Mrs. Robinson
| Mrs. Robinson | |
|---|---|
| Simon & Garfunkel | |
| publication | April 1968 |
| length | 4:00 |
| Genre (s) | Folk rock |
| Author (s) | Paul Simon |
| Publisher (s) | Columbia Records |
| Award (s) | two Grammy Awards |
| album | Bookends |
| Cover versions | |
| 1969 | Frank Sinatra |
| 1992 | The lemonheads |
Mrs. Robinson is a song by the American folk-rock duo Simon & Garfunkel . Released as a single in April 1968 , it was Simon & Garfunkel's second number one hit in their homeland after The Sounds of Silence in 1965 . An early version of the song, written by Paul Simon , was heard in the 1967 film The Graduation Examination and appeared on the accompanying soundtrack in January 1968 . The final version appeared in April 1968 on the album Bookends . The song won two Grammy Awards .
Emergence
Mrs. Robinson
The film The Maturity Exam is about the affair of a college graduate with an older, married woman, Mrs. Robinson. While filming, director Mike Nichols developed an affection for the songs of Simon & Garfunkel but found no way to use the duo's music for the film. Lawrence Turman , the producer of the film, was ultimately able to negotiate with Paul Simon that he should write three new songs for the film. As the editing work neared its end, not enough songs were finished. Simon had introduced Nichols to Punky's Dilemma and Overs , but Nichols didn't approve of either of them. At a meeting with Simon and Garfunkel, the director asked if they could offer him something else. They played him a few notes from a song they were working on. However, this was not intended for the film, but was about times past, about Joe DiMaggio and Mrs. Roosevelt . Nichols and Garfunkel have different descriptions of the exact course of the conversation. Ultimately, however, it was agreed to adapt the text so that Mrs. Robinson could be sung about instead of Mrs. Roosevelt.
Only two lines from the chorus of the song can be heard in the film. The lyrics differ from the single: “ Stand up tall, Mrs. Robinson, God in heaven smiles on those who pray. ”(For example:“ Stand upright, Mrs. Robinson, God in heaven is happy about those who pray. ”) In the single version, however, the refrain begins with the words:“ And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson, Jesus loves you more than you will know. ”(“ To your health, Mrs. Robinson! Jesus loves you more than you realize. ”)
Joe DiMaggio
The last time it is repeated, the text of the chorus changes, the first lines then read: “ Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you. ”(“ Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio ? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you. ”). Paul Simon saw in the baseball star DiMaggio an American hero and a cultural icon of the USA of his time. When asked where DiMaggio had gone, he wanted to express a blank space, since in his opinion such heroic figures had become rare.
DiMaggio was offended by being asked about his departure and is said to have considered suing Simon. A few years after Mrs. Robinson's publication , the two happened to meet in an Italian restaurant, and Simon introduced himself to him as the songwriter. They discussed the text and DiMaggio explained his discomfort. He had just done an advertisement for coffee machines and was the spokesman for a bank, he was still there: “ I haven't gone anywhere. ”(“ I didn't go anywhere. ”) Simon explained how he meant the question. DiMaggio accepted the explanation and thanked him.
Success in the charts
The song was released as a 7 "single by Columbia Records in April 1968 . Old Friends / Bookends, another track from the Bookends album, served as the B-side . On June 1, 1968, Mrs. Robinson peaked at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart . It was represented there for a total of thirteen weeks, three of which were number one .
The single was received differently on the European music markets. In the British single charts it lasted twelve weeks and meanwhile reached number 4. In the German single charts , however, it was only half a month (1 chart edition), namely at number 39. For nine weeks it was in the Swiss charts , best position here was the 9th rank. It did not reach a chart position in Austria.
In the UK, Mrs. Robinson was also released as an EP in 1968 . Other tracks on the record included April Come She Will on A-side , Scarborough Fair / Canticle and The Sound of Silence on B-side . The EP was represented in the UK charts for five weeks and reached ninth place as the best position.
Awards
At the 1969 Grammy Awards , two of the awards were given to Mrs. Robinson . With the award as Single of the Year (Record of the Year) , the song won one of the main categories; The award was given to the interpreters Simon & Garfunkel and to Roy Halee as producer of the song. In addition, Simon & Garfunkel were honored for Mrs. Robinson as best vocal performance by a duo or a group, contemporary pop (Best Contemporary-Pop Performance, Vocal Duo Or Group) . Paul Simon and Dave Grusin also received the Grammy Award for the best original music written for a film or a television special (Best Original Score Written For A Motion Picture Or A Television Special) for the soundtrack for the final exam .
Cover versions
The song has been covered several times by other well-known musicians . One of the earliest known cover versions is on Frank Sinatra's 1969 album My Way . Sinatra changed several lines of the lyrics, including replacing the word "Jesus" in the chorus with "Jilly". In the same year, a version of the singer Lulu appeared in the Bee Gees' film Cucumber Castle . Another cover comes from the independent band The Lemonheads , who turned the song into a punk number in 1992 and thus had one of their most commercially successful singles. One version by Eläkeläiset is called Herra Kekkonen . The rock band Bon Jovi also recorded a cover version of the song during one of their live performances and released this recording on the limited edition of their 1995 album These Days. In 1971 a German version of the same name by the Austrian singer Peter Horton appeared on the market.
Web links
- Lyrics on the website of Simon & Garfunkel
- Mrs. Robinson at Discogs (English)
- Mrs. Robinson on MusicBrainz
- Mrs. Robinson at songfacts.com (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Peter Bart: The perfect pic alignment . In: Variety . May 15, 2005 ( article online at variety.com [accessed February 24, 2012]). Article online ( Memento of the original dated August 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Marc Eliot: Paul Simon: A Life . 2010, ISBN 978-0-470-43363-8 , pp. 89 ff .
- ^ Marc Eliot: Paul Simon: A Life . 2010, ISBN 978-0-470-43363-8 , pp. 91 ( online ).
- ^ A b Paul Simon: The Silent Superstar . In: The New York Times . March 9, 1999 ( article online [accessed February 24, 2012] obituary for Joe DiMaggio).
- ↑ Mark Kriegel: DiMaggio Was Perfect Fit For My Song, Simon Says . In: New York Daily News . November 27, 1998 ( article online [accessed February 24, 2012]). Article online ( Memento of the original from March 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Simon & Garfunkel on the Billboard Charts. In: billboard.com. Billboard Magazine , accessed December 12, 2011 .
- ↑ Mrs. Robinson in the Official UK Charts (English)
- ↑ Simon & Garfunkel - Mrs. Robinson. In: charts.de. Retrieved February 24, 2012 .
- ↑ Simon & Garfunkel - Mrs. Robinson. In: hitparade.ch. Retrieved February 24, 2012 .
- ↑ Simon & Garfunkel - Mrs. Robinson. In: austriancharts.at. Retrieved February 24, 2012 .
- ^ Mrs. Robinson (EP) at Allmusic (English). Retrieved April 10, 2012.
- ↑ Simon & Garfunkel. Official Charts Company , accessed April 10, 2012 .
- ↑ Results of the 11th Grammy Awards in the Grammy Awards database. National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences , accessed February 24, 2012 .
- ↑ Chris Charlesworth: The Complete Guide to the Music of Paul Simon and Simon & Garfunkel . Omnibus Press, 1997, ISBN 978-0-7119-5597-4 , pp. 42 f .
- ↑ Tribute to Eläkeläiset. (No longer available online.) In: porotal.org. Archived from the original on December 27, 2007 ; Retrieved October 10, 2012 (Finnish). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
