Head over feet. I couldn't believe the sheer beauty of their voices, those harmonies, the melodies, the overall feel of the songs... I fell under their spell, completely, utterly in love, though I barely understood a word they were singing.

Those days you had to buy CDs to listen to music, and in my little town in Italy their music wasn't exactly popular in 2000. But I managed to get their albums, one after another. Each "new" song was a trip, a discovery. I learnt all, and I mean all the lyrics by heart. I sang both parts in my head, when not out loud. 

I was too young to fully understand the more complex meanings of their songs, but their voices accompanied me through all my young and adult life. Delightful memories of special moments with their songs in the background, awful afternoons alone with no one but them to keep me company - you know, the whole spectrum of emotions music gets you through.

Now, I was always a hardcore fan of everything they did together, yet the one album I couldn't fully enjoy was Bridge. Yes, you got that right. The golden child of the pair, and I had trouble (pun intended) with it. Of course I immediately recognised its magnificence, yet its overall vibe made me uneasy. I love its songs, don't get me wrong! But something in that felt a bit out of tune to me.

I had to get older to understand why, and though these days I listen to it more often than ever, my uneasiness remains.

Bridge is a sad album, to me.

I can feel all the layers of sadness through its songs, not only in the lyrics, but in Paul and Artie's voices. Well, if you know their story it comes as no surprise - but the level of pain they convey (willy-nilly) still strikes me and manages to break my heart to this day.

To me, their works up to BOTW, even the gloomiest ones, convey a sense of hope, of trust, of love. And while love is obviously still very much there in that last album, none can deny it, that love is now tinged with melancholy, sadness, disenchantment. Trust? Lost. Hope? Maybe a bit, but unconvincing.

Bridge Over Troubled Water, with all its beauty and splendor that makes it so easy for the listener to love it, is a sad, sad album. Even more so because in retrospect I know that they never crossed that bridge over troubled water to ease their minds and find harmony again, once and for all. And that, my friends, is sad. Many things come to an end, but to see such a strong bond so badly shattered hurts.

march 7, 1970

Simon & Garfunkel's album Bridge Over Troubled Water hits #1. It stays there a total of 10 weeks, longer than any other LP in 1970.

This is so beautiful, I'm crying.

the lyrics "tom, get your plane right on time / i know your part'll go fine / fly down to mexico" and "I get the news I need on the weather report / i can gather all the news I need on the weather report" are so so good and just such a beautiful example of how it feels to care deeply for someone. like when someone you love is on a plane journey all you need to check is the weather to know that they're safe in the air, i gather all the news i need on the weather report i got nothing to do today but smile i know your part will go fine. that's LOVE baby. i love this song

Watch the 40th anniversary of BOTW documentary in which Paul has the nerve to say that if there's a theme of people leaving and such in that album it was unintentional.

Like... girl, you for real?

ending the album with these four songs well i know what you are

Never not laughing at these drama queens.

And @latefrthesky 's tags for this win everything: "Art knows Paul is gonna go rabid like a dog", "Paul Simon is Art Garfunkel's chihuahua" - I mean.

paul's mic 😣

I can't.

And Bye Bye Love right after these.

And Song For the Asking to close the album, where he literally says ASK ME FFS I CAN'T

we don't talk about how really deranged paul simon actually is for writing this about art garfunkel OR ANYONE FOR THAT MATTER like he doesn't even stick to saying I miss you... he's literally gonna hang himself on the highest tree over this. and he's gonna question him like 20 times why he hasn't written him .

Ah yes, I love all this.

Disgusting

I love how through all this Artie looks dubious to say the least, while Paul looks so proud of his gem of a song - if you watch the video you'll get it better than through pics, I believe.

Oh, the song they were listening to here was Cuba Sì, Nixon No, in case you were wondering.

No but we can all agree that BOTW cover pic is the worst, yes? Yes.

And after all these years, I still can't choose my favorite between Bookends and Parsley. SOS and Wednesday are cute too, though. While BOTW is tragic, which is fine, after all, considering the mood of the album.

Instead, your partner was in a corner backstage thinking "author, author" because your partner is Paul Simon and that pretty much sums it up.

Ok this is fucking beautiful. Think about singing a new song. You're nervous, hoping it'll do well. You give your best performance while the whole time you're scared it's going to flop.

Then the crowd cheers like this for nearly 30 seconds. They're clapping, crying, celebrating the beauty of this new song. They've never heard this before, and they respond with such a beautiful reaction.

Your partner, the guy who wrote the song, must've been beaming with pride.

This is why Art Garfunkel is one of the best male vocals out there.

BOTW era was an interesting period indeed.

Simon and Garfunkel

No, yeah, of course, I mean... Paul was just literally singing about how half of his life was gone when Artie was in Mexico, but yeah, pure male companionship. Gotta love that definition, gonna use it for them from now on.

An early demo of Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Only Living Boy in New York” (excerpted from the 1975 BBC series on the duo). I wish this line had made it into the final version!

They were very much ahead of their times.

people talking about the phrase "none of those words are in the bible" like it's a tumblr meme when simon and garfunkel said this shit

Ah! Wasn't this uhm... awkward? See video for reference, pics aren't as awful, lol. As someone pointed out on YT, their body language says it all. Ouch.

🏆 Just because it’s awards season and I’m seeing a bajillion postings of stars with their awards… 🏆

✨nostalgic throwback here of Paul & Artie winning for Bridge Over Troubled Water✨

Simon & Garfunkel at the 13th Annual Grammy Awards, March 16, 1971, Los Angeles, CA

Tagging my s&g peeps: @parsley-sage-rosemary-n-thyme @cwwonder @tailorsfaceandhands @streetlights-all-turn-blue @times-up-alone-tonight @unofficialpersonsblog @alexies101 @in-restless-walks @froyo-ravioli

✨Let me know if you want to be on my tag list for S&G posts 😍 … and/or my James Dean posts too btw 🫠 … ✨

Was Paul's heart breaking or something?

No, not at all. According to him, IF there's a theme of people leaving and such throughout BOTW that's a mere coincidence (I remember this from The Harmony Game interviews). 🤡

monday morning sitting in the sun hoping and wishing for the mail to come tuesday never got a word wednesday thursday ain't no sign drank a half a bottle of iodine friday woe is me I'm gonna hang my body from the highest tree why don't you write me why don't you write me why don't you write me why don't you write me why don't you write me why don't you write me why don't you write me……

Especially when I hear him. 💀

A bit late, but happy birthday to BOTW btw!

every time i see paul perform bridge over troubled water without art i think i die a little

All of the nights we'd harmonise 'til dawn,

I never laughed so long, so long, so long...

FOR THE SAKE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, ARTHUR

I'll never get over this I swear.

I know he stated in The Singer that one loves the giver of a beautiful gift, but ffs...

What a mess, these two.

still losing my mind over this . you literally sang the song what the fuck did you think it was about ??? 😭

They look so happy indeed - and The Ring ™ is still there!

I love this picture so, so much. They look so happy?