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The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)

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A-side
  
"At the Zoo" (1967)

Released
  
March 1967 1970

Genre
  
Folk rock

B-side
  
"I Am a Rock" (1970)

Format
  
7" single

The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)

Recorded
  
16 August 1966 (1966-08-16)

"The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" is a song by folk music duo Simon and Garfunkel, appearing on their 1966 album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. "59th Street Bridge" is the colloquial name of the Queensboro Bridge in New York City. The song's message is immediately delivered in its opening verse: "Slow down, you move too fast".

Contents

The studio version features Dave Brubeck Quartet members Joe Morello (drums) and Eugene Wright (bass).

Footage of Simon and Garfunkel performing the song at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival is featured in the film Monterey Pop.

Simon's writing credit was added to the theme song to the American children's TV show H.R. Pufnstuf after The Kroffts were successfully sued by Simon, who claimed that the theme ripped off this song.

Covers and performances

  • A popular cover version from 1967 was recorded by Harpers Bizarre, reaching #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. Their version featured a harmonic choral a cappella section and a wind quartet with a flute, oboe, clarinet and a bassoon.
  • Former Simon songwriting partner, Bruce Woodley, recorded a cover with his band The Seekers on their 1967 album Seekers Seen in Green.
  • The song was covered by The Free Design on their 1967 debut album Kites Are Fun.
  • The song was covered by Italian vocal band Quartetto Cetra on their 1967 single "La ballata degli innamorati/Tre minuti", with Italian lyrics written by Tata Giacobetti.
  • The song was parodied by Bob Rivers as "Feelin' Boobies".
  • The melody was used by Nana Mouskouri in 1967 for her song "C'est bon la vie".
  • The song was covered by Berni Flint and Lena Zavaroni on her TV show Lena Zavaroni and Music (1979).
  • The song was covered by the Boston band Jim's Big Ego on the album Don't Get Smart.
  • The song appears on the album The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper. During the track's mixing, Paul Simon added harmony vocals to the final chorus.
  • During live performances, Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page would often include snippets of "The 59th Street Bridge Song" in the guitar solo of the song "Heartbreaker". While usually edited out of official live releases, the snippet can be heard on numerous Led Zeppelin bootleg recordings.
  • Tori Amos performed the song at several of her concerts in 2005.
  • The Grateful Dead were known to have sampled portions of the song in their music. The most notable instance was within the performance of "Dark Star" on 13 February 1970 at the Fillmore East in New York, NY on the Dick's Picks Volume 4 album.
  • The song was covered by Rachael MacFarlane on her 2012 debut album Hayley Sings.
  • O.A.R. has been covering this song in concert since 2002. They play their own arrangement which always serves as an intro to fan favorites "That Was a Crazy Game of Poker" or "City on Down".
  • "Feelin' Groovy" was used in a 2003 series of Gap commercials featuring R&B/soul singers Angie Stone and Mýa.
  • The song was used in the first season of US TV series Desperate Housewives, during a scene where Lynette Scavo hallucinates her own suicide.
  • The song was used in an episode of The Simpsons (season 6, episode 25) called "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)". Mr. Burns alludes to the song, saying, "Hello lamppost, whatcha knowin'? I've come to watch your power flowin'."
  • The song was used in the trailer for Hal Ashby's 1975 comedy-drama Shampoo for which Paul Simon composed the original score.

    • References

    The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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