When I returned from Viet Nam in Fall 1969, while still in the military in Louisiana, I played the Simon and Garfunkel song “Bridge Over Troubled Water” over, and over, and over, almost every night for weeks. I still often play that song for my ears and heart to this day.
Here are the lyrics.
When you’re weary, feeling small, When tears are in your eyes, I will dry them all;
I’m on your side. When times get rough And friends just can’t be found, Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down. Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down.
When you’re down and out, When you’re on the street, When evening falls so hard I will comfort you. I’ll take your part.
When darkness comes And pain is all around, Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down. Like a bridge over troubled water I will lay me down.
Sail on silvergirl, Sail on by. Your time has come to shine. All your dreams are on their way. See how they shine.
If you need a friend I’m sailing right behind. Like a bridge over troubled water I will ease your mind. Like a bridge over troubled water I will ease your mind.
4 Comments
Brian, when you laid yourself down on railroad tracks leading out from the Concord Naval Weapons Station, you were physically like a sandbag intended to block the toxic river of weapons flowing from there into the world. But spirit-ually you were the magnificent blueprint for a Hoover Dam against a flood of military death and destruction. Enough workers have not yet been found to build that protection for civilization; but you have demonstrated the possibility. God bless you in your continuing opposition to “the dark side” and your
continuing example moral knighthood.
Music is a great medicine for bad days as well as a great inspiration for better ones. If I were a songwriter, I would write “The Ballad of Brian Willson.” Has someone perhaps already done something like that?
I am Brazilian, and in my youth I used to sing (and think about) this song all the time, too. Despite my rudimentary English, after reading it I could understand the lyrics and I linked it to the miserable life we had in Brazil (it had deteriorated after the military coup sponsored by the CIA in 1964). A few years ago I bought a Simon and Garfunkel CD to update my old long play…
Great site, Brian! Thanks!
Thank you for being you and for inspiring so many.
http://youtu.be/wU5Ru9EdcDY
Sorry. Wrong link! Eva Cassidy shortly before her death in 1996, singing Bridge Over Troubled Water.
http://youtu.be/sYyQcQSqpbI