"50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" | ||||
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Single by Paul Simon | ||||
from the album Still Crazy After All These Years | ||||
B-side | "Some Folks' Lives Roll Easy" | |||
Released | December 1975 | |||
Studio | A&R Recording, NYC | |||
Length | 3:35 | |||
Label | Columbia [1] | |||
Songwriter(s) | Paul Simon | |||
Producer(s) |
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Paul Simon singles chronology | ||||
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"50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the second single from his fourth studio album, Still Crazy After All These Years (1975), released on Columbia Records. Backing vocals on the single were performed by Patti Austin, Valerie Simpson, and Phoebe Snow. The song features a recognizable repeated drum riff performed by drummer Steve Gadd.
One of his most popular singles, "50 Ways" was released in December 1975 and began to see chart success in the new year. It became Simon's sole number-one hit as a solo artist on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States and was his highest charting song in France, where it peaked at number two. Elsewhere, the song was a top 20 hit in Canada and New Zealand. The single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting sales of more than one million copies.
An edit of the song that cuts out a few seconds of the intro is included on The Paul Simon Collection: On My Way, Don't Know Where I'm Goin' [2]
Following Simon's divorce from his first wife Peggy Harper, Simon opted to take a more humorous approach to document the event. [3] He recorded the song at A&R Recording on 48th Street in New York City, [4] a small studio "in the heart of Broadway's theater district, and built the song around percussion—"martial drums" in particular—in order to "avoid clutter". [5] Simon described the song as "just a fluke hit that I slipped into by accident." [1]
In 2023, Simon appeared on The Howard Stern Show and stated that the he wrote the chorus lyrics while teaching his son Harper how to rhyme. [6]
Steve Gadd recalled that the drumbeat for "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" was originally uniform across the verses and choruses, although both Simon and Phil Ramone asked Gadd to rework the verses with a different groove at A&R Recording. In-between takes, Gadd was quietly practicing drum patterns by placing particular emphasis on the hi-hat cymbal. Ramone overheard Gadd practicing and asked him to incorporate these ideas into the verses, which was ultimately retained in the final mix. [4]
Although the song is called "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover", the song only references five unique methods. [7]
Contemporary reviews of "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" were positive, with Billboard called it an "excellent song" that has "very clever lyrics" and an "easy to listen to melody." [8] Cash Box said that it is "a clever, commercial song about the elasticity of love, how easy it is to pull away and equally easy to snap back with it." [9] Record World said that the song "finds Simon aided by a crack team of session men and the unmistakable vocals of Phoebe Snow." [10] [11]
Entertainment Weekly thought that Simon "reached a conversational, graceful peak on '50 Ways to Leave Your Lover'". [12] Spin was more critical of the song and listed it as one of the "50 Worst Songs By Otherwise Great Artists". [13]
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Still Crazy After All These Years. [14]
"50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" was Paul Simon's biggest solo hit and broke in the US in late 1975. It entered the US Billboard Hot 100 on December 20, 1975 at number 74 and peaked at number one on February 7, 1976. The song remained at the summit for three weeks and became his only number one on that chart as a solo act. [1] It also topped the adult contemporary chart for two weeks. [15] Overseas, on the UK Singles Chart, the song reached number 23 in January 1976. It was certified gold on March 11, 1976, and remained a best seller for nearly five months. Billboard ranked it as the No. 8 song of 1976. [16]
Weekly charts
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Certifications
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Still Crazy After All These Years is the fourth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon, released on October 17, 1975, by Columbia Records. Recorded and released in 1975, the album produced four U.S. Top 40 hits: "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover", "Gone at Last", "My Little Town", and the title track. It won two Grammy Awards for Album of the Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1976.
Phoebe Snow was an American roots music singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for her hit 1974 and 1975 songs "Poetry Man" and "Harpo's Blues", and her credited guest vocals backing Paul Simon on "Gone at Last". She was described by The New York Times as a "contralto grounded in a bluesy growl and capable of sweeping over four octaves". Snow also sang numerous commercial jingles for many U.S. products during the 1980s and 1990s, including General Foods International Coffees, Salon Selectives, and Stouffer's. Snow experienced success in Australia in the late 1970s and early 1980s with five top 100 albums in that country. In 1995 she recorded a gospel album with Sisters of Glory.
"SOS" is a song by Swedish pop group ABBA. It was released in June 1975 as the fifth single from their self-titled 1975 album.
"Devoted to You" is a song written by Felice and Boudleaux Bryant.
"It's in His Kiss" is a song written and composed by Rudy Clark. It was first released as a single in 1963 by Merry Clayton that did not chart. The song was made a hit a year later when recorded by Betty Everett, who hit No. 1 on the Cashbox magazine R&B charts with it in 1964. Recorded by dozens of artists and groups around the world in the decades since, the song became an international hit once again when covered by Cher in 1990.
