Mrs. Robinson

Mrs. Robinson's harmony is built on a tension between a bright E major tonal center and extensive borrowing from the parallel minor and mixolydian mode. The descending chromatic bass line in the intro is one of the most recognizable guitar figures in rock, and the heavy use of flat-side chords (bVII, bIII, bVI, iv) gives the song a harmonic sophistication unusual for a pop single. The dominant seventh chords add blues coloring, while the chorus's resolution from borrowed chords back to E major creates the anthemic lift that makes it so memorable.

Paul Simon began writing the song before The Graduate was filmed, originally under the working title "Mrs. Roosevelt" (after Eleanor Roosevelt). When director Mike Nichols rejected two other submitted songs — "Punky's Dilemma" and "Overs" — Simon and Garfunkel played him the unfinished track, filling in with 'dee de dee dee' where lyrics hadn't been written yet. Nichols was ecstatic and the three-syllable placeholder name was swapped to "Mrs. Robinson" to match the film's central character.

Released in 1968, "Mrs. Robinson" fused folk rock energy with wry, culturally loaded lyrics that captured late-1960s American disillusionment. Written by Paul Simon for Mike Nichols' film The Graduate, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 and earned a place among the most recognizable songs in popular music history.