{"id":5722,"date":"2026-09-16T13:30:44","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T17:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/?p=5722"},"modified":"2026-09-16T13:30:45","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T17:30:45","slug":"the-tense-history-behind-bridge-over-troubled-water-by-simon-garfunkel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/the-tense-history-behind-bridge-over-troubled-water-by-simon-garfunkel\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tense History Behind \u201cBridge Over Troubled Water\u201d by Simon &amp; Garfunkel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Soon after releasing their 1970 album, <em>Bridge Over Troubled Water<\/em>, Simon &amp; Garfunkel were finished as a duo. Crushed by the weight of their own success, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/facts\/paul-simon\">Paul Simon<\/a> and Art Garfunkel had reached a breaking point. <a href=\"https:\/\/americansongwriter.com\/3-fracture-points-that-led-to-simon-garfunkels-inevitable-breakup-in-1970\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">According to Simon<\/a>, \u201cI think if Artie had become a big movie star, he would have left.\u201d And Simon, the group\u2019s primary writer, chose to beat his partner to the punch and move on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Simon &amp; Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water (Audio)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4G-YQA_bsOU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>When Times Get Rough<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, one of the duo\u2019s biggest songs remains the title track of its fifth and final studio LP. And it\u2019s a song about holding on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>When you\u2019re weary, feeling small.<br>When tears are in your eyes,<br>I will dry them all.<br>I\u2019m on your side when times get rough<\/em>.<br><br><em>And friends just can\u2019t be found,<br>Like a bridge over troubled water,<br>I will lay me down.<br>Like a bridge over troubled water,<br>I will lay me down<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Your Time Has Come To Shine<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the 2023 documentary, <em>In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon<\/em>, Simon describes growing tensions between him and Garfunkel and the unequal distribution of creative power within the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe had an uneven partnership because I was writing all of the songs and basically running the sessions because I would say, \u2018This is how it goes, and this is the guitar part, and you should be playing that on drums, and the bass should be doing this,\u2019\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/paul-simon-broken-friendship-art-garfunkel-new-documentary-we-had-an-uneven-partnership-8611612\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Sail on, silvergirl,<br>Sail on by.<br>Your time has come to shine.<br>All your dreams are on their way.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>See how they shine,<br>If you need a friend,<br>I\u2019m sailing right behind.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Meanwhile, Simon felt a tinge of jealousy witnessing the crowd\u2019s reaction to Garfunkel singing \u201cBridge Over Troubled Water\u201d, with the audience often responding with a standing ovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Like a bridge over troubled water,<br>I will ease your mind<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Between Garfunkel\u2019s acting ambitions, the creative imbalance between the two, and Simon\u2019s nagging sense that he no longer needed his partner, the biggest folk duo in the world wouldn\u2019t survive. Regardless of how powerfully Simon\u2019s lyrics in \u201cBridge Over Troubled Water\u201d urge patience, encouragement, and solidarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Photo by Tom Copi\/Michael Ochs Archives\/Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Soon after releasing their 1970 album, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon &amp; Garfunkel were finished as a duo. Crushed by the weight of their own success, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel had reached a breaking point. According to Simon, \u201cI think if Artie had become a big movie star, he would have left.\u201d And Simon, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":973477,"featured_media":5724,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"byline":{"profiles":[{"type":"byline_id","atts":{"term_id":316,"post_id":2139}}]},"savage_platform_role_ideator":[],"savage_platform_role_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_senior_editor":[],"savage_platform_role_photographer":[],"savage_platform_role_illustrator":[],"savage_platform_role_translator":[],"savage_platform_role_as-told-to":[],"savage_platform_role_reviewed-by":[],"savage_platform_disable_recirculation":false,"savage_platform_article_type":"news","savage_platform_vice_article_type":"article","savage_platform_article_intent":"","savage_platform_show_affiliate_disclaimer":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"wp_curate_deduplication":false,"wp_curate_unique_pinned_posts":false,"savage_platform_featured_image_caption":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"savage_platform_subheadline":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[173,111],"byline":[316],"class_list":["post-5722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","tag-folk","tag-simon-garfunkel"],"savage_platform_primary_term":{"category":{"term_name":"Features","term_id":12,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/category\/features\/"},"post_tag":{"term_name":"folk","term_id":173,"term_link":"https:\/\/www.songfacts.com\/articles\/tag\/folk\/"}},"hide_from_homepage":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Tense History Behind \u201cBridge Over Troubled Water\u201d by Simon &amp; 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