As others have said, it's used as the theme to "The Graduate," which does have a "Stacy's Mom"-type plot point. (Although the mom is the initiator, and it's a straight-up seduction rather than a wishful fantasy.) But the song is really about the younger generation shedding the hypocrisy and corruption of the older generation. The song was recorded against the backdrop of 1960's turmoil, the Vietnam War, and the Civil Rights Movement, so there was some serious intergenerational beef going on. The first verse ("We'd like to know a little bit about you for our files...") seems to imply that Mrs. Robinson is being checked into a long-term mental health facility of some sort. The second verse is about a dirty little secret the older generation tries to hide from the younger generation. The third verse implies that the corruption extends to the entire older generation, regardless of which political party they follow. And the the "where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio" part again lands a punch at the emptiness of the older generation's nostalgic view of itself, as Joe DiMaggio was a major baseball legend whose post-game public life devolved into non-stop tabloid fodder. So the song is kind of throwing a middle finger at the old guard and pushing them out of the way for the younger generation.
This comment nails it! Mrs. Robinson is being admitted to a mental health facility. That's why there are only sympathetic eyes, and they can walk around the grounds until she feels at home.
"So the song is kind of throwing a middle finger at the old guard and pushing them out of the way for the younger generation." Always a very popular, general song message in youth culture. Counter culture. Clamor for identity recognition and empowerment.
I agree with your assessment, each verse tells a different tale. But Simon leaves the main character, ''Mrs. Robinson' in for reference to connect them all. Lex was way off on this one but to be fair, she doesn't pay a lot of attention to the lyrics.
@Douglas Mijangos I consider it the same. I was about 13 when the movie came out. Loved the whole soundtrack but even at that young age "Scarborough Fair" brought tears to my eyes the first time I heard it. It still does, from its sheer beauty & the faraway place it takes me.💙
@@deborahcornell171 sometimes I put that song on a mix and when it comes out I go into this trans .. the magic of music .. how it can take you away to sheer bliss .. beautiful song
Lex absolutely nailed it! It is like Stacy’s Mum but instead of the perspective of a young high schooler crush it’s a recent college graduate with the complications and confusion of that age. And all the stuff about Mrs Robinson being perceived as a nice simple lady but secretly seducing someone her daughters age
@@skiziskin They weren't engaged when she first seduced him. They weren't even dating. ** SPOILERS ** It was afterward, when Elaine (the daughter) comes home that Benjamin is pressured into dating her by his parents and her father. Mrs. Robinson is not pleased and neither is Benjamin, who tries to sabotage their first date, but ends up feeling bad and apologizing, then eventually falls for her. Mayhem ensues when Mrs. Robinson finds out and tries to split them apart.
Still you have to stop and wonder if Lex is a little bit psychic. To me the song doesn’t even hint at the plot of the movie and has zero to do with the song Stacy’s Mom, and yet she somehow makes a weird connection.
Joseph Paul DiMaggio[a] (November 25, 1914 - March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D." was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees. Born to Sicilian Italian immigrants in California, he is widely considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time, and had a 56-game hitting streak (May 15 - July 16, 1941), a record that still stands
@@pulsarlights2825 ok they found her with a stomach full of sleeping pills undigested they injected her with an OD to make it look like a suicide remember she was doing JFK and RFK she was going to expose RFK they took her out. its a good juicy conspiracy theory! one day the truth will be revealed
Joe DiMaggio's one of the all time great baseball players, spent his career with the Yankee's. Probably best known for his 56 game hitting streak. A streak that many think will never be broken, including me.
Always wonder if it was a 56 game hitting streak, or 56 game bad pitchers' streak lol. He certainly got to first base and past with Marylin Monroe lol.
After he went hitless in the 57th game (which he "lost" 10,000 for a Heinz 57 sponsorship) he went on a 15 game hit streak. Could have easily been a 72 game hit streak, which just sounds bananas.
From the soundtrack of the movie "The Graduate." Several versions were released, one on the album "Bookends." Simon's original title was Mrs. Roosevelt, but it was a working title, just needing a three-syllable name. When he mentioned it to Mike Nichols, director of the movie, he became excited because it was the name of one of the main characters. It was S&G's first song to hit #1 on the pop charts and won two Grammy awards. Other songs from the movies included The Sound of Silence & Scarborough Fair/Canticle.
Lex your very right in fact, the movie this was written, "The Graduate" 'The film tells the story of 21-year-old Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), a recent college graduate with no well-defined aim in life, who is seduced by an older married woman, Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), and then becomes obsessed with her daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross)-Wikipedia
You're correct, Lex. Mrs. Robinson is a song from the movie The Graduate. A young Dustin Hoffman plays a college student who is seduced by Mrs. Robinson.
Paul Simon is a good singer and guitarist and a phenomenal songwriter. Art Garfunkel is an excellent singer, although with age his voice is not the same. But together in the 1960s they created something magical. Their collaboration is an example of something being "greater than the sum of its parts." Along with The Beatles, their music touches me like no other.
@@RSpracticalshooting What Garfunkel had going was his voice. He could sing laps around Simon while Simon's voice was still putting on its shoes. But that's all he had. Simon had voice, great but not flashy guitar chops, and songwriting ability that would make anybody born after 1970 blush. He is one of the tip-top songwriters of the rock era.
Joe DiMaggio was a great New York Yankee, a real hero to kids. When they sing "Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you," it was a plea about the lack of real American heroes in the '60s. Joltin' Joe was his nickname. He played in the 1930s and 1940s.
Paul Simon said that in this song Joe Dimaggio was a metaphor for the innocence and wholesomeness of his time. Hence, "where have you gone Joe Dimaggio...?"
@@richardsmith1161 *Except He wasn't Beaver Cleaver. But, what national superstar in the prime of his life, on the greatest team in all of sports, won 9 out of 10 World Series usually is? In his defense, he changed a lot of that lifestyle after he had problems becs of it.
Also...Joe DiMaggio was NOT happy about that!! He was doing commercials at the time and was like .... I'm right here !!! .... he didn't get the metaphor.
@@richardsmith1161 I think it's the other way around.. DiMaggio felt that the Kennedys were behind Monroe's "suicide" because she knew too much about both of them. Sinatra has said that she told him a few things about some people, including a plot to poison Castro. Not long after that, she "committed suicide." There's no secret about JD not shedding tears when they, unfortunately were both assassinated. But he was not never a suspect. After their divorce, JD stopped drinking, because he felt that is why he had been physical with Monroe. After she divorced Arthur Miller, Monroe became ill and depressed. JD came back to her and got her back on her feet. They both still loved each other. Sinatra had said that also.. that Monroe told him that she always loved Joe even after she remarried Miller. And it's obvious that Joe felt the same way.. he sent roses to her grave for the rest of his life and never remarried. He had soft ties to the mob.. show up as a celebrity guest at a party, go golfing with some big shots when they came to NY. The mob controlled everything back then. The Kennedys had ties to the mafia. If you were doing anything substantial, you dealt with the mob... and especially if you were a pure blooded Italian who's parents were born in Italy, as Joe D. was.
