Deep Water - How a 1959 recording of a Traditional Spiritual Song Inspired the #1 Single of 1970

The Swan Silvertones

Have you ever heard of a song called, Oh Mary, Don’t You Weep? I hadn’t. Despite being noted as “... one of the most important of negro spirituals” by music critic and author Dave Marsh, and the fact that it regained prominence during the Civil Rights Movement, this pre-Civil War song is not as widely-known today as the song it inspired.

Even though this song might seem obscure to many of us, Oh Mary, Don’t You Weep caught the attention of a very successful singer-songwriter. He listened often to a 1959 version of the song as recorded by the Swan Silvertones. The lyrics of the song center around the death and resurrection of Jesus’ friend, Lazarus. In addition, it also introduces other Biblical references along the way. 

As a “slave song,” Mary Don’t You Weep also contained messages and references to freedom and hope for those longing for liberation from enslavement. Forty years ago, a certain New York born, Jewish singer-songwriter played this song often and was inspired to weave its simple message of hope into an all-new pop music hymn. Musically, the 1959 tune and the #1 hit of 1970 which it inspired, bare no resemblance to each other. However, there is one striking similarity between the two. Buried at the end of the song (and if you don't listen closely, you might just miss it) Oh Mary contains a line which will likely sound familiar to you — “I'll be a bridge over deep water if you trust in my name.”

That one line inspired Paul Simon to write a simple, two-verse “hymn” called, Bridge over Troubled Water. As he wrote it, he knew he had something special. He took the song into the studio. When his partner, Art Garfunkel and producer Roy Halee worked on arrangements for the song, they came back to Simon and convinced him that the song needed to be bigger and that he must write a third verse that would set the song off into a crescendo. Uncharacteristically, Simon quickly wrote the third and final verse of the song right there in the studio. When they all felt that they had achieved what they wanted, they planned to include the song as a cut on their next album release.

But, when Columbia Records president, Clive Davis heard the song, he not only insisted that it be moved up as the title track of the album, he also made sure that even despite its five-minute run time, that it be released as a single. At that time, only a very few songs that long had ever been released as singles. These included Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan, and Hey Jude by the Beatles. A year later, Don McLean would release his eight-minute single, American Pie — likely because of Bridge Over Troubled Water.

Bridge Over Troubled Water received immediate, positive reaction, even before its release. Art Garfunkel and others have reflected upon the fact that in the studio, people stopped what they were doing and became mesmerized by the song. In addition, Simon and Garfunkel performed it live on a handful of occasions before its 1970 release. Despite having never heard the song before, crowd reactions were unusually enthusiastic.

Today and in addition to selling over six million copies and ranking #48 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, BOTW has proved itself as a source of hope for people the world over. Although not intentionally or overtly a “Christian” song, Bridge dutifully and creatively applied the theme of hope which it borrowed from the song which inspired it. Upon hearing the song, one might just begin to believe the promise which first inspired Paul Simon to write it — “I'll be a bridge over deep water if you trust in my name.”

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Addendum:

This post was written from multiple sources, with some details having been stuck in my memory for years. It was fun to compile it all together into one complete theme. I first published this story in April of 2018. So imagine my delight to discover that I got the story right! 

This excerpt from Paul Simon's new, authorized biography covers the same ground as my post, but includes a few other details as well. Feel free to take a look. 

http://denver.cbslocal.com/2018/06/15/paul-simon-reveals-the-story-behind-bridge-over-troubled-water/



Listen to: Oh Mary, Don't You Weep

Listen to: Bridge Over Troubled Water (Live 1969)