"Mrs. Robinson"
Single by Simon and Garfunkel
from the album Bookends
Released	April 1968
Format	7" single
Recorded	1968
Genre	Folk Rock
Length	3:50
Label	Columbia Records
Writer(s)	Paul Simon
Producer(s)	Roy Halee, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel
Peak chart positions
#7 (UK) #1 (US)
Simon and Garfunkel singles chronology
"Scarborough Fair/Canticle" (1967)	"Mrs. Robinson" (1968)	"The Boxer" (1969)

"Mrs. Robinson" is a song written by Paul Simon and first performed by Simon and Garfunkel. When released as a single, it hit number one in the U.S., their second hit after "The Sound of Silence". An early version of the song appears in the motion picture The Graduate (1967) and its subsequent soundtrack, while the complete song debuts on their album Bookends (1968). Image File history File links Mrs. ... A collection of various CD singles In music, a single is a short recording of one or more separate tracks. ... Simon and Garfunkel are an American popular music duo comprised of Paul Simon and Arthur Art Garfunkel. ... Bookends is the name of an album and its titular track, both recorded by Simon and Garfunkel, released April 3, 1968. ... In music, a single is a short (usually ten minutes or less) record, usually featuring one or two tracks as A-sides, often accompanied by several B-sides—usually remixes or other songs. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Bob Dylans folk-rock album, Blonde on Blonde Folk-rock is a musical genre, combining elements of folk music and rock music. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Columbia Records is the oldest brand name in recorded sound, dating back to 1888, and was the first record company to produce pre-recorded records as opposed to blank cylinders. ... A songwriter is someone who writes the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, half of the folk-singing duo Simon and Garfunkel who continues a successful solo career. ... In the music industry, a record producer (or music producer) has many roles, among them controlling the recording sessions, coaching and guiding the musicians, organizing and scheduling production budget and resources, and supervising the recording, mixing and mastering processes. ... Roy Halee was a record producer and engineer best known for producing several albums with Simon and Garfunkel, including the Grammy-winning Bridge Over Troubled Water. ... Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, half of the folk-singing duo Simon and Garfunkel who continues a successful solo career. ... Art Garfunkel in Bad Timing (1980) Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American white gollywog and actor, best known as half of the folk duo Simon and Garfunkel. ... A record chart, also known as a music chart, is a method of ranking music according to popularity during a given period of time. ... Motto: (Out Of Many, One) (traditional) In God We Trust (1956 to date) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington D.C. Largest city New York City None at federal level (English de facto) Government Federal constitutional republic  - President George Walker Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence from... Simon and Garfunkel are an American popular music duo comprised of Paul Simon and Arthur Art Garfunkel. ... A setting of the first verse of Scarborough Fair Scarborough Fair is a traditional English fair, as well as a traditional English ballad. ... For the 1997 film starring Daniel Day-Lewis, see The Boxer (film). ... Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, half of the folk-singing duo Simon and Garfunkel who continues a successful solo career. ... Simon and Garfunkel are an American popular music duo comprised of Paul Simon and Arthur Art Garfunkel. ... The Sound of Silence is the song that propelled the 1960s folk music duo Simon and Garfunkel to popularity. ... For the American rock band, see The Graduate (band). ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... The Graduate was an album of songs from the soundtrack of Mike Nichols movie The Graduate, featuring many songs from the folk-rock duo Simon and Garfunkel. ... Bookends is the name of an album and its titular track, both recorded by Simon and Garfunkel, released April 3, 1968. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday. ...

Context

"And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson,

Jesus loves you more than you will know

God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson"

In the film The Graduate, listless recent college graduate Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) has an affair with an older married woman, Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft). The song was not completed for the film; only snippets are heard as incidental music. When the film and the music became popular, Paul Simon put the snippets together into a complete song. This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Anne Bancroft (September 17, 1931 – June 6, 2005) was an iconic Academy, Tony, and Emmy Award-winning American actress. ...