Lex is right, it's like Stacy's mom. This song is from The Graduate movie, college boy has relations with his girlfriend's mama. Simon and Garfunkel plays great folk music. They played a concert in Central Park that was legendary, my folks went to it.
Great one here guys. In the movie "The Graduate" Mrs Robinson has an affair with her daughters college student boyfriend. This movie was pretty racey and controversial in 1967. The verse about the pantry and hiding it from the kids is still open for debate. Paul Simon has never clarified what it's about. A lot of people draw something sexual which makes no sense too me. I've always looked at as maybe hiding marijuana or some other drugs from the kids. Who knows? I could see a much older Mrs Robinson telling the college boy too smoke some reefer too relax and then being the naughty girl that she was took advantage of him. Remember that this was 1967, reefer and acid was everywhere. Joe DiMaggio was an all time great player for the NY Yankees between 1936 and 1951 and we're talking like My Rushmore shit here like legendary. His nickname was Joltin Joe DiMaggio. Both Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel we're raised in NYC and we're friends since I think grammar school or Jr. high and probably would have admired DiMaggio. Simon and Garfunkel reunited for a free concert in Central Park in the fall of 1979 and over 500,000 people attended, think about that number for a second. In 1980 they got together for a US tour and I saw them in August in Pittsburgh at Three Rivers Stadium and we were on the infield up close. There were a lot of people at that show. All I can say that the stadium had the sweet smell of reefer hanging in the humid air that evening throughout the entire show which lasted probably 2 hrs or longer and me and my party greatly contributed too that smoke hanging in the air that night. This was like one big super chill cool vibe pot party and a great time was had by all in attendance that evening. This was one of the great concerts that I've attended in my life. I saw The Beatles in Pittsburgh in September 1964 when I was the ripe old age of six yrs old. My older sister and I terrorized our parents too see The Beatles an they made it happen. Beatlemania was absolutely crazy too experience. Girls fainting, girls peeing themselves and I'm not kidding, you could smell pee. These were my two favorite shows I ever attended and I've seen all of The Beatles solo. Paul McCartney twice, George Harrison once and Ringo Starr 4 times. Never saw John Lennon, he never really did a big US tour. I've seen Bob Dylan 4 times, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Queen and many others but S&G and The Beatles were my favorite shows. 🎄✌️☮️💕
Yes, but Mrs.Robinsons uses the Boy.And he wanted only the daughter. So all that God bless you, is only ironic about her hypocrisy. At that Time, when they send many People to Vietnam, but you know that even the Neighbors Milf didnt live her Life following the Rules, thats the Time when you know, you fuckt up,shit Bricks, or loosing your Religion.
I highly recommend you two watch the movie this song is from, 1967's "The Graduate", starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft. Truly a classic, and featuring a ton of Simon & Garfunkel's music!
One of the most musically interesting bands from that era. Another great and unique-sounding masterpiece was Cecilia, but honestly they had so many huge hits you can't miss.
Came to post this myself. Props to Paul Simon for writing the song but I greatly prefer the more fast tempo, energetic, punk rock sound of The Lemonheads' version of it. Simon & Garfunkel are artists that to me usually sound better when their songs are covered by other musicians. Mad songwriting skills but not really a musical style that I find interesting.
In this episode of Brad & Lex, Lex exhibits a very cheerful interested frontal bop while Brad maintains his very controlled signature side to side sway.
@@RSpracticalshooting Just copy and paste this comment onto the other videos then lmao. I love Brad & Lex but their physical mannerisms are not exactly dynamic and ever changing.
Lex's instincts never cease to amaze me. "The Graduate" is one of the seminal movies of the Baby Boom generation and I recommend it to you. All the other folk here have given you plenty of great background. "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" is a haunting, mysterious beauty of a song; "El Condor Pasa" will stay with you forever, once you have heard it -- it is based on an indigenous song from the mountains of Equador, and those folk have great, great music.
As someone who enjoys watching reaction videos, I can't thank you both enough for going right into it when the video starts. Literally all the other videos, you have to scroll 2 minutes in just to see the reaction. Thanks for that.
I had always thought that this was a sad song about a woman with chronic alcoholism who was in a Christian rehab center. (They just used it for the movie The Graduate, because of the names.) Simon and Garfunkel were so popular at the time.
@@zq9m3xh8 OMG, how embarrassing. Lmao. You got me good there man. My phone kept losing connection and I didn’t think it went through and now I look silly..... but I really do love me some Bob Dylan. Lol
“Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?” - the line in Simon and Garfunkel’s 1968 No. 1 hit “Mrs. Robinson” - annoyed the Yankee legend until he understood it. Paul Simon, a Yankee superfan, told Fran Healy for MSG’s “The Game 365” that the line in the song came to him out of nowhere and that he never expected he would have to explain its meaning to DiMaggio himself. “I happened to be in a restaurant and there he was,” recalls Simon. “I gathered up my nerve to go over and introduce myself and say, ‘Hi, I’m the guy that wrote “Mrs. Robinson,” ’ and he said ‘Yeah, sit down . . . why’d you say that? I’m here, everyone knows I’m here.’ I said, ‘I don’t mean it that way - I mean, where are these great heroes now?’ He was flattered once he understood that it was meant to be flattering.”
Paul Simon wrote the song and lyrics initially as a tribute to Eleanor Roosevelt, one of the most remarkable American women of the 20th century, the 1st First Lady (to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt) who made her own mark independent of her husband, pushing for civil rights decades before most the nation was even ready to consider that notion, used as an emissary to ease domestic tensions during The Great Depression, holding 348 press conferences as First Lady, and serving as the country's first delegate to the United Nations General Assembly for seven years. She was the most admired living woman, according to Gallup's poll of Americans, every year between 1948 (the poll's inception) to 1961 (the last poll before her death) except 1951. So many of the references in the song are about Roosevelt (Simon had named the song "Mrs. Roosevelt) including how she found a way to support her husband even though he was for years sleeping with his personal secretary, an open secret in political circles - that affair and Eleanor's participation in political debates are both mentioned. The name of the song changed after the director of the film Mrs. Robinson, Mike Nichols, asked Columbia Studios for consent to use Simon and Garfunkle songs. The first two songs Columbia suggested were rejected by Nichols before the duo pitched Mrs. Roosvelt with a name change to fit the movie. Paul Simon has been asked about the song and has said that beyond being originally a tribute to Eleanor Roosevelt, it was a tribute as well to other heroes of the 1950s after a decade in the 60's when so much innocence, including a belief in heroes, seemed to have been lost.
