Bridge over Troubling Silence Trivia Quiz

Answer: Subway

"The Sound of Silence" was released in 1964 on Simon and Garfunkel's first album, "Wednesday Morning 3 am". It was originally not a success at all, reaching the charts only in the last weeks of 1965 and topping out at the number one Billboard slot on January 1, 1966. The original recording is in the rather unusual key of D# minor, requiring six sharps.

Answer: Tumble

Like many songs from the 1967 album "Bookends", "At the Zoo" was written for the "The Graduate" soundtrack. However, the track was not actually used in the movie's zoo scene it was intended for. The rather funny lyrics later inspired Paul Simon to release an elaborately illustrated children's book.

Answer: Silver

Of course this quiz could not be without "Bridge over Troubled Water". The "silver girl" quote in the question does not, as sometimes claimed, refer to drug addicts (the "silver" being associated with the hypodermic needle) but is rather, much more romantically and mundanely, an encouragement to Paul Simon's wife Peggy who, at that time, spotted her first grey hairs.

Answer: Tailor

"Fakin' it" is another take from the "Bookends" album, but not related to "The Graduate". Instead, it is a "what if" song speculating about what could have become of Paul Simon had he been born a century earlier. It contains an unusual spoken line in its lyrics, representing a greeting upon entering the tailor shop, complete with a bell sound.

Answer: Street

"A Heart in New York" was not part of the original body of work of Simon and Garfunkel, but rather written for the 1981 reunion concert at Central Park. The concert, which had an audience of over a half million live listeners, was a fund-raising event for urgent repairs and rebuilding of the then deteriorated Central Park. During the event, the duo performed not only their greatest hits recorded as a pair but also several of their solo songs.

Answer: Thorny

"Slip Slidin' Away" was actually a Paul Simon solo song, recorded in 1977, but during the Concert at Central Park, it was performed by both artists - although you'll hear Art's voice mostly only during the chorus. Art sang along during the whole song, but stepped away from the microphone during the verses.

Answer: Secret

Possibly the most famous "The Graduate" take, "Mrs. Robinson" contains various pop culture references, including a hidden homage to the Beatles - the "coo-coo-ca-choo" phrase is a quote from "I Am the Walrus".

Answer: Ticket

"Homeward Bound" was written on a single morning while Paul Simon was in fact waiting for a train back to London at a rural railway station near the town of Widnes. The song was originally planned for the "Sounds of Silence" album, but only the UK version of that album featured it; internationally, it appeared on the next album, "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme".

Answer: Scared

"The Boxer", from Simon and Garfunkel's fifth and final album "Bridge over Troubled Water" is the duo's longest song and their only one to clock in above five minutes. Like many of their songs, it presents a snapshot of poverty and street life in New York.

The titular boxer character only appears in the last verse, but shares the first person protagonist's fate of having seen better days.

Answer: Tracks

From "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme", "A Poem on the Underground Wall" tells a quick story about a man scribbling a graffiti on the wall. The "poem" is actually revealed to be a single word, four letters long, but the song does not mention the word itself, so it is not known whether it is what is often referenced as a "four letter word" or something more harmless, possibly even "Love", leaving that part (and thus a significant aspect of the song's mood) to the imagination of the listener.