It’s kind of funny to remember that, as a child, I used to associate this album with sadness and a foreboding sense of ‘coming of age’. In 1970, I was only eleven and even then, a great deal of my life was based on music.

Back then, music was so much more than simple entertainment, even for an eleven year-old. It seemed that all culture revolved around the music that was being made, so it was deeply distressing to hear that the Beatles had broken up, only to learn soon afterward that Simon and Garfunkel has also decided to split. At that point, I knew that future was going to be less predictable than I otherwise might have assumed. In my own naïve way, I had faith in the groups who made the music that accompanied my life, and these breakups made me realize the fragility of the world around me.

“Bridge Over Troubled Water” is Simon and Garfunkel’s swan song, and it’s a beauty. I suppose the title song was meant to convey a sense of hope and everlasting friendship, but I never heard it that way. To me, it represented sadness and maybe even a betrayal in maintaining a relationship as promised. Life would go on, and Paul Simon in particular would continue to make music that impressed and influenced me, but like everyone else, I missed the idea of Simon and Garfunkel making records as a team.

Featured tracks include;

1) Bridge Over Troubled Water

2) El Condor Pasa

3) Cecelia

4) Keep the Customer Satisfied

5) So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright

6) The Boxer

7) Baby Driver

8) The Only Living Boy in New York

9) Why Don’t You Write Me

10) Bye Bye Love

11) Song for the Asking