# "Bridge Over Troubled Water"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bridge-over-troubled-water/359385>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [June 4, 2006, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bridge-over-troubled-water/359385 "2006-06-04T17:04:50Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bridge-over-troubled-water/359385/1 "2006-06-04T17:04:50Z")

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Was “bridge over troubled water” already a phrase, before Paul Simon wrote the song?

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bridge-over-troubled-water/359385/2 "2006-06-04T17:18:51Z")

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[Well…](http://www.elvisinfonet.com/wilson2.html)

\*Apparently one of the main influences for the song was a line that Paul heard on the radio in 1957. He was listening to the Swan Silvertone’s version of “Oh, Mary Don’t you Weep”, and heard Claude Jeter singing a line of scat midway through; “I’ll be your bridge over deep water if you trust in My name”. \*

I have been unable so far to track down the phrase as a popular saying before Simon.

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**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bridge-over-troubled-water/359385/3 "2006-06-04T18:17:24Z")

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There was “oil on troubled waters.” Apparently, if you pour a small amount of oil into a pond, it will smooth out the ripples. If I were a fizzy cyst, I could probably tell you why that happens.

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**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bridge-over-troubled-water/359385/4 "2006-06-04T18:41:25Z")

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> [@AskNott](#):
>
> … If I were a fizzy cyst,…

If I only had a nickel for every time I’ve said that…

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**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2006, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bridge-over-troubled-water/359385/5 "2006-06-04T21:32:23Z")

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The phrase does not show up anywhere in _The New York Times_ between 1851 and 1968.