The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)

Album: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme (1966)
Play Video
  • Slow down, you move too fast
    You got to make the morning last
    Just kicking down the cobblestones
    Looking for fun and feeling groovy
    Ba da-da da-da da-da, feeling groovy

    Hello lamppost, what'cha knowing
    I've come to watch your flowers growin'
    Ain't you got no rhymes for me?
    Doo-ait-n-doo-doo, feeling groovy
    Ba da-da da-da da-da, feeling groovy

    I got no deeds to do, no promises to keep
    I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep
    Let the morningtime drop all its petals on me
    Life, I love you, all is groovy
    Ba da-da da-da da-da
    Doo-ait-n-doo-doo, ba-don-dah-don don
    Ba da-da da-da da-da
    Doo-ait-n-doo-doo, ba-don-dah-don don
    Ba da-da da-da da-da dum Writer/s: Paul Simon
    Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 17

  • Frederic from VirginiaA possible explanation for the title is that the NY police department confiscated large quantities of marijuana in a time when people were still naive to the affects of setting ablaze this amount of weed. It was burned near the 59th st bridge. Once can guess how groovy people in the area felt.

    HR Pufnstuf was a cult children’s show winner for 1969’s Saturday morning television. It was generally about good versus evil with life sized puppets and a boy stranded on their island. Paul Simon sued Sid and Marty Krofft because the opening tune for the cartoon closely resembled “The 59th Street Bridge Song”. He won and they gave him credit at the end of the show.

    On May, 2017, Paul Simon stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and in a cold open segment, Colbert tried to get Simon to play Simon & Garfunkel's 1966 classic "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)."
    Simon told Colbert, "I loathe that song," saying it was naive and "doesn't feel like two thousand seventeen."
  • Seventhmist from 7th HeavenI always wondered if Paul's groovy feelin' came from a few hallucinogenic substances.
  • Fred from Lake Havasu City, AzDuring Simon and Garfunkel's first concert in Chicago, he started "59th Street Bridge Song" when the spotlight on them shifted to red. Paul started to chuckle and said "Everyone - dig the red light. This song was written under the influence of red lights."
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyHere's some obscure trivia:
    On November 2nd 1867, the magazine 'Harper's Bazaar' was founded; and just under one-hundred years later on February 12th, 1967 the Harpers Bizarre’s covered version of "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #88...
    (See the next post below}.
  • Barry from Sauquoit, NyOn February 12th 1967, "The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" by Harpers Bizarre entered Billboard's Hot Top 100 chart at position #88; and on March 26th it peaked at #13 (for 2 weeks) and spent 11 weeks on the Top 100...
    Was track five from their debut album, 'Feelin' Groovy'...
    One other track from the album also made the Top 100; "Come To The Sunshine" (#37)...
    Their last Top 100 entry was a covered version of Johnny Horton's 1959 #1 record "The Battle of New Orleans"; their version reached #95.
  • Stephen from Cape Coral, FlHas anyone ever considered that "The 59th Street Bridge Song" is really about an early morning dog walk? Look again at the words.
  • Bottyguy from Raleigh, NcI'd like to correct the first commenter. There is a walk/bikeway across the queensboro bridge. You can google it. The comment from Paul Simon however doesn't indicate whether he was walking, driving, or skipping across the bridge.
  • John from Joplin, Mo/queens, Ny, MoOne interesting comment? The 59th street bridge doesnt have a a pedestrian walkway! LOL
  • Jay from Brooklyn, NyHey look, some idiot's dancing on the bridge talking to the lampposts. This is such a fun song, and one of the few truly happy songs ever written by Paul Simon.
  • Bubba from Anaheim, CaLed Zeppelin performed a version of Feelin Groovy live in the boogie middle section of Whole Lotta Love..bubba Anaheim hill ca
  • Meredith from Wauwatosa, WiThis song was also covered by Harpers Bizarre, but I prefer hearing Simon and Garfunkel sing it. This song is very cute and fun to sing along with!
  • Nick from Bethlehem, PaHi Michael,

    It was the flip side of "At The Zoo" in America, I have the 45 with the picture sleeve showing S&G's faces on two animals' bodies. The imported copies must have a different flip. Was "At The Zoo" released as a single in Germany?

    Be good,
    Nick
  • Nick from Bethlehem, PaHi guys,

    A little enlightenment about "The 59th Street Bridge Song". It was released as the flip side of "At The Zoo". The reason Paul didn't want it on the A Side is because he felt "we're a folk group, how can we be feelin' groovy?" He wrote this while walking over the bridge early in the morning (6AM or so), and he loved the part of the day when the sun is coming up, and how fresh you feel even after being up all night.
  • Sally from South Orange, NjOn a PBS tribute to Paul Simon, Elmo and Grover sang this. I thought it was so sweet :-)
  • Jane from White River Jct, VtI think it reminds me to slow down with life and be in the moment more... we are always moving too fast, and this world is even more sped up today than it was in the late 60's early 70's with everything "instant" and computerized. So this song takes me back to a slower time and it never fails to make me smile.
  • Michelle from Boston, MaNot to be cliche, but Simon and Garfunkel are well known to be marijuana users. I have always believed that this song at least partly had to do with smoking marijuana.
  • Ashley from Moncton, CanadaI love this song. I think it may be the definition of mellow.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie Combination

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie CombinationSong Writing

In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real Group

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real GroupSong Writing

The leader of the Modern A Cappella movement talks about the genre.

Jeff Trott

Jeff TrottSongwriter Interviews

Sheryl Crow's longtime songwriting partner/guitarist Jeff Trott reveals the stories behind many of the singer's hits, and what its like to be a producer for Leighton Meester and Max Gomez.

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Wainwright IIISongwriter Interviews

"Dead Skunk" became a stinker for Loudon when he felt pressure to make another hit - his latest songs deal with mortality, his son Rufus, and picking up poop.

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."