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The Song that Simon & Garfunkel Wrote to Mock Bob Dylan

In the mid-1960s, Bob Dylan stood at the center of the American folk movement, influencing a generation of young songwriters with his surreal lyrics, nasal delivery, and rapid rise to cultural icon status. Among those closely watching Dylan’s ascent were Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, whose own careers were developing alongside his. While Dylan was often admired by his peers, his style also became an easy target for imitation and satire.

In 1966, Simon & Garfunkel released “A Simple Desultory Philippic (or How I Was Robert McNamara’d into Submission)”, a song widely understood as a playful mockery of Bob Dylan’s songwriting approach and vocal mannerisms. The track exaggerates Dylan’s free-associative lyrics, rapid name-dropping, and talking-blues phrasing, while also poking fun at the seriousness of protest music and the political language of the era.

Rather than a hostile attack, the song functions as a humorous commentary on the folk scene itself, reflecting both admiration and fatigue with the trends Dylan had popularized. Paul Simon later acknowledged Dylan’s immense influence on his writing, making the parody more of an inside joke than a rivalry.

Today, the song remains a fascinating snapshot of 1960s folk culture, capturing a moment when artists openly responded to one another through music, satire, and sharp observation.#SimonAndGarfunkel
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