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The Only Living Boy in New York

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For the film, see The Only Living Boy in New York (film).

"The Only Living Boy in New York" is a song written by Paul Simon and performed by Simon & Garfunkel. It is the eighth track from the duo's fifth and final studio album, Bridge over Troubled Water. The song was also issued as the B-side to the duo's "Cecilia" single.

"The Only Living Boy in New York"
Single by Simon and Garfunkel
from the album Bridge over Troubled Water
A-side"Cecilia"
ReleasedJanuary 26, 1970
RecordedNovember 1969
GenreFolk rock
Length3:59
LabelColumbia Records
Songwriter(s)Paul Simon
Producer(s)

Background

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Simon wrote the song as a thinly veiled message to Art Garfunkel, referencing in the first stanza a specific incident where Garfunkel went to Mexico to act in the film Catch-22. Simon was left alone in New York writing songs for Bridge over Troubled Water, hence the very lonely feelings of "The Only Living Boy in New York." Simon refers to Garfunkel in the song as "Tom", alluding to their early days when they were called Tom and Jerry, and encourages him to "let your honesty shine . . . like it shines on me".[1] The background vocals feature both Garfunkel and Simon recorded together in an echo chamber, multi-tracked around eight times.[2]

Personnel

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Covers

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  • The reggae hit "Weather Report", by the Tennors, was adapted from this song.
  • This song was covered by the Coolies on their 1986 album dig..?, along with eight other tongue-in-cheek covers of Simon & Garfunkel classics.
  • In 1992, British indie band Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine parodied the title of the song for their biggest-selling single, "The Only Living Boy In New Cross". (New Cross is an area of south-east London.)
  • A cover of the song was recorded by English musical duo Everything but the Girl for their greatest hits album Home Movies. It was released as a single on 12 April 1993 and spent five weeks on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 42.[3][4][5]
  • Black 47 frontman Larry Kirwan covered the song on his 2001 solo project Kilroy Was Here.
  • Marc Cohn released a cover version as part of his 2010 album of tribute songs, Listening Booth: 1970.
  • Passenger, the Once and Stu Larsen covered the song as part of their American Tour series.
  • Kishi Bashi covered the song as one of two singles released July 12, 2017, exclusively on Spotify, both songs having been recorded in the company's NYC studios in early April of the same year
  • Buffalo Tom released a cover version on their 2018 album Quiet and Peace, after guitarist Bill Janovitz performed a live cover of the song with his daughter, Lucy.
  • David Mead covered the song on the soundtrack album for the television series Everwood in 2004.
  • Racoon Racoon, a chamber folk duo from France, featuring The Duke of Norfolk, released a version as a single in February 2021 (during the Covid pandemic) that begins with a haunting a cappella of part of the chorus.
  • Matt Nathanson released a cover of the song on his album Lexington EP in 2023.

Use in film

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Use in other media

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  • Honda has used sections of this song for their television commercials of the 2011 Accord.
  • David Gallaher and Steve Ellis used the song as inspiration for their 2009 "The Only Living Boy" webcomic series.
  • The original recording was featured during the final scenes of the second-season finale of Alphas.
  • The original recording was used in the first-season finale of BBC3's comedy Uncle.
  • Saturday Night Live, May 13, 2017, in a comedy sketch with Melissa McCarthy as Sean Spicer and Alec Baldwin as Donald Trump.
  • Everything but the Girl's cover was featured in Designated Survivor, S2E13 "Original Sin" on March 14, 2018, used in the final scene.
  • This is Us, S4E16 "New York New York New York" on March 10, 2020, used in a street scene in New York City.

Charts

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Chart (1970) Peak
position
Indonesia (Aktuil)[6] 4

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[7] Silver 200,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ "The Words and Music of Paul Simon", James Bennighof, p. 48, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007, ISBN 0-275-99163-6
  2. ^ Swenson, John. Simon and Garfunkel – A Musical Biography. (1984)
  3. ^ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. April 10, 1993. p. 21.
  4. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 75". Official Charts Company. May 8, 1993. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  5. ^ Charlesworth, C. (1997). The Complete Guide to the Music of Paul Simon and Simon & Garfunkel. Omnibus Press. p. 52. ISBN 0-7119-5597-2.
  6. ^ Aktuil Magazine 59. 1970.
  7. ^ "British single certifications – Simon & Garfunkel – The Only Living Boy in New York". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
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