"Punky's Dilemma" is a song by American music duo

Simon & Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo comprising the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music acts of the 1960s. Their most famous recordings include three US number-one sing ...

from their fourth studio album, ''

Bookends A bookend is an object tall, sturdy, and heavy enough that is placed at either end of a row of upright books to support or buttress them. Heavy bookends—made of wood, bronze, marble, and even large geodes—have been used in libraries, sto ...

'' (1968).

Background

"Punky's Dilemma" was one of two songs (the other being " Overs") that

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

offered to director

Mike Nichols Mike Nichols (born Igor Mikhail Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014) was an American film and theatre director and comedian. He worked across a range of genres and had an aptitude for getting the best out of actors regardless of ...

for his film ''

The Graduate ''The Graduate'' is a 1967 American independent romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols and written by Buck Henry and Calder Willingham, based on the 1963 novella by Charles Webb. It stars Dustin Hoffman as Benjamin Braddoc ...

''. Nichols was not particularly taken with either, which led to Simon writing "

Mrs. Robinson "Mrs. Robinson" is a song by American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel from their fourth Album, studio album, ''Bookends (album), Bookends'' (1968). The writing of the song was begun before the 1967 film ''The Graduate'', which contained only f ...

". The song was partially worked on by John Simon (no relation), who was hired to "kick-start" the recording when Paul Simon had

writer's block Writer's block is a non-medical condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Writer's block has various degrees of severity, from difficulty in coming ...

. Morgan Ames, writer for ''

High Fidelity High fidelity (hi-fi or, rarely, HiFi) is the high-quality reproduction of sound. It is popular with audiophiles and home audio enthusiasts. Ideally, high-fidelity equipment has inaudible noise and distortion, and a flat (neutral, uncolored) ...

'' magazine, attended a recording session during which "Punky's Dilemma" was being constructed, in October 1967. The team spent over 50 studio hours recording "Punky's Dilemma," re-recording vocal parts, sometimes note by note, until they were satisfied.

Composition

"Punky’s Dilemma" is breezy and minimal musically, with a

soft jazz Smooth jazz is commercially oriented crossover jazz music. Although often described as a "genre", it is a debatable and highly controversial subject in jazz music circles. As a radio format, however, smooth jazz radio became the successor to eas ...

-style percussion and seemingly improvised guitar lines dominated by seventh chords. As rock critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

wrote, the song "seems the essence of lightheartedness on casual hearing but is really a poignant and ironic presentation of a young man's military alternatives: resisting or playing along with the

draft Draft, the draft, or draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a v ...

Notes

References

Sources

* * * {{Authority control 1968 songs Simon & Garfunkel songs Songs written by Paul Simon Song recordings produced by John Simon (record producer) Song recordings produced by Paul Simon Song recordings produced by Art Garfunkel