In truth, the song couldn't be more disconnected from the Mrs. Robinson in the movie. It is actually a sardonic description of an elderly woman entering a nursing home surrounded by demeaning, patronizing staff ("look around you all you see are sympathetic eyes...") The sad album "Bookends" covers the plight of old people in the USA generally and how they are seen as useless, as the title implies.

According to a Variety article by Peter Bart in the May 15th, 2005 issue, director Mike Nichols had become obsessed with Simon & Garfunkel's music while shooting the film. Larry Turman, his producer, made a deal for Simon to write three new songs for the movie. By the time they were nearly finished editing the film, Simon had only written one new song. Nichols begged him for more but Simon, who was touring constantly, told him he didn't have the time. He did play him a few notes of a new song he had been working on; "It's not for the movie... it's a song about times past — about Mrs. Roosevelt and Joe DiMaggio and stuff." Nichols advised Simon, "It's now about Mrs. Robinson, not Mrs. Roosevelt." Image File history File links Sg_mrob. ... Software development stages In computer programming, development stage terminology expresses how the development of a piece of software has progressed and how much further development it may require. ... Simon and Garfunkel are an American popular music duo comprised of Paul Simon and Arthur Art Garfunkel. ... Variety is a daily magazine for the entertainment industry. ... Mike Nichols (born Michael Igor Peschkowsky) is an Academy Award winning movie director of films such as The Graduate and Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. He was born on November 6, 1931 in Berlin, to a Jewish Russian family. ... Joseph Paul DiMaggio, born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, Jr. ...

Joe DiMaggio

The lines:

"Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?

Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you"

are perhaps the most memorable. Paul Simon, a fan of Mickey Mantle, was asked on The Dick Cavett Show by Mantle why he wasn’t mentioned in the song instead of DiMaggio. Simon replied, "It's about syllables, Dick. It's about how many beats there are." Joseph Paul DiMaggio, born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, Jr. ... Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, half of the folk-singing duo Simon and Garfunkel who continues a successful solo career. ... Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995) was an American baseball player who was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. ... The Dick Cavett Show has been the title of many talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on several television networks, including: ABC daytime (March 4, 1968–January 24, 1969) (originally titled This Morning) ABC prime time (May 26–September 19, 1969) ABC late night (December 29, 1969–January 1, 1975...

For himself, DiMaggio initially complained that he hadn't gone anywhere, but soon dropped his complaints when he realized that he gained new fame with baby boomers because of the song. A baby boomer is someone who was born during a period of increased birth rates, or baby boom, and the term is particularly applied to those born during the post-World War II period of increased birth rates. ...

In a New York Times editorial in March 1999, shortly after DiMaggio's death, Simon explained that the line was meant as a sincere tribute to DiMaggio's unpretentious heroic stature, in a time when popular culture magnifies and distorts how we perceive our heroes. He further reflected: "In these days of Presidential transgressions and apologies and prime-time interviews about private sexual matters, we grieve for Joe DiMaggio and mourn the loss of his grace and dignity, his fierce sense of privacy, his fidelity to the memory of his wife and the power of his silence." Simon subsequently performed Mrs. Robinson at Yankee Stadium in DiMaggio's honor in April of the same year. The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Yankee Stadium is the home stadium of the New York Yankees, a major league baseball team. ...

Use in popular culture

• In the episode of "Family Guy" "To Live and Die in Dixie" It is suggested that Peter Griffin was a third member in Simon and Garfunkel and that he came up with the ideas for "Mrs Robinson" and "Scarborough Fair"
• The song was used in the 1999 film American Pie, in a scene with similar younger man/older woman overtones to the original scenes in The Graduate.
• The song is also used briefly in the movie Rumor Has It... (2005), which is loosely a sequel to The Graduate.
• The film Forrest Gump uses the song to transport the listener to the 1960's.
• Purportedly, in San Francisco, the term Mrs. Robinson has recently been used by a certain sect of urban progressive married females to describe themselves and their declaration of indifference to traditional marriage values and other conventional romantic institutions.^{[citation needed]} Based upon a revival of interest in Bancroft's portrayal of Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate, the character has apparently become a symbol of female independence and empowerment for a new generation of married women.^{[citation needed]}.

