Mrs. Robinson
| "Mrs. Robinson" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
"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).
Context
- "And here's to you, Mrs. Robinson,
- Jesus loves you more than you will know"
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.
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 this country in general 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."
Audio sample: "Mrs. Robinson" (23 seconds)
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."
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.
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 a live version of Mrs. Robinson at Yankee Stadium in DiMaggio's honor in April of the same year.
Use in popular culture
- 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 co-opted 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] Not to be confused with the male-invented label "cougar" or "MLF", which connotes a bitterly aging, predatory female grasping at sexual power by stalking younger men, the Mrs. Robinson type is happily married and not necessarily seeking extra-marital physical dalliances.[citation needed] Rather, through her sophistication and highly evolved style, she cultivates in others merely the desire to court her. According to the new usage trend, a woman who thinks of herself as a Mrs. Robinson is, although solidly married, socially autonomous and adventurous, and attracts unabashed admirers among men and women alike, be they single, married, straight, or gay.[citation needed]
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.
- 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.
- 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 bonusdisc of their 1995 These Days album.
- Folk duo The Indigo Girls did a version to accompany the Desperate Housewives TV series.
- American rock band Weezer also did a cover of the song.