Granted, both also established themselves successfully as solo acts in the years following its 1970 release, so it’s not like they’re still riding off the success of that track and album alone, but it would be incredibly surprising if either artist held some kind of resentment towards the song, or even had their doubts about its viability as a single. But just a couple of years after its release, Simon revealed many secrets about the song’s origins that suggest he didn’t always have great confidence in his composition, and Art Garfunkel wasn’t entirely sure either.

Speaking with Don Heckman from New York Times In 1972, Simon revealed that he was surprised at how successful the song was and does not even remember how or when he wrote the song. “It doesn’t feel attached to me at all,” he told the journalist. “At the time, there was no sense that it would become a hit of such enormous proportions. We were just working on a record, and we fought.”

Because Garfunkel was already mentally and physically elsewhere during the recording of the album, after working on the film Catch 22 in Rome, he seemed distant from the song when Simon first played the song for him. As Simon had written the tune to suit Garfunkel’s higher vocal range, he had always intended it to be a track for ‘Artie’ to take lead on, but when he first heard the track, Garfunkel didn’t seem to agree that he should be the singer.

“Yeah, I like it,” Simon recalled Garfunkel telling him, “but maybe you should.” Simon himself was outraged by the idea and claimed his response was to say, “No, I insist you do it.” Reflecting on his adamant reaction in the interview, Simon added, “I don’t know why I insisted so much. Maybe I should analyze myself to find out why I insisted to that degree. I thought maybe it wouldn’t even be a good single.”

Of course, Art Garfunkel performed the lead vocals in one of the most sublimely controlled vocal performances of his career. Had Simon not been as insistent that his performing partner sing it, it’s hard to imagine it having the same emotional impact as the song, let alone being as successful as it was.

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