Great reaction. Lex is closer to the bullseye though. Remember - the 1960s is the decade when we lost our "innocence" as a nation / culture. In the 50's - women were expected to be "pure" until marriage. Then the sexual revolution came and women were understood to be "human" with all the natural human needs /desires. Joe DiMaggio was a symbol of the '50s - he drank milk and was perceived as a sports hero that every boy could look up to. The loss of 'Joe DiMaggio' is the loss of our innocence - but also the loss of our naivete. In the movie the Graduate - Mrs Robinson is a married woman - but a woman unfulfilled by her marriage. As others here have said - Dustin Hoffman is the young high school graduate unsure of his future - which begins their relationship based not on love - but curiosity - and ultimately - desire. At the end - you are left with an unsettled and unanswered feeling about where we are going as a culture. Certain only that we can't go back. It's worth watching the movie - maybe after you watch Fast Times At Ridgemont High, the Lost Boys, Eddie & the Cruisers, and Heavy Metal (the cartoon & throw in Fritz the Cat while you're at it) - hope you get a chance to watch them all - and thanks for your reactions.
You two crack me up. You are too funny. It is refreshing seeing young people, such as yourselves appreciating and enjoying music that I grew up with. This is going to make me sound really old, ( which I am, LOL) but I honestly believe there is nothing being produced today that compares to the explosion of creativity in music from the sixties, seventies, up through the early 2000's but especially the 60's and '70's. It is staggering to look back and realize how many masterpieces have come from that era. And the diversity in genres is incredible. By the way, Lex you were right about Mrs. Robinson. She is a married but lonely woman with issues, who seduces the son of a couple who happens to socialize with her and her husband. It does not end well for the parents when her new lover falls in love with her daughter. The song is about family, secrets, hypocrisy, loss and love of course but these things are barely hinted at and veiled behind clever words. There is no blatant message. It is written as a light-hearted ditty but it is kind of dark. Pretty brilliant. You should listen to "I AM A ROCK" next.
The original song was written about Eleanor Roosevelt and about showing her around a nursing home grounds, basically. Telling her how beloved and welcome she is, etc... Then they adapted the song for the film "The Graduate" and changed the name of the song to "Mrs. Robinson" (who is an adultress in the film.)
That layering of two voices into one is like what The Beatles did on a lot of songs. I don't recall hearing that done much since The Mommas and the Poppas.
Y'all should watch The Graduate. I'm sure it's streaming free online somewhere. It was a real movie. Nobody got shot, there were no monsters or witchcraft involved, and there were no police or doctors in it. Can you imagine?
I used to play Simon and Garfunkel's greatest hits album all the time. There's a warmth I feel when I hear these songs. The whole greatest hits album is fantastic, highly recommend listening to it. Lex is right, Stacy's mom but kinda reverse perspective.
Even though the song was featured in "The Graduate", I've always thought this was about a suburban woman with an addiction--either drugs or alcohol. What's she hiding in the pantry, anyways? "Learn to help yourself" and "stroll around the grounds until you feel at home" are things a person does when they're in a treatment center.
Originally it was about Eleanor Roosevelt and the eara of Simon's youth. It got adapted to the movie. But some of the lyrics make more sense about the era of Simon's youth than they do a love affair. And vice versa. And yet if Simon had chosen eitherthe love affair or the era of his youth the song may not have been as good. Then again I would never underestimate Simon's songwriting ability.
Mrs. Robinson is a term used to describe an older woman pursuing someone younger than herself, in reference to the character from the 1967 movie The Graduate. Basically a 1950's - 60's cougar
This song was written for the movie "The Graduate" starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft. Anne played Mrs. Robinson. Check out the movie. Also check out the Songs "Sounds of Silence", The Boxer" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water:.
I heard somewhere that they originally wrote this about Eleanor Roosevelt & they changed it to Mrs Robinson for the movie. (1st Lady Eleanor Roosevelt)
Around this time Paul Simon began to experiment with a more stream of consciousness lyrical approach. Their meanings are more felt than to be taken literally. It’s true he wrote this for the movie the Graduate, but most likely the title and repeated lyric is the only real connection to the movie, though I suppose there are thematic similarities, and it fits the movie perfectly. He writes such great lyrics, has many songs that effect me on a visceral level. The melodies tied to the lyrics create such emotion, working almost subconsciously. I love Paul Simon’s solo work, maybe even more than his time with Garfunkel. Check out “The Obvious Child,” and the entire Graceland album. It’s truly magnificent.
I hear this song I think Dustin Hoffman in "The Graduate".😎 Imagine laying down in Central Park, NY on Friday night listening to these 2 Live in the 70s.🤩
Brad got it - that movie which this was in had the older woman wanted a younger college guy who then falls for the woman's daughter.... Simon & Garfunkel had many great songs
Joltin Joe was the nickname for Joe DiMaggio, NY Yankee Centerfielder and one of the greatest players of all time. He was famously married to Marylyn Monroe for about a year as well. He was 10 or so years older than Monroe and retired when they were married in the early to mid 50's.. DiMaggio was a very straight laced, prideful and private man. One time Monroe and him went to a USO event for the troops. All the troops wildly chaired for Monroe when she walked off the plane and she said, "Joe, have you ever heard such cheering?" He turned around and looked at her with anger in his eyes and said yes I have. Then walked away. When he says Joltin Joe has left and gone away, I always took that as meaning that his age or time when he was famous is over and it's a whole new generation now so you can't apply the old rules to it. And as many others have said, this is about an older woman that seduces a younger man. If you see the movie "The Graduate" it becomes much more obvious. So much so for decades after this song/movie, if you call a woman Mrs. Robinson your basically calling her a cougar on the prowl.
Not only was Joltin Joe DiMagio one of the greatest baseball players of all time. He was also married to Marilyn Monroe for a while. Back in the day he was at the top of the A list. And in case you were wondering, he played for the Yankees.
Everyone's said that Joe DiMaggio was a great baseball player. Also he was married to Marilyn Monroe for a while. They divorced but after her death, he kept flowers at her grave for the rest of his life.💙
The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft, is one of my favorite movies from the late 60’s. Mrs. Robinson is an older woman, a friend of recent college graduate Hoffman’s family. She is a cougar, putting the moves on Young Dustin Hoffman. He falls in love with her DAUGHTER. Yikes. Fantastic movie. Check it out. ✌🏼♥️♥️
My impression of the song is it's about an alcoholic woman (hide it in the pantry with your cupcakes; most of all you've got to hide it from the kids) who ends up in rehab (stroll around the grounds until you feel at home; all around you all you see are sympathic eyes). Yes, it was used in The Graduate, where the female lead was an alcoholic who preyed on her daughter's boyfriend.
When "The Graduate" was released in 1967, I was an usher at a 300 seat movie house on the SF Peninsula. I saw and heard the movie so many times, I would wake up humming this song and "Scarborough Fair."
You have to put this song into its context to really understand it. This was mid-'60s, when psychotherapy was becoming quite mainstream and everybody in New York City was seeing a psychiatrist. A lot of the references early in the song are to that pop-psychology, feel-good, "I'm Okay, You're Okay" type of stuff that was popular at the time. Paul Simon is a brilliant lyricist and worked a lot of the zeitgeist of that time into a song about a woman who was a cougar. As everybody else has mentioned, this song was from the soundtrack to "The Graduate." If you haven't seen that movie, watch it. Dustin Hoffman's debut as an actor, and he was brilliant. As was Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson. And Joe DiMaggio was a very popular baseball player of the time. Google him. His nickname was "Joltin' Joe" because he hit the ball so hard. I'm not sure that he has relevance to the subject of the song; sometimes songwriters just throw in something because the rhyme fits or it sounds good.
