So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright

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 long

Architects may come, and architects may go

And never change your point of view
When I run dry
I'll stop awhile and think of you

Architects may come and architects may go

And never change your point of view

So long, Frank Lloyd Wright

All of the nights we'd harmonize 'til dawn
I never laughed so long
So long, so long

So long, so long

So long, so long

So long

(So long already, Artie!)

So long

So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright is a song written by Paul Simon and released on Simon & Garfunkel’s landmark 1970 album Bridge over Troubled Water. I just happened to rediscover the track while passing time and listening to an assortment of folk-rock pieces from that era. A deceptively simple composition, the bossa nova-inspired tune incorporates varied rhythms and syncopations. Simon’s choice of a Brazilian musical styling may seem incongruent with Wright’s architecture, but its measured tempo and instrumental layering sets a melancholic vibe perfectly in keeping with Art Garfunkel’s ethereal vocal delivery. 

Garfunkel did major in architecture at Columbia University in New York City, a fact I did know. Some accounts say he asked Simon to write the song as a tribute to Wright, who died in 1959. This corresponds to when Garfunkel was most likely attending Columbia, so the great architect’s passing was undoubtedly impactful upon an impressionable young student of architecture. Upon initial reading, it is easy to interpret Simon’s lyrics as a genuinely sweet ode to a personal hero, as Artie may have wished they would be. 

It turns out the song really isn’t about Frank Lloyd Wright; instead, Simon wrote it as a cryptic farewell to Garfunkel. The duo split shortly after the release of Bridge over Troubled Water, citing personal differences and a divergence in career interests, particularly Artie’s pursuit of an acting career. It turns out several of the songs on the album—for which Simon as the songwriter composed all the lyrics—foreshadowed their breakup. Garfunkel unwittingly sang So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright, not realizing it was a sly and embittered dig at him by his musical partner. Garfunkel reportedly said he was deeply hurt upon later learning of the song’s true meaning. 

Near the end of the song, it is the album’s producer, Roy Halee, who shouts “so long already, Artie,” a portentous, albeit unintended, adieu. 

I can’t claim to ever have been a huge Simon & Garfunkel fan. If anything, I consider Paul Simon’s later solo work more appealing. Regardless, I find the backstory associated with Bridge over Troubled Water and particularly the track So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright revealing, and more than a bit sad. 

There’s no disputing Simon & Garfunkel’s impact upon the music industry and their part in helping to define the cultural spirit and mood of the tumultuous 1960s. The legacy of their final studio album may be its marking the end of an era and the demise of an unparalleled musical collaboration. So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright does stand out to me for its musical merit and the allusiveness of its lyrics, no matter its subtext.