Song · Simon and Garfunkel
“The Only Living Boy In New York” by Simon and Garfunkel
From the album Bridge Over Troubled Water (1970)
“The Only Living Boy In New York” by Simon and Garfunkel appears on 14 radio countdowns from 6 stations between 2004 and 2026. It was first released in 1970 on the album Bridge Over Troubled Water. Its best result is #54 on The Colorado Sound Top 800 Songs About Places. In the combined RockLists rankings it is #888 indie & aaa song of all time and #310 of the '70s.
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Paul Simon wrote "The Only Living Boy in New York" while Art Garfunkel was down in Mexico acting in Catch-22, and it turns up as the eighth track on Bridge Over Troubled Water, the duo's fifth and final studio album, in 1970. It's a barely disguised note to his absent partner, whom he calls Tom, a nod to their early days as Tom and Jerry, and it aches with the solitude of a man stuck in the city finishing the songs on his own.
The hush of the backing vocals comes from the two of them singing together in an echo chamber, overdubbed around eight times. Hal Blaine, Joe Osborn, Larry Knechtel, Fred Carter, Jr. and Simon himself build the frame, with strings from Ernie Freeman and Jimmie Haskell. It also served as the flip side of "Cecilia".
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 743 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2004) | 885 |
| 2007 | 615 | WTMD | WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time | 897 |
| 2009 | 756 | WYEP | WYEP 913 Essential Songs | 913 |
| 2009 | 296 | WXPN | WXPN 885 Desert Island Songs (2009) | 885 |
| 2014 | 670 | WXPN | WXPN 885 All-Time Greatest Songs (2014) | 885 |
| 2018 | 241 | The Current | The Current's 893 Essential Songs | 892 |
| 2019 | 765 | WYEP | WYEP Big Spring Countdown 2019 | 1017 |
| 2019 | 765 | WYEP | WYEP Labor Day Weekend Countdown 2019 | 1099 |
| 2020 | 1676 | WXPN | WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2020 |
| 2022 | 311 | 90.9 The Bridge | 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '70s | 908 |
| 2023 | 363 | WYEP | WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 | 1229 |
| 2023 | 54 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 800 Songs About Places | 800 |
| 2026 | 1035 | WYEP | WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time | 1180 |
| 2026 | 975 | The Colorado Sound | The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Songs You Discovered on The Colorado Sound | 1055 |
Also listed as: The Only Living Boy in New York.
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