Crazy, thinking about Joe Dimaggio today. His fantastic hit streak of 56 games, and less than 6 months later the Japanese would bomb Pearl Harbor. Those were some Americans.
@@raymo6795 True…. So many great songs. Solo recordings too. All I know but Garfunkel and 99 Miles to LA. Simon the entire Graceland album. Diamonds on the Sole Of Her Shoes is great 👍
I took the context of the song to be some sort of psychiatric hospital 'walk around the grounds until you feel at home'. Loved this song for 50 years. Thank you.
Mrs Robinson was from the movie The Graduate. This song seems to be about a recovering acholic in a sanitorium or something. The reference to Joe DiMaggio (baseball great) refers to better times in her younger years
The sad thing about Simon & Garfunkel and their timeless music was that at the time it was so underappreciated and what not and unfortunately didn't gain popularity and appreciation 'til after they broke up or whatever..they were before their time in my opinion
The song is from the movie, The Graduate, which was very popular and controversial when it was in theaters because the character Mrs. Robinson is committing adultry with the son of a family friend, Benjamin who just graduated from college. In the late 1960's a movie like that was considered shocking.
At least some of the lyrics are about the loss of innocence, either as a child or a young adult. This song was recorded in the turbulent late '60s, when young adults were rebelling against or at least questioning much of what they had been taught. The lyric "Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you" is a metaphor for loss of innocence and longing for a more simple, peaceful past. DiMaggio and later Mickey Mantle, both New York Yankees Hall-of-Famers, were hero-worshipped by Paul Simon when he was a child, along with millions of others, in the '40s and '50s.
This song was written in reference to Eleanor Roosevelt, originally this song was called Mrs. Roosevelt. A lot of people think this song was written for The Graduate but it wasn't it was actually written before The Graduate.
Joe DiMaggio was used as an example of the type of great American hero that people liked up to - and that these heroes were not around anymore. True story: Paul Simon once saw Joe Dimaggio at a restaurant and when up to introduce himself. Joe said, "You're the guy who wrote that song about me? What did you mean, where did I go, I'm right here." Simon said he was using Joe as an example of the great American hero and Joe liked that. After Simon left, Joe turned to his lunch companion, who happened to be his business manager and said, "did he pay me to use my name? Doesn't he have to pay me?" His manager said, unfortunately, he didn't.
It's a song used in The Graduate... We study Americana up here in Canada. I often wonder if the US studies Canadian culture. We all have secrets...discreet or otherwise. I think this song shows both... Great reactions both of you. :)
This song is like being at a friends house. Having a sleep over, and his or her mom for making pancakes in the morning. Thank you my friends mom for being nice. Or it could be a preacher taking advantage of Mrs. Robinson "Jesus loves you more than you could know", "heaven holds a place for those who pray" (like on your knees). Could just be art, random words that sound good stringed together. The point of poetry is, you see what is relevant to your own point of view.
Paul Simon is a musical genius and I think he is very under rated when people talk about all time greats, his solo career was amazing if not better then with Garfunkel, you can call me Al is a great song I think anyone that hears it enjoys
As others have said, it's used as the theme to "The Graduate," which does have a "Stacy's Mom"-type plot point. (Although the mom is the initiator, and it's a straight-up seduction rather than a wishful fantasy.)
But the song is really about the younger generation shedding the hypocrisy and corruption of the older generation. The song was recorded against the backdrop of 1960's turmoil, the Vietnam War, and the Civil Rights Movement, so there was some serious intergenerational beef going on.
The first verse ("We'd like to know a little bit about you for our files...") seems to imply that Mrs. Robinson is being checked into a long-term mental health facility of some sort.
The second verse is about a dirty little secret the older generation tries to hide from the younger generation.
The third verse implies that the corruption extends to the entire older generation, regardless of which political party they follow.
And the the "where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio" part again lands a punch at the emptiness of the older generation's nostalgic view of itself, as Joe DiMaggio was a major baseball legend whose post-game public life devolved into non-stop tabloid fodder.
So the song is kind of throwing a middle finger at the old guard and pushing them out of the way for the younger generation.
This comment nails it! Mrs. Robinson is being admitted to a mental health facility.
That's why there are only sympathetic eyes, and they can walk around the grounds until she feels at home.
"So the song is kind of throwing a middle finger at the old guard and pushing them out of the way for the younger generation."
Always a very popular, general song message in youth culture. Counter culture. Clamor for identity recognition and empowerment.
Yes. You nailed it. Excellent breakdown.
& now they're the "old guard" or gone!
I agree with your assessment, each verse tells a different tale. But Simon leaves the main character, ''Mrs. Robinson' in for reference to connect them all. Lex was way off on this one but to be fair, she doesn't pay a lot of attention to the lyrics.
Scarborough Fair is one of the most beautiful songs ever .. I love that part in the movie when he’s running back to her and that song comes out .. ❤️
@Douglas Mijangos
I consider it the same. I was about 13 when the movie came out. Loved the whole soundtrack but even at that young age "Scarborough Fair" brought tears to my eyes the first time I heard it. It still does, from its sheer beauty & the faraway place it takes me.💙
@@deborahcornell171 sometimes I put that song on a mix and when it comes out I go into this trans .. the magic of music .. how it can take you away to sheer bliss .. beautiful song
Lex absolutely nailed it! It is like Stacy’s Mum but instead of the perspective of a young high schooler crush it’s a recent college graduate with the complications and confusion of that age. And all the stuff about Mrs Robinson being perceived as a nice simple lady but secretly seducing someone her daughters age
Not just any college graduate but her daughter's fiancé.
Not at all. That's not the topic of this song.
@@tornaperinso1484 agreed. But it fit the film perfectly nevertheless.
@@skiziskin They weren't engaged when she first seduced him. They weren't even dating.
** SPOILERS **
It was afterward, when Elaine (the daughter) comes home that Benjamin is pressured into dating her by his parents and her father. Mrs. Robinson is not pleased and neither is Benjamin, who tries to sabotage their first date, but ends up feeling bad and apologizing, then eventually falls for her. Mayhem ensues when Mrs. Robinson finds out and tries to split them apart.
Still you have to stop and wonder if Lex is a little bit psychic. To me the song doesn’t even hint at the plot of the movie and has zero to do with the song Stacy’s Mom, and yet she somehow makes a weird connection.
Joe DiMaggio is one of baseball’s all time greats, but in this song he was a metaphor for innocence.
Simon wanted to mention Mickey Mantle, who was his generation's Yankee hero, but it didn't fit the meter.
Lost innocence
@@scottfrench4139there was nothing innocent about mickey mantle
Joseph Paul DiMaggio[a] (November 25, 1914 - March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "The Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D." was an American baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees. Born to Sicilian Italian immigrants in California, he is widely considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time, and had a 56-game hitting streak (May 15 - July 16, 1941), a record that still stands
And he was married to Marilyn Monroe
@@mvellis3863 he paid for her funeral she was broke when she died (murdered)
@@patricknicolucci5073 Murdered? Are you a conspiracy-tard or do you have hard evidence?
