Simon & Garfunkel: Art Garfunkel Rips Paul Simon With Choice Words, ‘Monster’ ‘Jerk’ And ‘Idiot’

The feud between Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon is among the most longevous and well-explored in the modern era of music, with Garfunkel often cast as the unappreciative, less talented half of the Simon & Garfunkel duo, who rode to stardom on Paul Simon’s coattails.

At the same time, there is no denying Garfunkel’s distinctive contribution to the Simon & Garfunkel sound and iconic songs of the 1960s, and when given the opportunity, Garfunkel seems to want to make sure that no one forgets that.

The Daily Mail reports that the relationship between Paul Simon and Art Grafunkel has been “stormy for decades,” the two first singing together as 13-year-olds before taking their harmonies to unfathomable heights and parting ways as a singing duo in 1970.

In a new interview with the Telegraph, Garfunkel reflects on his relationship with Paul Simon with some choice words including “idiot” and “monster,” their “divorce,” and even George Harrison comparing his Paul (McCartney), with Garfunkel’s Paul (Simon).

And speaking of George Harrison, going from Folk Rock hero to math teacher couldn’t help but bring some Beatles questions Garfunkel’s way.

“I’d just got married and moved to Connecticut, and there was a nearby preparatory school and so I taught math there. It was a weird stage of my life, to leave Simon & Garfunkel at the height of our success and become a math teacher. I would talk them through a math problem and ask if anyone had any questions and they would say: ‘What were the Beatles like?’ “

According to Garfunkel, it was George Harrison who confided in him, bringing up the comparison between their two respective Pauls, McCartney and Simon.

“George came up to me at a party once and said, ‘My Paul is to me what your Paul is to you.’ He meant that psychologically they had the same effect on us. The Pauls sidelined us. I think George felt suppressed by Paul and I think that’s what he saw with me and my Paul. Here’s the truth: McCartney was a helluva music man who gave the band its energy, but he also ran away with a lot of the glory.”

A characteristic Garfunkel believes Paul Simon shared the glory, perhaps something Simon no longer wanted to share with Garfunkel, particularly after “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” composed and written by Simon but with Garfunkel singing lead, became Simon & Garfunkel’s biggest number one hit, not to mention the album of the same name becoming the best selling album of all time.

Why else would Simon part with Garfunkel at the height of their profound success?

“It was very strange. Nothing I would have done. I want to open up about this. I don’t want to say any anti-Paul Simon things, but it seems very perverse to not enjoy the glory and walk away from it instead. Crazy. What I would have done is take a rest from Paul, because he was getting on my nerves… But I’ve been in that same place for decades. This is where I was in 1971. How could you walk away from this lucky place on top of the world, Paul? What’s going on with you, you idiot? How could you let that go, jerk?”

When asked if Paul Simon may have a “Napoleon complex,” or an issue regarding Garfunkel’s being a tad taller than the relatively short Paul Simon, Garfunkel tells the interviewer he might be “on to something. I would say so, yes.”

Garfunkel goes on to add that he felt sorry for Paul in their school days because of his height, and that he gave his love and friendship to Simon as “compensation.”

“And that compensation gesture has created a monster,” said Garfunkel. “End of interview.”

[Image by Frazer Harrison / Getty Images]