Context
In the film The Graduate, listless recent college graduate Benjamin Braddock has an affair with an older married woman, Mrs. Robinson. The song as it appears in the film is different from the familiar hit single version, as only the chorus of the song appears late in the film and with slightly different lyrics: "Stand up tall, Mrs. Robinson, God in heaven smiles on those who pray." It was only later on that Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel re-recorded the song by employing additional lyrics to form the hit single.
According to a Variety article by Peter Bart in the May 15, 2005 issue, director Mike Nichols had become obsessed with Simon & Garfunkel's music while shooting the film. Larry Turman, his producer, made a deal for Simon to write three new songs for the movie. By the time they were nearly finished editing the film, Simon had only written one new song. Nichols begged him for more but Simon, who was touring constantly, told him he didn't have the time. He did play him a few notes of a new song he had been working on; "It's not for the movie ... it's a song about times past – about Mrs. Roosevelt and Joe DiMaggio and stuff." Nichols advised Simon, "It's now about Mrs. Robinson, not Mrs. Roosevelt." During an appearance on Dick Cavett's television show, Simon told the story of how the song was originally called "Mrs. Roosevelt," to which Cavett quipped: "That would have changed the plot of the movie."
Read more about this topic: Mrs. Robinson
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