I do wonder why he sang “Bridge Over Troubled Water” instead of “America” which had been used in one of Bernie Sanders’ campaign ads (and wrote about it here back in January) and was used to introduce Sanders before he gave his remarks at the DNC.
Now the reason Simon sang “Bridge Over Troubled Water” was because he followed a skit done by Senator Al Franken, a Hillary supporter, and Sarah Silverman, a Bernie supporter, about the two factions coming together and overcoming the bridges over troubled waters. Instead, it reinforced the troubled waters that have been Democratic National Convention thus far.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KdK308dLSE
The other problem is that “Bridge Over Troubled Water” is Art Garfunkel’s baby even if Simon is the composer. It is a song tailored for Garfunkel’s unique voice and it is a difficult song to sing. I saw Garfunkel sing it about 10 years ago and he doesn’t sing it like he once did. If the DNC wanted the song to symbolize unity it would have been better had Simon & Garfunkel had performed it together.
Alas Simon & Garfunkel are estranged and haven’t shared a stage in six years and aren’t likely to do so. Last year, Garfunkel referred to Simon as a monster in an interview with The Telegraph. In June, Simon announced that his forthcoming tour of Europe would likely be his last. It could very well be that his performance at the DNC was his last on American soil. He turns 75 in October and looks every bit his age.
With that said, I don’t think Paul Simon’s rendition was half as bad as the folks on Twitter made it about to be.
But there’s no substitute for the original.