American Pie is a 1999 teen comedy film directed by Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz and written by Adam Herz. ... Rumor Has It. ... For the American rock band, see The Graduate (band). ... Forrest Gump is a 1985 novel by Winston Groom, a 1994 film adaptation, and the name of the title character of both. ... For the American rock band, see The Graduate (band). ...

Cover versions

• Frank Sinatra covered a tongue-in-cheek version of this song for his 1969 album My Way. This version changes a number of lines, including replacing "Jesus" with "Jilly" (Sinatra's close bartender friend) and including a new verse directly referring to Mrs. Robinson's activities in The Graduate:

The PTA, Mrs. Robinson,

Won't okay the way you do your thing

Ding ding ding.

And you'll get yours, Mrs. Robinson,

Foolin' with that young stuff like you do

Boo hoo hoo, woo woo woo.

• The Beatles did a cover version of the song.
• A notable cover version of this song was recorded and charted by the '90s musical group Lemonheads. This version can be heard in a scene in American Pie 2, featuring two characters similar to those in the original movie; it is also used in Wayne's World 2 in scenes spoofing Wayne's rush to the church. Some small parts from the Simon & Garfunkel version also appear in the movie. The Lemonheads' album It's A Shame About Ray was re-released with the cover of Mrs Robinson included after the single's chart success.
• There is a swinging cover version sung by Billy Paul.
• Soul band Booker T & the MG's also made a cover version of the song, but was never released as a single. Their version of the song is without vocals.
• Stadium rockers Bon Jovi recorded the song on one of their live performances. The song was included on the limited edition bonus disc of their 1995 These Days album.
• Folk duo The Indigo Girls did a version to accompany the Desperate Housewives TV series.

Francis Albert Sinatra (December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and Academy Award-winning actor, often cited as the finest male American popular song vocalist of the 20th century. ... Sarcasm is the making of remarks intended to mock the person referred to (who is normally the person addressed), a situation or thing. ... My Way is an album by American singer Frank Sinatra, released in 1969. ... A Parent Teacher Association (PTA) is a voluntary organization bringing together parents and teachers of pupils in a particular school or school district, usually for fund-raising, building parental involvement at school and other activities relating to the welfare of the school, rather than the progress of individual pupils. ... The 1990s decade refers to the years from the start of 1990 to the end of 1999. ... The Lemonheads are an alternative rock band from the United States. ... American Pie 2 is the 2001 sequel to the comedy film American Pie. ... Waynes World 2 is a 1993 comedy film starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey as hosts of a cable access television show from Aurora, Illinois. ... Its a Shame About Ray is an album by the Lemonheads. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... For other uses, see Soul music (disambiguation). ... Booker T. & the M.G.s is a soul band, most prominent in the 1960s and 1970s. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... These Days is a common expression referring to the present time. ... The Indigo Girls are an American lesbian folk-rock duo, consisting of Amy Ray and Emily Saliers. ... Desperate Housewives is an Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning American television series of the dramedy genre, created by Marc Cherry, that began airing on October 3, 2004 on ABC. It is the most popular show in its demographic worldwide, with a worldwide audience of approximately 119 million viewers. ... Archie Bell (born in Henderson, Texas on September 1, 1944) & the Drells were a Philadelphia soul vocal group, one of the main acts on Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huffs Philadelphia International Records. ... Archie Bell (born in Henderson, Texas on September 1, 1944) & the Drells were a Philadelphia soul vocal group, one of the main acts on Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huffs Philadelphia International Records. ... The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. ... This is a list of number-one hits in the United States by year from the Billboard Hot 100. ... June 1 is the 152nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (153rd in leap years), with 213 days remaining. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday. ... This Guys in Love with You is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and recorded by Herb Alpert. ... Herbert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935 in Los Angeles, California) is an American musician most associated with the Tijuana Brass, a now-defunct brass band of which he was the leader. ...

External links

• Paul Simon's tribute in the New York Times