Dont forget he was married to Marilyn Monroe. That alone elevates him to legend status.
@@pulsarlights2825 ok they found her with a stomach full of sleeping pills undigested they injected her with an OD to make it look like a suicide remember she was doing JFK and RFK she was going to expose RFK they took her out. its a good juicy conspiracy theory! one day the truth will be revealed
I love it. The lyric printed said:
Heaven holds a place for those who "prey".
Laughed my ass off.
At least it was correct for the second and third choruses.
Oh I think it was right the first time!!!
Well, she was a cougar...though I don't think that term was around when the movie and song were made.
@@cacestbon8022 ...how edgy
I read that too and thought how inadvertently apropos it was.
Joe DiMaggio's one of the all time great baseball players, spent his career with the Yankee's. Probably best known for his 56 game hitting streak. A streak that many think will never be broken, including me.
I feel like he's best known for having been married to Marilyn Monroe lol
Always wonder if it was a 56 game hitting streak, or 56 game bad pitchers' streak lol. He certainly got to first base and past with Marylin Monroe lol.
After he went hitless in the 57th game (which he "lost" 10,000 for a Heinz 57 sponsorship) he went on a 15 game hit streak. Could have easily been a 72 game hit streak, which just sounds bananas.
Let that sink in. 56 games.
Madonna also mentions DiMaggio in the song Vogue.
From the soundtrack of the movie "The Graduate." Several versions were released, one on the album "Bookends." Simon's original title was Mrs. Roosevelt, but it was a working title, just needing a three-syllable name. When he mentioned it to Mike Nichols, director of the movie, he became excited because it was the name of one of the main characters. It was S&G's first song to hit #1 on the pop charts and won two Grammy awards. Other songs from the movies included The Sound of Silence & Scarborough Fair/Canticle.
Yeah,originally Mrs.Roosevelt,and I always took the lyrics to be a reference to life as the First Lady in the White House.
I don't think the song is actually in the movie, there is a different version of it. It's clearly based on the movie...
Lex your very right in fact, the movie this was written, "The Graduate"
'The film tells the story of 21-year-old Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), a recent college graduate with no well-defined aim in life, who is seduced by an older married woman, Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), and then becomes obsessed with her daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross)-Wikipedia
Anne Bancroft was only 6 years older than Hoffman in real life.....
@@pulsarlights2825 This is a great 60s movie studded with soundtrack classics from Smon ad Garfukel
@@stephenqualtrough7322 Thanks, but I already saw the movie
He viewed the relationship with Mrs. R as a fling but he was in love with the daughter not obsessed so much.
You're correct, Lex. Mrs. Robinson is a song from the movie The Graduate. A young Dustin Hoffman plays a college student who is seduced by Mrs. Robinson.
ruclips.net/video/r0ZP12jneFE/видео.html
Paul Simon is a good singer and guitarist and a phenomenal songwriter. Art Garfunkel is an excellent singer, although with age his voice is not the same. But together in the 1960s they created something magical. Their collaboration is an example of something being "greater than the sum of its parts." Along with The Beatles, their music touches me like no other.
I've always thought Paul Simon had more talent in his pinky toe than Art Garfunkel had in his whole body, but that's just me.
@@RSpracticalshooting What Garfunkel had going was his voice. He could sing laps around Simon while Simon's voice was still putting on its shoes. But that's all he had. Simon had voice, great but not flashy guitar chops, and songwriting ability that would make anybody born after 1970 blush. He is one of the tip-top songwriters of the rock era.
"Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me...Aren't you?"
This song is from the film The Graduate and Mrs. Robinson was a very forward woman.
"Do you want me to seduce you? Is that what you're trying to tell me?"
@@marthashaebanyan-bady4259 And with that quote from the film, it brings us straight to George Michael's 'Too Funky' from 1992!
Joe DiMaggio was a great New York Yankee, a real hero to kids. When they sing "Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you," it was a plea about the lack of real American heroes in the '60s. Joltin' Joe was his nickname. He played in the 1930s and 1940s.
Paul Simon said that in this song Joe Dimaggio was a metaphor for the innocence and wholesomeness of his time. Hence, "where have you gone Joe Dimaggio...?"
Accept he was the opposite
@@richardsmith1161 *Except
He wasn't Beaver Cleaver. But, what national superstar in the prime of his life, on the greatest team in all of sports, won 9 out of 10 World Series usually is? In his defense, he changed a lot of that lifestyle after he had problems becs of it.
Also...Joe DiMaggio was NOT happy about that!! He was doing commercials at the time and was like .... I'm right here !!! .... he didn't get the metaphor.
@@nodaysback1 He was obsessed with Marilyn Monroe, beat her had mafia ties and I believe set up Kennedy's murder.
@@richardsmith1161 I think it's the other way around.. DiMaggio felt that the Kennedys were behind Monroe's "suicide" because she knew too much about both of them. Sinatra has said that she told him a few things about some people, including a plot to poison Castro. Not long after that, she "committed suicide." There's no secret about JD not shedding tears when they, unfortunately were both assassinated. But he was not never a suspect.
After their divorce, JD stopped drinking, because he felt that is why he had been physical with Monroe. After she divorced Arthur Miller, Monroe became ill and depressed. JD came back to her and got her back on her feet. They both still loved each other. Sinatra had said that also.. that Monroe told him that she always loved Joe even after she remarried Miller. And it's obvious that Joe felt the same way.. he sent roses to her grave for the rest of his life and never remarried.
He had soft ties to the mob.. show up as a celebrity guest at a party, go golfing with some big shots when they came to NY. The mob controlled everything back then. The Kennedys had ties to the mafia. If you were doing anything substantial, you dealt with the mob... and especially if you were a pure blooded Italian who's parents were born in Italy, as Joe D. was.
Lex is right, it's like Stacy's mom. This song is from The Graduate movie, college boy has relations with his girlfriend's mama. Simon and Garfunkel plays great folk music. They played a concert in Central Park that was legendary, my folks went to it.
