What does So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright mean?

Simon & Garfunkel: So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright Meaning

Album cover for So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright album cover

So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright Lyrics

So long, Frank Lloyd Wright.
I can't believe your song is gone so soon.
I barely learned the tune.
So soon, so soon.

I'll remember Frank Lloyd Wright.
All of the nights we'd harmonize til dawn.
I never laughed so long, so long.
So...

  1. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 15th 2020 !⃝

    There are a couple of songs on BOTW that deal with their potential split/separation.
    Both Simon and Garfunkel were on the schedule to appear in Catch 22, but Simon's part was scrapped and Garfunkel's kept. Simon was accepting of the inevitability of Garfunkel leaving and wrote and finished songs for the album in his absence.
    'So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright' does play with the idea and nostalgia of the early Simon & Garfunkel relationship. In the extended fade out of the song, you can hear Simon shout out "So long, Artie!"
    In 'Only Living Boy In New York', Simon writes of Garfunkel's absence,
    'Tom, get your plane right on time / I know your part'll go fine.'
    This is a reference to the days when they performed under the monicker Tom & Jerry. Simon is referencing their early days and sending his blessing and best wishes to Garfunkel.

  2. astorian
    click a star to vote
    Mar 13th 2012 !⃝

    "So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright" is one of several songs on the "Bridge Over Troubled Water" album that deals with the gradual breakup of Simon & Garfunkel. By 1970, when they made that album, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel weren't getting along, and Garfunkel was beginning to pursue other interests, like acting in movies.

    Paul Simon could see that they were heading in different directions, and he wrote this song as a way of saying goodbye to Art Garfunkel. It helps if you know that Art Garfunkel was a math major who originally planned to become an architect, like Frank Lloyd Wright.

    The song is saying, essentially, "Hey Art, remember when we were kids and we'd spend hours singing Everly Brothers* songs together, and learning to imitate their harmonies? Those were the good old days... but I guess it's over now."

    That's probably why Simon decided to include a cover of the Everly Brothers' "Bye Bye Love" on the album.


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