“Mrs Robinson” Lyrics & Meaning (Simon & Garfunkel)

Simon and Garfunkel lent four songs to the soundtrack of the movie The Graduate.

Mrs. Robinson is the one that plays the most important role.

It basically explains the plot of the movie. And it has given the phrase “Mrs. Robinson” a certain meaning.

But did you know that the song was originally about a real person?

It even had a different name. The name of the person whom it was about, in fact.

Keep reading to learn all about the Mrs Robinson lyrics meaning, including the original title and inspiration for the song.

 

Mrs Robinson Lyrics And Meaning

Director Mike Nichols was an admirer of Simon & Garfunkel’s work. As such, he approached them during the 1967 filming of The Graduate and requested permission to use some of their songs in the movie.

He also asked that they produce a new song for the soundtrack. The duo initially showed Nichols Punky’s Dilemma and Overs, but Nichols rejected those.

The next song they presented the director with was, at the time, entitled Mrs. Roosevelt. What became Mrs. Robinson started out as a tribute to Eleanor Roosevelt and the passing of an innocent era.

When Nichols first heard the song, it had nothing to do with the plot of The Graduate.

But Nichols realized Mrs. Roosevelt had the same number of syllables as Mrs. Robinson, so he asked Simon to rework the title. A hit was born.

The song was featured in the 1967 film in an early, shorter version, before it debuted on Simon & Garfunkel’s Bookends album, which was released on April 3rd of the following year.

The initial sales for Bookends in the US exceeded expectations, and Mrs. Robinson went on to become a number-one hit. It also snagged the 1969 Grammy for Record of the Year.

 

Mrs Robinson Lyrics

Chorus

And here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know
Wo, wo, wo
God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
Hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey

Verse 1

We’d like to know a little bit about you for our files
We’d like to help you learn to help yourself
Look around you, all you see are sympathetic eyes
Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home

Chorus

And here’s to you, Mrs. Robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know
Wo, wo, wo
God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
Hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey

Verse 2

Hide it in a hiding place where no one ever goes
Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes
It’s a little secret, just the Robinsons’ affair
Most of all, you’ve got to hide it from the kids

Chorus

Coo, coo, ca-choo, Mrs. Robinson
Jesus loves you more than you will know
Wo, wo, wo
God bless you please, Mrs. Robinson
Heaven holds a place for those who pray
Hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey

Verse 3

Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon
Going to the candidates debate
Laugh about it, shout about it
When you’ve got to choose
Every way you look at it, you lose

Chorus

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio
A nation turns its lonely eyes to you
Woo, woo, woo
What’s that you say, Mrs. Robinson
Joltin’ Joe has left and gone away
Hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey

 

Mrs Robinson Meaning

The song is an acoustic guitar-driven composition with clean, bright production and superb harmonies from the two singers.

It includes pop-culture references to big names of the time, such as New York Yankees baseball player Joe DiMaggio and Jesus.

Apparently, Joe DiMaggio was a little perplexed by the lyric “Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.”

Upon a meeting with Paul Simon in a restaurant, he asked the songwriter, “What I don’t understand is why you ask where I’ve gone. I just did a Mr. Coffee commercial, I’m a spokesman for Bowery Savings Bank, and I haven’t gone anywhere!”

Simon recalled the meeting at a later date and said he had told DiMaggio that “I didn’t mean the lines literally, that I thought of him as an American hero, and that genuine heroes were in short supply. He accepted the explanation and thanked me. We shook hands and said good night.”

The movie tells the tale of an older woman (Mrs. Robinson) who seduces a younger man (Benjamin Braddock).

Mrs. Robinson, in the movie, is the wife of Benjamin’s father’s business partner, and the opening verse of the song describes her as someone that Benjamin would “like to know a little bit about.” The song’s second verse alludes to affairs that the on-screen Robinsons are having:

Hide it in a hiding place where no one ever goes.
Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes.
It’s a little secret, just the Robinsons’ affair.
Most of all, you’ve got to hide it from the kids.

While the song came to be about illicit affairs of the heart to fit in with the movie, as mentioned, it originally started out life as an ode to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

 

Interesting Facts About Mrs Robinson

• The soundtrack to the movie The Graduates also includes three other Simon & Garfunkel songs: April Come She Will, Scarborough Fair/Canticle, and The Sound of Silence.
• If you’ve seen Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar-winning Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, you may have noticed Mrs. Robinson playing during a scene when Brad Pitt’s character is intrigued by a younger girl.
• Ever since the movie The Graduate, the term “Mrs. Robinson” has come to refer to an older woman pursuing someone younger than herself. This was the main part of the plot to the movie.
• You may not be aware that Frank Sinatra actually recorded a version of Mrs. Robinson. It is included on his 1969 album My Way.

 

Mrs Robinson Lyrics Meaning: Final Thoughts

Simon and Garfunkel originally wrote a song entitled Mrs. Roosevelt about Eleanor Roosevelt. That song because Mrs. Robinson, about an older woman who seduces a younger man. They made this change to fit in with the plot of the movie The Graduate.

This song is about a dysfunctional relationship, given that one of the parties is married (albeit to a husband who also cheats). A much healthier relationship is depicted by Snow Patrol. Learn about the Chasing Cars lyrics meaning here.

Another extremely dysfunctional relationship comes from a commonly misunderstood song by The Police. The Every Breath You Take lyrics meaning is as far from a love song as it gets, but many believe that is what it is.