| "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright" | |
|---|---|
| Song bySimon & Garfunkel | |
| from the albumBridge over Troubled Water | |
| Released | January 26, 1970 (1970-01-26) |
| Recorded | October 28, 1969 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 3:41 |
| Label | Columbia |
| Songwriter | Paul Simon |
| Producers |
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"So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright" is a song written byPaul Simon that was originally released onSimon & Garfunkel's 1970 album,Bridge over Troubled Water. It has since been released on several Simon & Garfunkel compilation albums.[2] It has also been recorded by the London Pops Orchestra andJoe Chindamo trio.[2]Art Garfunkel, who had studied architecture, requested that Simon write a song about the architectFrank Lloyd Wright. Simon knew little about Wright, so just used his name as a substitute and instead wrote a nostalgic song about Garfunkel.[3] Garfunkel sings lead on the majority of the song while Simon sings on the bridge.
The lyrics of "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright" reference the architectFrank Lloyd Wright, who died in 1959.[4] Art Garfunkel had studied to become an architect.[4][5][6] While Garfunkel sings the song's fadeout to the words "so long," producer and engineerRoy Halee is heard on the recording calling out "So long already Artie!"[4][5] Other lines in the song refer to the songwriter having "barely learned the tune," and to the nights when an unspecified "we" would "harmonize 'til dawn."[5][6] The author comments that "When I run dry, I'll stop awhile and think of you".[5]
The accompaniment includescongas,strings, aflute uncredited on the liner notes,bass and aclassical guitar part played inbossa nova style, primarily usingseventh chords.[5][7] The song has a stately melody and the tune incorporates variedrhythms andsyncopations.[4][5] The song'skey modulates at the end of the first bridge fromG-flat major toG major.[5] Simon has recalled that he had been listening to Brazilian music, probablyAntônio Carlos Jobim, when he wrote the tune for "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright."[8] Author Walter Everett suggests that the repeating note section of thebridge, about one minute into the song, effectively suggests the ordinariness of other architects, and also suggests some of Wright's architectural signatures.[7]
Garfunkel did not realise that Simon had intended the song to refer to their partnership until many years after the album had been released. In an interview he remarked that Simon "never let me in on that" secret. He added, "I find that a secretive and unpleasant thing to have done to you."[9] However, he has come to terms with the song, as he states in the liner notes to his 2012 compilationThe Singer, in which "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright" was included, further stating that he can ignore this subtext, since the song is "just so much fun to sing," and writes about Paul Simon, that "one loves the giver of a beautiful gift."
| Studio albums | |
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| Live albums | |
| Compilation albums | |
| Box sets | |
| Soundtrack albums | |
| Videos | |
| Discographies | |
| Other | |
| Sounds of Silence |
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| Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme | |
| Bookends |
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| Bridge over Troubled Water |
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| Other singles | |
| Other songs | |
