Song covers are scary. They can ruin a song for you, ruin an artist for you, and ruin a mood for you. But at the same time, song covers are exciting. They can reinvent a song, letting it grow through time and culture to fit into its new setting. Simon and Garfunkel’s 1970 number-one hit “Bridge Over Troubled Water” has been covered by funk, folk, country, disco, jazz, pop, soul, classical, rock, and punk artists, each hoping to redefine the masterpiece in their own terms. Below is a not-so-comprehensive list of the five best covers of the classic song. To enjoy them fully, you should space them out, trying each when they feel right. As you’ll see, they’re not all meant to make you feel the same way.
- Willie Nelson (1982): I realize that starting this list with a country cover will deter many, but hear me out: Willie Nelson isn’t Tim McGraw or Luke Bryan — he’s a critically acclaimed poet, a longtime activist, and a real musician. His cover of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” at first seems dull, maybe just a little more vibrato here and there. But the more you listen, the more you hear its plain beauty. It’s not overtly country, not too dramatic, not trying to overshadow the original charm of Simon and Garfunkel’s song.
- Linda Clifford (1979): I’m not sure how much I’ll enjoy this after listening to it a few more times, but as of now I love it. Clifford took one of the most iconic, emotional songs of all time and turned it into a disco track — a ten-minute twenty-second long disco track — and it kind of works. She hiked the tempo up from 82 bpm to 132 bpm (the ideal dancing tempo, of course), a 60% increase. This is one of those things that’s hard to explain, and much easier to just experience. If you keep an open mind and just let the music hit you, I think you’ll appreciate Clifford’s unique take.
- Don Shirley (2005): Don Shirley’s cover is the most versatile of any I have heard. It makes for the perfect alarm, the best song for studying, blissful background noise at a cafe, and the ideal song to unwind to at the end of the day. If I had to listen to only one version of this song forever and could never listen to another, I’d probably choose this one. The melody is taken by a piano in place of vocals, and Shirley’s lifetime commitment to classical and jazz piano is explored in his take on “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” letting us sit back and take in a master’s interpretation of a masterpiece.
- Aretha Franklin (1971): Would it be wrong of me to say that I like Aretha Franklin’s version of this song more than Simon and Garfunkel’s? Her gospel-inspired cover is the golden standard for what a cover should be: original, inventive, personal. She even won a 1972 Grammy for her performance of her cover, and it received nearly as much attention as her other quintessential hits. Her version is uplifting, powerful, and truly fun. We are lucky to have had someone with such vocal prowess as she in our lifetimes, and lucky that she took one of the most beautiful songs of all time and made it her own.
- Paul Simon (2018): This might be cheating, but Paul Simon’s Saturday Night Live (SNL) performance last October was the best I’ve ever heard him perform it. I guess I should make this clear: I’m not the biggest fan of Art Garfunkel. Regardless of what I think of Garfunkel, we should all recognize that this is Paul’s song, not Art’s. And, on SNL, he made this clear. He opted for a band with strings and percussion and winds and brass, adding many complex musical elements and rhythms that weren’t quite developed in the song at its original release. Also important to note is how Simon’s voice hasn’t changed at all. Like the song, he’s stood the test of time. I think that this performance is what Simon has wanted from this piece, and his career, all along.
Article by Josh Hauser