Mister Robinson needs your prayers over in police state Britain!
The original Mrs. Robinson was a parsons wife who had an affair with Branwell Bronte, the brother of the famous literary sisters. Mr. Bronte was living with the Robinsons’ serving as a tutor to their son. Mrs. Robinson was 15 years older than Mr. Bronte. Bramwell was fired. When Mr. Robinson died Bramwell wanted to marry the widow but was turned down.
Monroe is buried in the Westwood section of LA. DiMaggio had fresh flowers sent there every day until he himself died.
Paul Simon remarked later that his boyhood hero (as were many in the 50s and early 60s) was Mickey Mantle and he wanted to include Mantle into the lyrics as a loss of boyhood innocence.
Two problems. Mantle was still an active player with the Yankees so the “where have you gone?” question seemed odd. Also, Mantle’s name lacked the cadence of the song.
So Simon stepped back a generation and asked “Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?”
By 1967, Joe DiMaggio had a job as a hitting instructor for the Oakland A’s. I would have liked the verse to have said “Joltin’ Joe’s now with the Oakland A’s...Hey, hey, hey...”
Ode to a Cougar.
Oh, and “plastics.”
Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio our nation turns its lonely eyes to you, woo, woo, woo. What’s that you say Mrs. Robinson, Joltin Joe has left and gone away..
My Mom would turn on the Top 40 station and pipe it into my room in order to get myas outta bed for skool.
I remember the morning, all sleepy and not wanting to wake up, hearing the above lyrics and thinking . . WTH did I just hear a song with “Joe DiMaggio”? So to convince myself I was dreaming while dozing off, I listened a bit more intently and when the “Joltin Joe” hit, I knew I wasn’t dreaming.
And don’t most young boys have a Mrs Robinson Fantasy at some point in their adolescence?
Seriously, it’s a song by Simon and Garfunkle.
I listen to the 60s on 6 channel on Sirius XM all the time, and while I love 60s music there are some songs I get tired of hearing. But “Mrs Robinson” is one that yes, I’ve heard it a million times, but whenever that galloping guitar intro starts, it’s such a flashback to the movie and that era that the time machine just jumps back 50 years in a millisecond. Classic.
Little known trivia: the original title was “Mrs. Roosevelt” but was changed for obvious reasons.
Wrecking crew member Hal Blaine played drums, and Larry Knechtel played bass on the track.
Love the song, love “The Graduate”, love the comments on this thread. Great lazy Sunday thread. Thanks.
I hate the song.
What bothered me abut that song - and still bothers me to this day - is that Simon & Garfunkel referred to Joe DiMaggio as “Jumpin’ Joe.” One of The Yankee Clipper’s most celebrated nicknames was “Joltin’ Joe.” “Jumpin’ Joe” was Joe Dugan’s nickname, 3B, NY Yankees 1922-28.
S&G were great songwriters, but geez! C’mon guys!
I read somewhere that Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe were about to get remarried and that DiMaggio always believed that the Kennedys had her killed.
It’s a freakin’ song for gosh sakes - don’t analize it to death!