Bridge Over Troubled Water - Composition and Lyrics

Composition and Lyrics

The folk ballad "The Boxer" tells the story of a boy who one day leaves home to seek good fortune, but instead encounters the inhumanity and harsh rebuke of American society, whose primary concern is for winners, and which lacks tolerance towards losers. The boy then becomes injured, experiences misery and loneliness, and eventually finds the only comfort to be with a prostitute. The song ends optimistically, as the boxer keeps his dignity. Simon said in an interview with Playboy in 1984 that he was inspired by the Bible, and used some of its language in this song. The song "Cecilia" is about an unfaithful girl who invites a guy to her bed, while the singer is in the bathroom. However, David Browne suggested that it may be derived from the patron of music, Saint Cecilia. It has an unusual high tempo as opposed to their prior songs.

"Bridge Over Troubled Water" was influenced by the gospel music to which Simon listened at that time, especially the Swan Silvertones and their song "Mary Don't You Weep". The name of the title track was inspired by the latter's line "I'll be your bridge over deep water, if you trust in my name". Simon also praised Reverend Claude Jeter's falsetto voice, which was for him the greatest in music. In a 1970 TV-show with Dick Cavett he later admitted probably stealing the line, and according to gospel producer and historian Anthony Heilbut, Simon later acknowledged his musical debt to Jeter in person, and additionally handed Jeter a check as compensation. "Bridge Over Troubled Water" was one of only a few songs not addressed to Garfunkel, but to Simon's wife Peggy, whom he met that year. The "silver girl" in the song refers to her, and gray highlights in her hair, and not to a drugged hypodermic needle, as was believed in the United States. Simon asked Garfunkel to sing lead on the song, and although Garfunkel initially refused this proposal and suggested that Simon should sing falsetto, later agreed to sing. Simon initially composed the song in G major, but arranger and composer Jimmie Haskell transposed the song to E flat major to suit Garfunkel's voice.

"El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" is a Peruvian song based on traditional Andean music. Simon wrote lyrics to the instrumental recording, and the song later became a forerunner of Simon's World music era as a solo artist. In "Keep the Customer Satisfied", Simon complains about the exhausting tours, a similar theme as "Homeward Bound". "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright" is a tribute to the architect Frank Lloyd Wright but also to Garfunkel, the latter of whom wanted to train as an architect. It chronicles the early career of the duo and prophesies their future split up. "Baby Driver", an uptempo and happy song already released as a B-side of "The Boxer", tells about a boy who lives a comfortable life in a protected home, but who searches for adventures and one day decides to have his first sexual experience.

Simon wrote "The Only Living Boy in New York" while Garfunkel was filming in Mexico, and is about the resulting isolation he felt in New York. The next song, "Why Don't You Write Me", deals with separation from Simon's wife in a jungle. In this song Simon experimented with reggae for the first time. The album ends with a live cover of "Bye Bye Love" and the ballad "Song for the Asking", the latter a farewell song as well as a hint of a new career.