Mrs. Robinson
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| “Mrs. Robinson” | |||||||||||
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| Single by Simon and Garfunkel from the album Bookends |
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| Released | April 1968 | ||||||||||
| Format | 7" single | ||||||||||
| Recorded | 1968 | ||||||||||
| Genre | Folk Rock | ||||||||||
| Length | 3:50 | ||||||||||
| Label | Columbia Records | ||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Paul Simon | ||||||||||
| Producer | Roy Halee, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel | ||||||||||
| Simon and Garfunkel singles chronology | |||||||||||
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"Mrs. Robinson" is a song written by Paul Simon and first performed by Simon and Garfunkel. When released as a single, it hit number one in the U.S., their second hit after "The Sound of Silence". An early version of the song appeared in the motion picture The Graduate (1967) and its subsequent soundtrack, while the complete song debuted on their album Bookends (1968). The song earned the duo a Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1969.
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[edit] Context
- "And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson,
- Jesus loves you more than you will know
- God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson"
In the film The Graduate, listless recent college graduate Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) has an affair with an older married woman, Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft). The song was not completed for the film; only snippets are heard as incidental music. When the film and the music became popular, Paul Simon put the snippets together into a complete song.
According to a Variety article by Peter Bart in the May 15th, 2005 issue, director Mike Nichols had become obsessed with Simon & Garfunkel's music while shooting the film. Larry Turman, his producer, made a deal for Simon to write three new songs for the movie. By the time they were nearly finished editing the film, Simon had only written one new song. Nichols begged him for more but Simon, who was touring constantly, told him he didn't have the time. He did play him a few notes of a new song he had been working on; "It's not for the movie... it's a song about times past — about Mrs. Roosevelt and Joe DiMaggio and stuff." Nichols advised Simon, "It's now about Mrs. Robinson, not Mrs. Roosevelt."
[edit] Joe DiMaggio
The lines:
- "Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
- Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
- What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson?
- Joltin' Joe has left and gone away."
are perhaps the most memorable. Paul Simon, a fan of Mickey Mantle, was asked on The Dick Cavett Show by Mantle why he (that is, Mantle) wasn’t mentioned in the song instead of DiMaggio. Simon replied, "It's about syllables, Dick. It's about how many beats there are."
For himself, DiMaggio initially complained that he hadn't gone anywhere, but soon dropped his complaints when he realized that he gained new fame with baby boomers because of the song.
In a New York Times op-ed in March 1999, shortly after DiMaggio's death, Simon explained that the line was meant as a sincere tribute to DiMaggio's unpretentious heroic stature, in a time when popular culture magnifies and distorts how we perceive our heroes. He further reflected: "In these days of Presidential transgressions and apologies and prime-time interviews about private sexual matters, we grieve for Joe DiMaggio and mourn the loss of his grace and dignity, his fierce sense of privacy, his fidelity to the memory of his wife and the power of his silence." Simon subsequently performed Mrs. Robinson at Yankee Stadium in DiMaggio's honor in April of the same year.
[edit] Cover versions
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- Frank Sinatra covered a tongue-in-cheek version of this song for his 1969 album My Way. This version changes a number of lines, including replacing "Jesus" with "Jilly" (Sinatra's close bartender friend) and including a new verse directly referring to Mrs. Robinson's activities in The Graduate:
- The PTA, Mrs. Robinson,
- Won't okay the way you do your thing
- Ding ding ding.
- And you'll get yours, Mrs. Robinson,
- Foolin' with that young stuff like you do
- Boo hoo hoo, woo woo woo.
- A notable cover version of this song was recorded and charted by the '90s musical group Lemonheads. This version can be heard in a scene in American Pie 2, featuring two characters similar to those in the original movie; it is also used in Wayne's World 2 in scenes spoofing Wayne's rush to the church. Some small parts from the Simon & Garfunkel version also appear in the movie. The Lemonheads' album It's A Shame About Ray was re-released with the cover of Mrs Robinson included after the single's chart success.
- There is a swinging cover version sung by Billy Paul.
- Soul band Booker T & the MG's made a cover version of the song as an instrumental, barely making the top 40 in July 1969.
- The James Taylor Quartet released an instrumental version in their jazz funk style on their album Mission Impossible.
- Stadium rockers Bon Jovi recorded the song on one of their live performances. The song was included on the limited edition bonus disc of their 1995 These Days album.
- Folk duo The Indigo Girls did a version to accompany the Desperate Housewives TV series.
- Dutch band The Nits wrote a continuation of the romance between Mrs Robinson and Benjamin, with new lyrics and music. Simon refused to let the band re-use a few lines of his song.[citation needed]
| Preceded by "Tighten Up" by Archie Bell & the Drells |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single June 1, 1968- June 15 1968 |
Succeeded by "This Guy's in Love with You" by Herb Alpert |
[edit] External links
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