Analyzing Musical Influences and Composition in 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'

Music appearing in this episode:

Simon & Garfunkel - "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (1970)

JS Bach - St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244 - O Haupt Voll Blut Und Wunden (1727)

Paul Simon - "American Tune" (1973)

The Swan Silvertones - "Oh Mary Don't You Weep" (1959)

Paul Simon - "Loves Me Like a Rock" (1973)

Aretha Franklin - "Bridge Over Troubled Water" (Live at Fillmore West, San Francisco, February 5, 1971)

There's video of this performance too, though the sound isn’t very good.

Aretha Franklin - "Mary, Don't You Weep" (Live at New Temple Missionary Baptist Church, Los Angeles, January 14, 1972)

I include excerpts of Paul Simon's appearance on the Dick Cavett Show on April 9, 1970.

Read more analysis of Aretha's recording and see a notated transcription here.

Read more about Paul Simon's love of that Bach chorale.

I quote from Kate Heidemann's doctoral dissertation, Hearing Women’s Voices in Popular Song: Analyzing Sound and Identity in Country and Soul.

I also quote from Daphne Brooks' NPR article "Aretha's Bridge."

Eric Lott's book Love and Theft: Blackface Minstrelsy and the American Working Class is a tough and necessary read.