Great one here guys. In the movie "The Graduate" Mrs Robinson has an affair with her daughters college student boyfriend. This movie was pretty racey and controversial in 1967. The verse about the pantry and hiding it from the kids is still open for debate. Paul Simon has never clarified what it's about. A lot of people draw something sexual which makes no sense too me. I've always looked at as maybe hiding marijuana or some other drugs from the kids. Who knows? I could see a much older Mrs Robinson telling the college boy too smoke some reefer too relax and then being the naughty girl that she was took advantage of him. Remember that this was 1967, reefer and acid was everywhere. Joe DiMaggio was an all time great player for the NY Yankees between 1936 and 1951 and we're talking like My Rushmore shit here like legendary. His nickname was Joltin Joe DiMaggio. Both Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel we're raised in NYC and we're friends since I think grammar school or Jr. high and probably would have admired DiMaggio. Simon and Garfunkel reunited for a free concert in Central Park in the fall of 1979 and over 500,000 people attended, think about that number for a second. In 1980 they got together for a US tour and I saw them in August in Pittsburgh at Three Rivers Stadium and we were on the infield up close. There were a lot of people at that show. All I can say that the stadium had the sweet smell of reefer hanging in the humid air that evening throughout the entire show which lasted probably 2 hrs or longer and me and my party greatly contributed too that smoke hanging in the air that night. This was like one big super chill cool vibe pot party and a great time was had by all in attendance that evening. This was one of the great concerts that I've attended in my life. I saw The Beatles in Pittsburgh in September 1964 when I was the ripe old age of six yrs old. My older sister and I terrorized our parents too see The Beatles an they made it happen. Beatlemania was absolutely crazy too experience. Girls fainting, girls peeing themselves and I'm not kidding, you could smell pee. These were my two favorite shows I ever attended and I've seen all of The Beatles solo. Paul McCartney twice, George Harrison once and Ringo Starr 4 times. Never saw John Lennon, he never really did a big US tour. I've seen Bob Dylan 4 times, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Queen and many others but S&G and The Beatles were my favorite shows. 🎄✌️☮️💕
Yes, but Mrs.Robinsons uses the Boy.And he wanted only the daughter.
So all that God bless you, is only ironic about her hypocrisy.
At that Time, when they send many People to Vietnam, but you know
that even the Neighbors Milf didnt live her Life following the Rules,
thats the Time when you know, you fuckt up,shit Bricks, or loosing your
Religion.
it was GREAT
Joe DiMaggio represented American wholesomeness and family values that have left and gone away. 👍
I highly recommend you two watch the movie this song is from, 1967's "The Graduate", starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft. Truly a classic, and featuring a ton of Simon & Garfunkel's music!
One of the most musically interesting bands from that era. Another great and unique-sounding masterpiece was Cecilia, but honestly they had so many huge hits you can't miss.
The Lemonheads did a great cover of this song.
Came to post this myself. Props to Paul Simon for writing the song but I greatly prefer the more fast tempo, energetic, punk rock sound of The Lemonheads' version of it. Simon & Garfunkel are artists that to me usually sound better when their songs are covered by other musicians. Mad songwriting skills but not really a musical style that I find interesting.
In this episode of Brad & Lex, Lex exhibits a very cheerful interested frontal bop while Brad maintains his very controlled signature side to side sway.
Ok I'm gonna need summaries like this on every one of their videos.
Booger MacFarlane has nothing on Brad
@@RSpracticalshooting Granted @The Roober
@@RSpracticalshooting Just copy and paste this comment onto the other videos then lmao. I love Brad & Lex but their physical mannerisms are not exactly dynamic and ever changing.
Lex's instincts never cease to amaze me. "The Graduate" is one of the seminal movies of the Baby Boom generation and I recommend it to you. All the other folk here have given you plenty of great background.
"Scarborough Fair/Canticle" is a haunting, mysterious beauty of a song; "El Condor Pasa" will stay with you forever, once you have heard it -- it is based on an indigenous song from the mountains of Equador, and those folk have great, great music.
As someone who enjoys watching reaction videos, I can't thank you both enough for going right into it when the video starts. Literally all the other videos, you have to scroll 2 minutes in just to see the reaction.
Thanks for that.
I had always thought that this was a sad song about a woman with chronic alcoholism who was in a Christian rehab center. (They just used it for the movie The Graduate, because of the names.) Simon and Garfunkel were so popular at the time.
Lex is on fire with her feels interpretations!
Also, Paul Simon is the greatest song writer ever... facts!
Yes!! Paul Simon solo songs: "Loves Me Like A Rock", "Kodachrome" and "Late In The Evening" are great!
The lyrics to Kodachrome are brilliant on many levels
I’d put Bob Dylan up there too.
@@jeanine6328 Yeah but.....how about Bob Dylan?
@@zq9m3xh8 OMG, how embarrassing. Lmao. You got me good there man. My phone kept losing connection and I didn’t think it went through and now I look silly..... but I really do love me some Bob Dylan. Lol
You two are great! Brad you're so serious and Lex you have the greatest smile. I love the way you guys break it down. Thank you that was great 👍
“Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?” - the line in Simon and Garfunkel’s 1968 No. 1 hit “Mrs. Robinson” - annoyed the Yankee legend until he understood it.
Paul Simon, a Yankee superfan, told Fran Healy for MSG’s “The Game 365” that the line in the song came to him out of nowhere and that he never expected he would have to explain its meaning to DiMaggio himself.
“I happened to be in a restaurant and there he was,” recalls Simon. “I gathered up my nerve to go over and introduce myself and say, ‘Hi, I’m the guy that wrote “Mrs. Robinson,” ’ and he said ‘Yeah, sit down . . . why’d you say that? I’m here, everyone knows I’m here.’ I said, ‘I don’t mean it that way - I mean, where are these great heroes now?’ He was flattered once he understood that it was meant to be flattering.”
Paul Simon wrote the song and lyrics initially as a tribute to Eleanor Roosevelt, one of the most remarkable American women of the 20th century, the 1st First Lady (to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt) who made her own mark independent of her husband, pushing for civil rights decades before most the nation was even ready to consider that notion, used as an emissary to ease domestic tensions during The Great Depression, holding 348 press conferences as First Lady, and serving as the country's first delegate to the United Nations General Assembly for seven years. She was the most admired living woman, according to Gallup's poll of Americans, every year between 1948 (the poll's inception) to 1961 (the last poll before her death) except 1951.
So many of the references in the song are about Roosevelt (Simon had named the song "Mrs. Roosevelt) including how she found a way to support her husband even though he was for years sleeping with his personal secretary, an open secret in political circles - that affair and Eleanor's participation in political debates are both mentioned.
The name of the song changed after the director of the film Mrs. Robinson, Mike Nichols, asked Columbia Studios for consent to use Simon and Garfunkle songs. The first two songs Columbia suggested were rejected by Nichols before the duo pitched Mrs. Roosvelt with a name change to fit the movie.
Paul Simon has been asked about the song and has said that beyond being originally a tribute to Eleanor Roosevelt, it was a tribute as well to other heroes of the 1950s after a decade in the 60's when so much innocence, including a belief in heroes, seemed to have been lost.
Love Simon and Garfunkel so many great songs.
You need to watch the Movie "The Graduate" with the young Dustin Hoffman to appreciate the meaning of who Mrs Robinson is,
Doesn't matter they never heard of Dustin Hoffman.
Wanta hear Simon and Garfunkel, need to check out " bridge over troubled water or Scarborough fair". They both showcase their harmonies
Yes Lex….it’s like Stacey’s mom! Good job!
This was theme song of movie "The Grauate". I was a huge infulenced by Simon& Garfunkel songs when growing up!
