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Simon and Garfunkle - Mrs. Robinson


Mike

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Mrs. Robinson - Songfacts

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"Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me."

From the infamous film of 1967, breakthough acting role for 30 yo. Dustin Hoffman.

The lyrics suggested the absence of Joe Dimaggio, which initially irritated Mr. Dimaggio until he realized that he had become a "new icon" now with the baby boomers generation due to this songs success.

The song was not complete for the film, the film only contains portions of incidental music, Simon assembled and completed the song after.

Due to the strength of this song on the films soundtrack this made Simon and Garfunkle a household name, the soundtrack rose to the top of the charts in 1968, beating out The Beatles White Album.

Paul Simon was a much bigger fan of Mickey Mantle than Joe Dimaggio, on The Dick Cavett Show Simon was asked by Mickey Mantle why he wasn’t mentioned in the song instead of DiMaggio. Simon replied, "It's about syllables, Mick. It's about how many beats there are."

A cover version of this song was recorded and charted by the 90's musical group Lemonheads. The single peaked at number 8 on "The Billboard Hot 100" in 1992.

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And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson

Jesus loves you more than you will know (Wo, wo, wo)

God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson

Heaven holds a place for those who pray

(Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey)

We'd like to know a little bit about you for our files

We'd like to help you learn to help yourself

Look around you, all you see are sympathetic eyes

Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home

And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson

Jesus loves you more than you will know (Wo, wo, wo)

God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson

Heaven holds a place for those who pray

(Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey)

Hide it in a hiding place where no one ever goes

Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes

It's a little secret, just the Robinsons' affair

Most of all, you've got to hide it from the kids

Coo, coo, ca-choo, Mrs Robinson

Jesus loves you more than you will know (Wo, wo, wo)

God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson

Heaven holds a place for those who pray

(Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey)

Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon

Going to the candidates debate

Laugh about it, shout about it

When you've got to choose

Ev'ry way you look at it, you lose

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio

A nation turns its lonely eyes to you (Woo, woo, woo)

What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson

Joltin' Joe has left and gone away

(Hey, hey, hey...hey, hey, hey)

The name of this song originally was Mrs. Roosevelt, Simon titled it.

Take a look at the lyrics in bold underline, obviously a clear reference to the famous first lady. She was also a christian woman, hence, Jesus loves you more than you will know.

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Wasn´t "Mrs Robinson" written for the movie? That´s what I read in some interviews with Paul Simon. Maybe he wrote bits of it and then made the rest?

No, this was not written for the film.

Director Mike Nichols hired Simon and Garfunkle to write a song for the film. Simon was working on the song at the time (unfinished) he sometimes sang it Roosevelt, sometimes Robinson as he played around with the lyrics. Only the chorus was used in the film, no verses. Nichols rejected the actual two songs Simon wrote for the film "Punky's Dilemma" and "A Hazy Shade of Winter".

The characters name in the script was changed to Robinson and the song was included in the film.

Simon finshed the entire songs lyrics during the film and it was included on the film soundtrack in full.

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