Bridge Over Troubled Water: Revisited

Considered by many to be Simon and Garfunkel’s finest work, “Bridge Over Troubled Water” was the duo’s final album, released in 1970. The title track is arguably Paul Simon’s best-known song. So why do I want to revisit it? I’ll tell you why: The track sequencing SUCKS! Whoever decided the order of the songs clearly was more concerned with marketing and not with the flow of the music and creating a listening experience.

If you’re as old as me, you’ve probably made a mix tape or two in your time. Remember those, where you’d put together a cassette tape of your favorite songs, or perhaps you’d make a tape for a friend of songs from your record collection you think they’d enjoy? I know I’m not the only one who spent time thinking about the order of the songs on the tape. Maybe start with something loud or energetic, then something a little quieter, and maybe have a series of acoustic songs in the middle for a change of pace. You’d also need to be mindful of the tape length. If you’re recording to a C-60, you only have 30 minutes on each side, so you need to select songs that would fit.

I guess you younger people have a similar experience with playlists (Spotify, Amazon, etc.), though without the tape-length constraint.

A really good example of excellent song sequencing is The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album. Side One opens with a bang (“Sgt. Pepper”), then quietens down a bit (“With a Little Help from My Friends”). “Within You Without You” is a good mid-album song, so it sits appropriately at the beginning of Side Two. The collection ends with “A Day in the Life,” a song that stays in your head long after the album ends.

The Original Sequence

So what’s wrong with “Bridge Over Troubled Water”? Let’s take a look at the original sequencing:

“Bridge Over Troubled Water” is NOT an album opener. It’s an amazing song, but it shouldn’t go first for two reasons. You want to start with a song that grabs the listener’s attention. “Bridge” has that iconic piano opening, but it’s not a lapel-grabber of an intro. Second, this song is the album’s crowning moment and you want to save that moment until last. This ensures the listener has an opportunity to appreciate all the other great songs before you knock their socks off.

“The Boxer” is another one of those “moment” songs–not as much as “Bridge” but close. I wouldn’t lead Side 2 with it. Rather, I’d end Side One with “The Boxer,” giving the listener time to digest what he or she has just heard while flipping the record over.

My Sequence

So here’s my suggested track sequencing for “Bridge Over Troubled Water”:

I admit I had trouble with “Frank Lloyd Wright.” It could fit as the penultimate song leading into “Bridge,” but in the end, I decided “Song for the Asking” worked better in that position.

What do you think? Do you agree, or would you sequence “Bridge Over Troubled Water” differently? Are there any albums you’ve always thought were badly sequenced? Please share your thoughts in the comments!