Great reaction. Lex is closer to the bullseye though. Remember - the 1960s is the decade when we lost our "innocence" as a nation / culture. In the 50's - women were expected to be "pure" until marriage. Then the sexual revolution came and women were understood to be "human" with all the natural human needs /desires. Joe DiMaggio was a symbol of the '50s - he drank milk and was perceived as a sports hero that every boy could look up to. The loss of 'Joe DiMaggio' is the loss of our innocence - but also the loss of our naivete. In the movie the Graduate - Mrs Robinson is a married woman - but a woman unfulfilled by her marriage. As others here have said - Dustin Hoffman is the young high school graduate unsure of his future - which begins their relationship based not on love - but curiosity - and ultimately - desire. At the end - you are left with an unsettled and unanswered feeling about where we are going as a culture. Certain only that we can't go back. It's worth watching the movie - maybe after you watch Fast Times At Ridgemont High, the Lost Boys, Eddie & the Cruisers, and Heavy Metal (the cartoon & throw in Fritz the Cat while you're at it) - hope you get a chance to watch them all - and thanks for your reactions.
Very well put, Jedd.
Joe DiMaggio was a Baseballplayer and he was a short period married with Marilyn Monroe… jotlin‘ joe was his nickname
Lex is one of a kind! I absolutely love her reactions. Especially when she gets it!!!!
I’m yet again left impressed by Lex’s interpretation
Joe DiMaggio was a legendary major league baseball player, his nickname was as Joltin’ Joe!
You two crack me up. You are too funny. It is refreshing seeing young people, such as yourselves appreciating and enjoying music that I grew up with. This is going to make me sound really old, ( which I am, LOL) but I honestly believe there is nothing being produced today that compares to the explosion of creativity in music from the sixties, seventies, up through the early 2000's but especially the 60's and '70's. It is staggering to look back and realize how many masterpieces have come from that era. And the diversity in genres is incredible. By the way, Lex you were right about Mrs. Robinson. She is a married but lonely woman with issues, who seduces the son of a couple who happens to socialize with her and her husband. It does not end well for the parents when her new lover falls in love with her daughter. The song is about family, secrets, hypocrisy, loss and love of course but these things are barely hinted at and veiled behind clever words. There is no blatant message. It is written as a light-hearted ditty but it is kind of dark. Pretty brilliant. You should listen to "I AM A ROCK" next.
The original song was written about Eleanor Roosevelt and about showing her around a nursing home grounds, basically. Telling her how beloved and welcome she is, etc... Then they adapted the song for the film "The Graduate" and changed the name of the song to "Mrs. Robinson" (who is an adultress in the film.)
That layering of two voices into one is like what The Beatles did on a lot of songs. I don't recall hearing that done much since The Mommas and the Poppas.
Y'all should watch The Graduate. I'm sure it's streaming free online somewhere. It was a real movie. Nobody got shot, there were no monsters or witchcraft involved, and there were no police or doctors in it. Can you imagine?
I used to play Simon and Garfunkel's greatest hits album all the time. There's a warmth I feel when I hear these songs. The whole greatest hits album is fantastic, highly recommend listening to it. Lex is right, Stacy's mom but kinda reverse perspective.
Even though the song was featured in "The Graduate", I've always thought this was about a suburban woman with an addiction--either drugs or alcohol. What's she hiding in the pantry, anyways? "Learn to help yourself" and "stroll around the grounds until you feel at home" are things a person does when they're in a treatment center.
This.
Originally it was about Eleanor Roosevelt and the eara of Simon's youth. It got adapted to the movie. But some of the lyrics make more sense about the era of Simon's youth than they do a love affair. And vice versa. And yet if Simon had chosen eitherthe love affair or the era of his youth the song may not have been as good. Then again I would never underestimate Simon's songwriting ability.
Mrs. Robinson is a term used to describe an older woman pursuing someone younger than herself, in reference to the character from the 1967 movie The Graduate. Basically a 1950's - 60's cougar
Related it to Stacey’s mum, wow that is some observation.
Right?
@@UhYeahWhateverDude 100% it’s the original.
You definitely have to watch the movie The Graduate to really understand the song. Simon and Garfunkel did the entire soundtrack and it's great.
I remember some old woman we visited. Her name was Mrs Robinson and this song came on the radio!
So many songs if you go down this rabbit hole, "late in the evening" from the concert in Central Park is catchy...
The Lemonheads cover of this song is magnificent.
The Boxer is a must listen by them, along with about 30 others lol
This was written for the movie The Graduate, starring Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson, .
Simon & Garfunkel were so well produced. Awesome recordings, especially for the era.
Good reading. You should see the movie. It's a classic.
This song was written for the movie "The Graduate" starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft. Anne played Mrs. Robinson. Check out the movie. Also check out the Songs "Sounds of Silence", The Boxer" and "Bridge Over Troubled Water:.
I heard somewhere that they originally wrote this about Eleanor Roosevelt & they changed it to Mrs Robinson for the movie. (1st Lady Eleanor Roosevelt)
Around this time Paul Simon began to experiment with a more stream of consciousness lyrical approach. Their meanings are more felt than to be taken literally. It’s true he wrote this for the movie the Graduate, but most likely the title and repeated lyric is the only real connection to the movie, though I suppose there are thematic similarities, and it fits the movie perfectly. He writes such great lyrics, has many songs that effect me on a visceral level. The melodies tied to the lyrics create such emotion, working almost subconsciously. I love Paul Simon’s solo work, maybe even more than his time with Garfunkel. Check out “The Obvious Child,” and the entire Graceland album. It’s truly magnificent.
I hear this song I think Dustin Hoffman in "The Graduate".😎
Imagine laying down in Central Park, NY on Friday night listening to these 2 Live in the 70s.🤩
Originally, the song was titled "God bless You, Mrs. Roosevelt.' Named after Elenore Roosevelt, the 32nd First Lady.
Brad got it - that movie which this was in had the older woman wanted a younger college guy who then falls for the woman's daughter.... Simon & Garfunkel had many great songs
Joltin Joe was the nickname for Joe DiMaggio, NY Yankee Centerfielder and one of the greatest players of all time. He was famously married to Marylyn Monroe for about a year as well. He was 10 or so years older than Monroe and retired when they were married in the early to mid 50's.. DiMaggio was a very straight laced, prideful and private man. One time Monroe and him went to a USO event for the troops. All the troops wildly chaired for Monroe when she walked off the plane and she said, "Joe, have you ever heard such cheering?" He turned around and looked at her with anger in his eyes and said yes I have. Then walked away. When he says Joltin Joe has left and gone away, I always took that as meaning that his age or time when he was famous is over and it's a whole new generation now so you can't apply the old rules to it. And as many others have said, this is about an older woman that seduces a younger man. If you see the movie "The Graduate" it becomes much more obvious. So much so for decades after this song/movie, if you call a woman Mrs. Robinson your basically calling her a cougar on the prowl.
Just shocked that they didn't know who joe was, i'm from Australia & even i know who that is
Brad and Lex, watch "The Graduate" and you will have no more questions about this song!
