Мост через бурные воды: История песни Simon & Garfunkel

1970 song by Simon & Garfunkel

"Bridge over Troubled Water" is a song by the American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, released in January 1970 as the second single from their fifth studio album, Bridge over Troubled Water (1970). It was written by Paul Simon and produced by Simon, Art Garfunkel and Roy Halee. "Bridge over Troubled Water" features lead vocals by Art Garfunkel and a piano accompaniment influenced by gospel music, with a "Wall of Sound" style production. It was the last song recorded for the album, but the first completed. The instrumentation, provided by the Wrecking Crew, was recorded in California, while Simon and Garfunkel's vocals were recorded in New York. Simon felt Garfunkel should sing solo, an invitation Garfunkel initially declined. Session musician Larry Knechtel performs piano, with Joe Osborn playing bass guitar and Hal Blaine on drums. The song won five awards at the 13th Annual Grammy Awards in 1971, including Grammy Award for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. It is Simon & Garfunkel's most successful single, and it is often considered their signature song. It topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for six weeks, and was the No. 1 song on the Billboard Year End Hot 100 singles of 1970. It also hit number one in the United Kingdom, Canada, France and New Zealand. It reached the top five in eight other countries, eventually selling over six million copies worldwide. It became one of the most performed songs of the 20th century, covered by over 50 artists, including Elvis Presley, Aretha Franklin and Johnny Cash. It is ranked number 66 on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Billboard called it a "beautiful, almost religious oriented ballad" whose "performance and arrangement are perfect." Cash Box said that "set in parable, this love ballad carries a two level interpretation" and praised "Garfunkel’s magnificent vocal performance and the material." Record World predicted that the song would "equal [the duo's] 'Boxer' success." The song has also been lauded as one of the greatest by Simon & Garfunkel. In 2017, The Guardian called the song one of the best by the duo, describing it as "heart stirring". The Independent similarly lauded the song in 2020, calling it "a transcendent experience" and ranking it as the best song by the group.

The single won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Contemporary Song, and Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals in the Grammy Awards of 1971, with its album also winning Album of the Year.

"Bridge over Troubled Water" entered the Billboard Hot 100 top 40 at no.13 on February 9, 1970. It jumped to no.3 the following week before climbing to no.1. During a six week run at the top – the most for any single that year – Simon and Garfunkel held off strong competition from Creedence Clearwater Revival ("Travelin' Band") and The Jaggerz ("The Rapper"). Then, on April 11, the song fell to no.5 – replaced by The Beatles' "Let It Be". "Bridge over Troubled Water" concluded a 13 week run in the US top 40 on 9 May as their follow up hit "Cecilia" began its rise to no.4.

As in the US, "Bridge over Troubled Water" made its UK top 40 bow at no.13, on February 28, 1970. The song climbed steadily over the next four weeks before claiming no.1 on March 28. During a three week stay at the top, it held off strong competition from Mary Hopkin with "Knock, Knock Who's There?" and "Can't Help Falling in Love" by Andy Williams. Then, on April 18, the song fell to no.2 – replaced by "All Kinds of Everything" by Dana. In total, "Bridge over Troubled Water" spent seventeen weeks in the UK top 40 (concluding on June 27).

"Bridge over Troubled Water" has been covered by over 50 artists, including Elvis Presley and Willie Nelson. Merry Clayton recorded a version in gospel style on her 1970 album Gimme Shelter. A cover was included on The Supremes 1970 release New Ways But Love Stays with lead vocals by Jean Terrell, Mary Wilson, and Cindy Birdsong. A cover recorded by Johnny Cash and Fiona Apple for Cash's American IV: The Man Comes Around album was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals in 2003.

Aretha Franklin's gospel infused cover version was recorded in the summer of 1970, during the sessions for what would become her 1972 album Young, Gifted and Black. Franklin debuted her version on March 5, 1971, during her landmark three night stint at San Francisco's Fillmore West, which was later released as Aretha Live at Fillmore West. Eleven days later, she performed the song on television for the first time at the 13th Annual Grammy Awards, at which an already disbanded Simon & Garfunkel picked up five Grammy Awards for the song. Franklin's Grammy performance was released decades later on the 1994 compilation Grammy's Greatest Moments Volume III.

In 1970, Elvis Presley covered a track originally sung by Simon & Garfunkel that was so good the writer of the song didn't want to "compete" with the star's superior version. The song, “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, was covered by Elvis for his 1970 album “That's The Way It Is”, but was never released as a single. The King's version of the song left the writer of the track, Paul Simon, stunned. Speaking in 1972, he called the King's adaptation of the song "dramatic". He added, "But so was the song. When I first heard Elvis perform Bridge Over Troubled Water it was unbelievable." Simon added, "I thought to myself: 'How the hell can I compete with that?'"

Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed recorded an instrumental version of the song and released it on their 1970 album "Me & Jerry". The song appears as the second song on the album's first side and features both Reed and Atkins playing guitar trading lines back and forth with each other. The album and their rendition of the song received generally positive reviews with the former going on to win the 1971 Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance.

Linda Clifford, Curtis Mayfield's protégée signed on his Curtom label, released an up tempo disco version of "Bridge over Troubled Water" on her album Let Me Be Your Woman in March 1979. This epic version (10:20 in length) was produced by Gil Askey (jazz trumpet player and musical director for many Motown acts) and mixed by Jimmy Simpson, brother of Valerie Simpson from Ashford and Simpson. The song has two originalities, the first one being a 132 bpm tempo (considered the ideal tempo for disco dancing) when the Simon and Garfunkel original is 82 bpm and Aretha Franklin's cover is 76 bpm. It was the first time that this song was covered with a fast tempo. It also has a highly original "Brazilian cuica on a disco beat" break. It became a US disco number 11, pop number 41, R&B number 49 and UK number 28.

In 1991, P. J. B. featuring Hannah and Her Sisters, a UK group assembled by British songwriter, record producer and author Pete Bellotte and fronted by British singer Hannah Jones, released a dance cover of "Bridge over Troubled Water" which reached number 21 on the UK Singles Chart. The group appeared on Top of the Pops as the opening act on the 26 September 1991 episode.

In 2003, American Idol season two runner up Clay Aiken performed "Bridge over Troubled Water" during the competition. After the final results were announced, RCA Records released the song as a double A side single with "This Is the Night" in Canada in New Zealand; in the US, "This Is the Night" was credited as a solo release since it received a higher cumulative airplay audience. The double A side charted at number one in both Canada and New Zealand, earning a sextuple platinum sales certification in the former country and a platinum disc in the latter. On New Zealand's year end chart for 2003, the single was ranked at number 38.

A rewriting of the song with Cantonese lyrics ("Many hearts prevail" – :zh:滔滔千里心) was collectively sung by many Hong Kong singers for public shows in Hong Kong to raise funds after the Eastern China flood of 1991. In 2009 it was also used in the Artistes 88 Fund Raising Campaign for the victims of Typhoon Morakot.

Dami Im covered this song during the Family Heroes themed sixth live show of the fifth season of Australian X Factor on September 29, 2013. Im's performance of the song debuted at number 15 on the Australian Singles Chart. Im later released a version of the song on her self titled album, which debuted at number 1 in Australia, and was certified Platinum.

To raise money for the families of the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017 and for The London Community Foundation, Simon Cowell arranged the recording and release of a charity single on June 21, 2017. London born grime artist Stormzy featured prominently, having written a fresh 16 line intro to the song which specifically referenced the tragedy. The recording reached number one on the UK Singles Chart on June 23, 2017 after just two days of availability, and was certified gold by the BPI on January 31, 2020.

Willie Nelson covered the song in the closing ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Mary J. Blige, David Foster, and Andrea Bocelli performed the song on January 31, 2010, during the 52nd Grammy Awards ceremony, in the context of raising awareness for the victims of the Haiti earthquake. This version reached number 75 on the US Billboard Hot 100. On December 9, 2013, Tessanne Chin covered the song on season 5 of NBC's singing competition The Voice for the semifinal round. The song went to the number one spot on iTunes within 12 hours, with her becoming the first contestant to achieve the top chart position at the end of an applicable voting window that season. "A Bridge over You", a charity single recorded and released independently by the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Choir, the choir of the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust located in south east London, was a mashup of "Bridge over Troubled Water" and Coldplay's 2005 single "Fix You", with additional arrangement by the choir's conductor, Peter Mitchell. It reached number one on the UK Singles Chart at Christmas 2015. In August 2019, Kodi Lee covered the song on America's Got Talent in the quarter finals of the competition. Simon Cowell revealed that Paul Simon personally signed off to allow him to sing the song within thirty minutes of the show producers asking for permission. Irish musician Hozier performed the song for the RTÉ fundraising special RTÉ Does Comic Relief in Croke Park. The performance was dedicated to those who died during the COVID 19 pandemic. Matt Bellamy from Muse released a cover on September 8, 2020, stating it is one of his "favorite songs of all time We should all reach out and be there for our friends right now!" In 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the gold medalist pair of pair skating, Sui Wenjing & Han Cong, adapted the mixed cover of this song, by Linda Eder and John Legend, in their free skating programme with a stunning score, 155.47 points.