The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)

by

Simon & Garfunkel

Album: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme      Released: 1966

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Songfacts:  You can leave comments about the song at the bottom of the page.

The 59th Street bridge (officially the Queensboro Bridge), goes over the East River in New York City, connecting Queens to Manhattan. Simon & Garfunkel are from New York, which has a very hectic pace. In this song they remind us to slow down and appreciate the simple pleasures in life, like cobblestones and flowers.

When he performed at Tufts University in 1966, Simon said of this song: "I spent most of the year 1965 living in England, and at the end of that year in December, I came back to the United States, 'The Sound Of Silence' had become a big hit, and I had to make this adjustment from being relatively unknown in England to being semi-famous here, and I didn't really swing with it. It was a very difficult scene to make, and I was writing very depressed-type songs until around June of last year. I started to swing out of it, I was getting into a good mood, and I remember coming home in the morning about 6 o'clock over the 59th Street Bridge in New York, and it was such a groovy day really, a good one, and it was one of those times when you know you won't be tired for about an hour, a sort of a good hanging time, so I started to write a song that later became the 59th Street Bridge Song or Feelin' Groovy."

The Queensboro Bridge is notoriously noisy and mechanical. You walk on metal graters that vibrate as the traffic zooms by, creating a dangerous and exciting sensation. This could be the background for "Slow down, you move too fast..."

Despite being one of Simon & Garfunkel's best known songs this was never a hit for them. However in 1967 a more Pop-oriented version by Harpers Bizarre with higher vocals peaked at #13 in the US & #34 in the UK. (thanks, Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England)

This is one of the first uses of the word "Groovy" in a popular song. It gave the songwriters Carole Bayer Sager and Toni Wine inspiration for the first "Groovy" hit: "A Groovy Kind Of Love."

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Comments:

Hey look, some idiot's dancing on the bridge talking to the lampposts. This is such a fun song, and one of the few truly happy songs ever written by Paul Simon.
- Jay, Brooklyn, NY

Led Zeppelin performed a version of Feelin Groovy live in the boogie middle section of Whole Lotta Love..bubba Anaheim hill ca
- bubba, anaheim, CA

This song was also covered by Harpers Bizarre, but I prefer hearing Simon and Garfunkel sing it. This song is very cute and fun to sing along with!
- Meredith, Wauwatosa, WI

Hi Michael, It was the flip side of "At The Zoo" in America, I have the 45 with the picture sleeve showing S&G's faces on two animals' bodies. The imported copies must have a different flip. Was "At The Zoo" released as a single in Germany? Be good, Nick
- Nick, Bethlehem, PA

Hi guys, A little enlightenment about "The 59th Street Bridge Song". It was released as the flip side of "At The Zoo". The reason Paul didn't want it on the A Side is because he felt "we're a folk group, how can we be feelin' groovy?" He wrote this while walking over the bridge early in the morning (6AM or so), and he loved the part of the day when the sun is coming up, and how fresh you feel even after being up all night.
- Nick, Bethlehem, PA

On a PBS tribute to Paul Simon, Elmo and Grover sang this. I thought it was so sweet :-)
- Sally, South Orange, NJ

I think it reminds me to slow down with life and be in the moment more... we are always moving too fast, and this world is even more sped up today than it was in the late 60's early 70's with everything "instant" and computerized. So this song takes me back to a slower time and it never fails to make me smile.
- Jane, White River Jct, VT

Not to be cliche, but Simon and Garfunkel are well known to be marijuana users. I have always believed that this song at least partly had to do with smoking marijuana.
- Michelle, Boston, MA

I love this song. I think it may be the definition of mellow.
- Ashley, Moncton, Canada

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