"Let 'Em In" is a song by Wings from their 1976 album Wings at the Speed of Sound. It was written and sung by Paul McCartney and reached the top 3 in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. It was a No. 2 hit in the UK; in the U.S. it was a No. 3 pop hit and No. 1 easy listening hit. In Canada, the song was No. 3 for three weeks on the pop chart and No. 1 for three weeks on the MOR chart of RPM magazine. The single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over one million copies. It can also be found on McCartney's 1987 compilation album, All the Best! A demo of the song, featuring Denny Laine on lead vocal, was included as a bonus track on the Archive Collection reissue of Wings at the Speed of Sound.
"The Obvious Child" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the lead single from his eighth studio album, The Rhythm of the Saints (1990), released by Warner Bros. Records. Written by Simon, its lyrics explore mortality and aging. The song is accompanied by a performance from Brazilian drumming collective Olodum in a live recording.
"Love to Love You Baby" is a song by American singer Donna Summer from her second studio album, Love to Love You Baby (1975). Produced by Pete Bellotte, and written by Italian musician Giorgio Moroder, Summer, and Bellotte, the song was first released as a single in the Netherlands in June 1975 as "Love to Love You" and then released worldwide in November 1975 as "Love to Love You Baby". It became one of the first disco hits to be released in an extended form.
"Graceland" is the title song of the album Graceland, released in 1986 by Paul Simon. The song features vocals by The Everly Brothers. The lyrics follow the singer's thoughts during a road trip to Graceland after the failure of his marriage. Actress and author Carrie Fisher, Simon's ex-wife, said that the song referred in part to their relationship.
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"Slip Slidin' Away" is a 1977 song written and recorded by Paul Simon which appears on his compilation album Greatest Hits, Etc. It was one of two new songs to appear on the album, the other being "Stranded in a Limousine". Backing vocals on the song are provided by The Oak Ridge Boys. The song was originally recorded and considered for Simon's 1975 album Still Crazy After All These Years, but Simon decided not to include the song on the finished album. A demo version appears on the 2004 re-issue of the album. The song was also included on Negotiations and Love Songs (1988).
"No More 'I Love You's'" is a song written by British musicians David Freeman and Joseph Hughes and recorded by them as the Lover Speaks. It was released in June 1986 as the lead single from their self-titled debut album. The song was covered by the Scottish singer Annie Lennox and became a commercial success for her in 1995, reaching number two on the UK Singles Chart.
"Late in the Evening" is a song by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the lead single from his fifth studio album, One-Trick Pony (1980), released on Warner Bros. Records.
"My Little Town" is a 1975 song by the American duo Simon & Garfunkel. It was written by Paul Simon, who produced the track along with Art Garfunkel and Phil Ramone. The song was included on the 1975 solo releases from both Simon and Garfunkel (Breakaway). It would not appear on any of the duo's albums until the 1997 anthology box set Old Friends and the 1999 compilation album The Best of Simon and Garfunkel. It was the first single release credited to the duo since the 1972 release of "America", released in conjunction with Simon and Garfunkel's Greatest Hits.
"Break Away" is a song written by Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle and first recorded by Art Garfunkel for his 1975 album Breakaway. Gallagher and Lyle released their own version on their 1976 album, also titled Breakaway.
Grouplove is an American alternative rock band formed in 2009 by Christian Zucconi, Hannah Hooper, Sean Gadd (bass), Andrew Wessen, and Ryan Rabin (drums). The latter produced the band's self-titled debut extended play (2010), which was originally released independently, but later re-released by Atlantic Records following the success of its single, "Colours".
"50 Ways to Say Goodbye" is a song by American pop rock band Train. It is the second single from their sixth studio album, California 37 and is the fifth track on the album. It is considered to be adult contemporary pop radio music. It was released in the United States on June 11, 2012. It is their most recent Top 40 hit, peaking at number 20 on the Hot 100. It was certified gold by the RIAA on September 20, 2012, and has since been certified triple platinum.
"Still Crazy After All These Years" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the third and final single from his fourth studio album of the same name (1975), released on Columbia Records. Though the song briefly reached the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S., it was a bigger hit on the magazine's Easy Listening chart, where it peaked at number four.
"Gone at Last" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the lead single from his fourth studio album, Still Crazy After All These Years (1975), released on Columbia Records. Phoebe Snow and the Jessy Dixon Singers provide guest vocals, with Snow receiving credit on the single release.
Sometimes is a studio album by American country music artists Bill Anderson and Mary Lou Turner. It was released in January 1976 on MCA Records and was produced by Owen Bradley. It was Anderson's twenty fourth studio recording and Turner's first. The album's title track became a major hit on the country charts in both the United States and Canada. The album also reached major positions on the country chart in the United States. Sometimes was the first collaborative project between Anderson and Turner. Anderson hired Turner to work as his duet partner during this period and the project was one of two recordings they made.
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