Lex you were right, you always get it I love to watch listen to the music you always get
Joe DiMaggio was a baseball hero way back in the day. His nickname was “Jolting Joe”. He played for the New York Yankees. Paul Simon is a Yankees fan
Legends,I first learned to play bright eyes on guitar then progressed and learned to play this and homeward bound.
Not only was Joltin Joe DiMagio one of the greatest baseball players of all time. He was also married to Marilyn Monroe for a while. Back in the day he was at the top of the A list. And in case you were wondering, he played for the Yankees.
Everyone's said that Joe DiMaggio was a great baseball player. Also he was married to Marilyn Monroe for a while. They divorced but after her death, he kept flowers at her grave for the rest of his life.💙
This is used in the movie The Graduate. It's a song about a cougar mother... Mrs Robinson.
If you watch the movie the song will be clear.
The song has nothing to do with the film, it was written a couple of years before and adapted to fit later.
Paul and Art both turned 80 this fall. That's a combined hundred and sixty years. Bless them.
It was nice to see you guys swaying side to side in sync but without noticing each other so at the very least you dug the beat
The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft, is one of my favorite movies from the late 60’s. Mrs. Robinson is an older woman, a friend of recent college graduate Hoffman’s family. She is a cougar, putting the moves on Young Dustin Hoffman. He falls in love with her DAUGHTER. Yikes. Fantastic movie. Check it out. ✌🏼♥️♥️
Fantastic duo!
My impression of the song is it's about an alcoholic woman (hide it in the pantry with your cupcakes; most of all you've got to hide it from the kids) who ends up in rehab (stroll around the grounds until you feel at home; all around you all you see are sympathic eyes). Yes, it was used in The Graduate, where the female lead was an alcoholic who preyed on her daughter's boyfriend.
When "The Graduate" was released in 1967, I was an usher at a 300 seat movie house on the SF Peninsula. I saw and heard the movie so many times, I would wake up humming this song and "Scarborough Fair."
Lex, as usual, you called it exactly right! Check out the movie "The Graduate". It'll explain a lot!
Peace
The Graduate is one of the best American films of all time. This song was a key part of the soundtrack.
You have to put this song into its context to really understand it. This was mid-'60s, when psychotherapy was becoming quite mainstream and everybody in New York City was seeing a psychiatrist. A lot of the references early in the song are to that pop-psychology, feel-good, "I'm Okay, You're Okay" type of stuff that was popular at the time. Paul Simon is a brilliant lyricist and worked a lot of the zeitgeist of that time into a song about a woman who was a cougar. As everybody else has mentioned, this song was from the soundtrack to "The Graduate." If you haven't seen that movie, watch it. Dustin Hoffman's debut as an actor, and he was brilliant. As was Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson.
And Joe DiMaggio was a very popular baseball player of the time. Google him. His nickname was "Joltin' Joe" because he hit the ball so hard. I'm not sure that he has relevance to the subject of the song; sometimes songwriters just throw in something because the rhyme fits or it sounds good.
Crazy, thinking about Joe Dimaggio today. His fantastic hit streak of 56 games, and less than 6 months later the Japanese would bomb Pearl Harbor. Those were some Americans.
The Boxer is an absolutely phenomenal Simon and Garfunkel song.
Two of the best singer songwriters ever
Garfunkel wrote songs?
Mrs. Robinson was the original cougar in the Movie the Graduate. It’s a great movie.
The Boxer is a really great song by them. Bridge Over Troubled Water is another beautiful song.
...indeed, but that only scratches the surface.
@@raymo6795 True…. So many great songs. Solo recordings too. All I know but Garfunkel and 99 Miles to LA. Simon the entire Graceland album. Diamonds on the Sole Of Her Shoes is great 👍
I took the context of the song to be some sort of psychiatric hospital 'walk around the grounds until you feel at home'. Loved this song for 50 years. Thank you.
This is from the film "The Graduate" and it is about Mrs Robinson.
Yes! You know, many metalheads love this song.
Watching a song go completely over your heads is quite amusing.
Mrs Robinson was from the movie The Graduate. This song seems to be about a recovering acholic in a sanitorium or something. The reference to Joe DiMaggio (baseball great) refers to better times in her younger years
The sad thing about Simon & Garfunkel and their timeless music was that at the time it was so underappreciated and what not and unfortunately didn't gain popularity and appreciation 'til after they broke up or whatever..they were before their time in my opinion
False. They were huge.
The song is from the movie, The Graduate, which was very popular and controversial when it was in theaters because the character Mrs. Robinson is committing adultry with the son of a family friend, Benjamin who just graduated from college. In the late 1960's a movie like that was considered shocking.
I’ve never understood the lyrics in this one, but I absolutely love the melody.
At least some of the lyrics are about the loss of innocence, either as a child or a young adult. This song was recorded in the turbulent late '60s, when young adults were rebelling against or at least questioning much of what they had been taught. The lyric "Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio, a nation turns its lonely eyes to you" is a metaphor for loss of innocence and longing for a more simple, peaceful past. DiMaggio and later Mickey Mantle, both New York Yankees Hall-of-Famers, were hero-worshipped by Paul Simon when he was a child, along with millions of others, in the '40s and '50s.
This song was written in reference to Eleanor Roosevelt, originally this song was called Mrs. Roosevelt. A lot of people think this song was written for The Graduate but it wasn't it was actually written before The Graduate.
Lex, you're on the right track about Mrs Robinson and her affairs! Watch "The Graduate"!
Joe DiMaggio was used as an example of the type of great American hero that people liked up to - and that these heroes were not around anymore.
True story: Paul Simon once saw Joe Dimaggio at a restaurant and when up to introduce himself. Joe said, "You're the guy who wrote that song about me? What did you mean, where did I go, I'm right here." Simon said he was using Joe as an example of the great American hero and Joe liked that.
After Simon left, Joe turned to his lunch companion, who happened to be his business manager and said, "did he pay me to use my name? Doesn't he have to pay me?" His manager said, unfortunately, he didn't.
"Scarborough Fair" - live in Central Park is unreal
It’s from the movie the graduate
It's a song used in The Graduate... We study Americana up here in Canada. I often wonder if the US studies Canadian culture. We all have secrets...discreet or otherwise. I think this song shows both... Great reactions both of you. :)
In the 90's The Lemonheads did fun and energetic rocking version of this song, Thankfully that cover put them on a lot of peoples radar.
Mrs Robinson is Ann Bankcroft in the film the The Graduate also starring Dustin Hoffman
Their song Scarborough Fair is not a Christmas song, but it always has a Christmas vibe to me.
This song is like being at a friends house. Having a sleep over, and his or her mom for making pancakes in the morning. Thank you my friends mom for being nice. Or it could be a preacher taking advantage of Mrs. Robinson "Jesus loves you more than you could know", "heaven holds a place for those who pray" (like on your knees). Could just be art, random words that sound good stringed together. The point of poetry is, you see what is relevant to your own point of view.
Paul Simon is a musical genius and I think he is very under rated when people talk about all time greats, his solo career was amazing if not better then with Garfunkel, you can call me Al is a great song I think anyone that hears it enjoys