He sits there in the shadows, vulnerable, a man with little in the way of hope. Being alone on the cover of their latest single must have symbolized the fraying relationship between cover star Paul Simon and his longtime partner Art Garfunkel. As the angelic-voiced half of the duo hogged the limelight on "Bridge Over Troubled Water", the song's composer could only look on glumly. While Garfunkel got all the attention, the man who did the heavy lifting was practically being forgotten in real time.
(In reality, the photo on the single's flip side is one of Garfunkel all by himself. Rather than looking forlorn, however, he is all business, ready to sing into a mic as his headphones try in vain to mat his trademark afro. Is Simon staring in disbelief at his mate's professionalism?)
Nothing of the sort happened but what difference does that make when you're a highly skilled songwriter who happens to be incredibly thin-skinned? I would say "if only he could see into a future of gold records and critical acclaim held up next to Garfunkel's more short lived success followed by years of being the butt end of jokes" but it seems Simon still feels this way. All his one time friend did was sing a note perfect rendition of what would become their most famous song and the other one (who, lest we forget, has made a fortune in royalties ever since) remains sore over it. Some people, eh?
It's a funny old thing about these sorts of uplifting, secular hymns and how much tension came as the result of them. Or maybe I'm looking at them the wrong way: the tension already existed and it brought about songs like "Bride Over Troubled Water". (Yeah, that makes more sense) And with lines like "And friends just can't be found" it would seem a safe bet that troubles between Simon and Garfunkel had been simmering for a while.
Given what we know now, it seems easy to take Simon's side in this whole thing. Even still, say what you will about Garfunkel's silly hair and his mediocre solo career and his apparent inability to write a song of his own (even if he never claimed to be interested in doing so) but he's the one who makes "Bridge Over Troubled Water". Obviously Simon did his part and then some but the man simply wasn't up to taking the lead himself. (Garfunkel is said to have preferred what his partner did on an early demo but I can't imagine anyone agreeing with this assessment since it sounds like a rough cut of promising song in need of the right vocalist)
Luckily, the right vocalist was doubtless standing just a few feet away from a (probably) resentful Simon. While many other standards inevitably become dwarfed by their original and/or definitive rendition, "Bridge Over Troubled Water" has been covered very successfully by a number of accomplished singers. Aretha Franklin's version is stunning, Johnny Cash's is surprisingly delicate. Yet none of them come even close to the way Garfunkel takes the listener on a masterclass ride of vocal skills. He's practically whispering in its earliest stages and you're left turning up the volume only to realize that it's still a strain to hear him. "When you're weary, feeling small": and he sure as hell sounds like it. Even as its near five minutes of running time churns along, the temptation to just belt it out was avoided. It's as if in promising to be that bridge, he was also communicating a need for some support of his own.
Barring the odd reunion, Simon and Garfunkel went out on the highest of high notes. Their final studio album of the same name is probably their most well-rounded in terms of both song quality and sequencing. No fewer than four of its eleven tracks made the charts with all of them — in addition to "Bridge Over Troubled Water", they also put out "The Boxer", "Cecilia" and "El Condor Pasa (If I Could)" — hitting the Top 5 of the RPM hit parade. (Four may seem like a modest number compared to Michael Jackson's obnoxious practice of issuing seven or eight per album but it was basically without precedence back in 1970) And this was the biggest hit they'd ever have. One wrote simple yet poignant verses and melody while the other set about proving that his delivery was the best in the business. Everyone did their part but not everyone was satisfied but at least virtually everyone else ended up enjoying it.
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