197. Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)




















Track Listing

1. Bridge over troubled water
2. El condor pasa
3. Cecilia
4. Keep the customer satisfied
5. So long Frank Lloyd Wright
6. Boxer
7. Baby driver
8. Only living boy in New York
9. Why don't you write me
10. Bye bye love
11. Song for the asking

Review

You all know me by now as a fan of Simon and Garfunkel... but not of Garfunkel's pityful solo career. This album is generally seen as their best one and it is also unfortunately their last one. Frankly I don't think it's their best and it is a bit hit and miss, but the hits are soooooo good that it doesn't really matter.

There are songs here which aren't up to their standard, El Condor Pasa is one of them, reminding me of all those Peruvian buskers and those from the Fast Show in particular. But to compensate for that you have some of the most heartfelt and beautiful songs the duo ever produced.

Fuelled by their imminent breakup there is a kind of homoerotic quality to many of the songs where this marriage of years is coming to an end. So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright and Only Living Boy In New York are examples of this, Paul Simon saying goodbye to his Jewfro'd partner, with such a gentle touch that it is actually quite sad. The title song has lost much of its power due to neverending covers, but it is still a standart of great song writing. And at the end Song For The Asking with its length of 1.49 is a little jewel.

Definitely listen to it. Get it from Amazon UK or US.

Track Highlights

1. The Only Living Boy In New York
2. So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright
3. Song For The Asking
4. Cecilia

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The album proved to be a vast success in the United Kingdom, enjoying several runs at number one, spending some years in the charts and eventually becoming the country's biggest-selling album of the 1970s. In August 2006 the continued popularity of the album was proven when it charted 7th place in The BBC Radio 2 Music Club Top 100 Albums.

In 2001 the TV network VH1 named Bridge over Troubled Water the thirty-third greatest album of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 51 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.


The Only Living Boy In New York... they're so old...: