Paul Simon Opens Up About 'Uneven Partnership' With Art Garfunkel That Led To 'Broken' Friendship

In part one of a new MGM+ documentary, Paul Simon opened up about the "uneven partnership" with Art Garfunkel that ultimately let to their "broken" friendship.

Simon went into detail about what ultimately broke up the iconic duo Simon & Garfunkel, sharing in the documentary In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon, that the two were "best friends" until certain events transpired.

Simon explained, per People:

"We were really best friends up until 'Bridge over Troubled Water.'"

“[Afterwards], it didn’t have the harmony of the friendship… that was broken.”

Simon revealed tension began to rise after Garfunkel accepted an offer to appear in the 1970 film Catch-22.

“Artie said, ‘Yeah, the way it’s going to be is that I will do movies for six months, then I’ll come back, you’ll have written the songs, and we will do the album,’ and I thought, ‘Yeah? Actually, no. That’s not gonna happen. I am not gonna do that.'"

He felt there was an "uneven partnership," explaining that he put in much of the work but there was an "uneven balance of power."

“We had an uneven partnership because I was writing all of the songs and basically running the sessions because I would say, ‘This is how it goes, and this is the guitar part, and you should be playing that on drums, and the bass should be doing this.'"

"Artie would be in the control room with [producer] Roy [Halee], and he’d say, ‘Yeah, that's good, let’s do that,’ but it was an uneven balance of power.”

Ultimately, though, Garfunkel's absence while he was shooting a movie during “half of Bridge over Troubled Water” was the turning point in their friendship.

“We were always sort of together. It wasn’t like he came back and said, ‘What’s the collection of new songs you wrote over these last six months?’ As I was writing a song, I’d say, ‘Hey, what do you think about this?’ The main thing that we were interested in — we shared.”

And then when the film that was supposed to keep Garfunkel away for six months ran longer, "everything got disrupted," leading to the duo's split.

“The movie ran over. ‘You have to come back.' ‘No, I can’t because we have to shoot this week in Mexico. Send me down what you did, and I’ll give it a list,’ ‘No, that’s no good. You have to change this and this.’ It was like — everything got disrupted."

“It was a recipe for the breakup of Simon & Garfunkel.”

Simon then recalled what he felt when Garfunkel was met with a standing ovation after performing "Bridge over Troubled Water."

“I wrote that song.”

The first episode ended with Simon reflecting on the path of their friendship.

"This is my oldest friend, and we experienced anonymity, and then great fame and success, and those things have their own pressure."

“That was a good friendship. That was a real first friendship of somebody that got it. For me, to turn into a person that I hope I never see again — that’s a long way.”

You can watch the official trailer below.

In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon (MGM+ 2024 Series) Official Traileryoutu.be

People on social media appreciated Simon speaking out on the breakup of Simon & Garfunkel and are excited to learn more about his journey in the documentary.

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Many, however, wished the duo had never split.

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A few, though, said they appreciated the solo careers of both Simon and Garfunkel.

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Part one of In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon is available to stream now on MGM+. Part two premieres on Sunday, March 24.