In early 1969, after the mega success of two albums that topped the Billboard 200 for four months, Paul Simon began writing "Bridge Over Troubled Water."
The gospel -inspired tune drew from two major influences. One was Sonny Til and the Orioles' recording of "Crying in the Chapel," which Simon had heard as a teenager . The other was a more recent album by The Swan Silvertones.
Captivated by the emotional power and otherworldly quality of gospel music, Simon set out to bring that same feeling into his newest work.
A song divinely inspired
In one particular Swan Silvertones' track, "Oh Mary Don't You Weep," Simon was struck by the lyrics, "I'll be a bridge over deep water, if you trust in my name." Within two hours, he had a fifteen-note melody and two verses based on these lyrics. He knew, without a doubt, that something special was being born.
"I thought, 'This is better than I usually write.' It just seemed to flow through me. In a way, you don't feel you can really even call it your own, but then again, it's nobody else's. I didn't know where it came from, but I knew it was exceptional. It's as if there's this chemical feeling, the creating of something that is so exceptional it...