Bridge over Troubled Water (song)

"Bridge Over Troubled Water"
Front cover of the US and some overseas vinyl releases (back cover shows Garfunkel)
Single by Simon & Garfunkel
from the album Bridge over Troubled Water
B-side"Keep the Customer Satisfied"
ReleasedJanuary 20, 1970 (1970-01-20)
RecordedAugust, November 1969
GenrePop rock[1] · gospel[2] · soft rock[3]
Length4:55
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Paul Simon
Producer(s)
Simon & Garfunkel singles chronology
"The Boxer"
(1969) 		"Bridge Over Troubled Water"
(1970) 		"Cecilia"
(1970)
Official audio
"Bridge over Troubled Water" (audio) on YouTube
Audio sample

"Bridge over Troubled Water" is a song by the American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, released in January 1970 as the second single from their fifth studio album, Bridge over Troubled Water (1970). It was written by Paul Simon and produced by Simon, Art Garfunkel and Roy Halee.

"Bridge over Troubled Water" features lead vocals by Art Garfunkel and a piano accompaniment influenced by gospel music, with a "Wall of Sound"-style production.[4][5] It was the last song recorded for the album, but the first completed.[6] The instrumentation, provided by the Wrecking Crew, was recorded in California, while Simon and Garfunkel's vocals were recorded in New York.[6][7][8][9] Simon felt Garfunkel should sing solo, an invitation Garfunkel initially declined.[10] Session musician Larry Knechtel performs piano, with Joe Osborn playing bass guitar and Hal Blaine on drums.

The song won five awards at the 13th Annual Grammy Awards in 1971, including Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. It is Simon & Garfunkel's most successful single, and it is often considered their signature song. It topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for six weeks, and was the No. 1 song on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1970. It also hit number one in the United Kingdom, Canada, France and New Zealand. It reached the top five in eight other countries, eventually selling over six million copies worldwide. It became one of the most performed songs of the 20th century, covered by over 50 artists, including Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin and Johnny Cash. It is ranked number 66 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

  1. ^ "Paul Simon on Aretha Franklin's version of 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'". Los Angeles Times. September 7, 2018. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  2. ^ "Paul Simon Tells the Story of How He Wrote "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (1970)". Openculture.com. Retrieved November 16, 2021.
  3. ^ Valdez, Steve (2014). "Folk rock". In Henderson, Lol; Stacey, Lee (eds.). Encyclopedia of Music in the 20th Century. London: Routledge. p. 223. ISBN 978-1-135-92946-6.
  4. ^ "Sold on Song – Bridge Over Troubled Water". BBC Radio 2. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  5. ^ Hartman, Kent (2012). The Wrecking Crew. St. Martin’s Griffin. pp. 261–263. ISBN 978-1-250-03046-7.
  6. ^ a b Eliot 2010, p. 104.
  7. ^ Browne 2012, p. 30.
  8. ^ Eliot 2010, p. 61.
  9. ^ Eliot 2010, p. 111.
  10. ^ Eliot 2010, p. 105.