Bridge Over Troubled Water

Paul Simon wrote "Bridge Over Troubled Water" quickly, so quickly that he later said: "Where did that come from? It doesn't seem like me." He had conceived it as a small gospel-influenced hymn, two verses, spare and simple. Art Garfunkel and producer Roy Halee convinced him it needed a third verse and a full orchestral arrangement. Simon listened to the result and told them it was too long, too slow, and too orchestral to work as a single. Columbia Records president Clive Davis disagreed and pushed hard to make it the album's centerpiece and title track. Davis was right. The song spent six weeks at number one.

The album was made in the shadow of a partnership coming apart. Garfunkel spent most of 1969 filming the movie Catch-22, leaving Simon largely alone to write and arrange. The sessions were spread across studios in New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville, and stretched over more than a year. By the time the album was released in January 1970, Simon and Garfunkel had effectively ended their partnership. The album they made while falling apart sold 25 million copies, won six Grammy Awards including Album of the Year, and stayed on the UK charts for over 300 weeks, returning to number one eight separate times.

"The Boxer," "Cecilia," "The Only Living Boy in New York," "El Condor Pasa" — the range across this record is remarkable for a duo that most people associate with two guys and two acoustic guitars. Bridge Over Troubled Water is a farewell that neither of them fully intended to make, and that is exactly why it sounds the way it does. Some albums feel finished. This one feels final.