Occasionally, I think to myself that some trivia I know is well known, and then realize it isn’t. This is one of those cases. The story behind the song “Mrs. Robinson” and THE GRADUATE is not known by all, and it’s kind of interesting. It also changes the entire meaning of the song, so…
Here’s the thing. The song is actually about Eleanor Roosevelt. It was originally titled, “Mrs. Roosevelt”. Mike Nichols was in post-production of THE GRADUATE and, I believe, already using “Sounds of Silence” in the movie, and told Simon and Garfunkel he needed a song about one of the main characters, Mrs. Robinson, and asked if they had anything. The duo replied, “No, but…we have a song about Eleanor Roosevelt we could adapt…”
So, there you go. You can Google me if you think I’m wrong and so on. Now (if you enjoy the song) if you didn’t know this, go and listen to the song again, and think, “Mrs. Roosevelt” every time you hear it and yeah, it makes sense. It’s about Eleanor Roosevelt. “Going to the candidates’ debate…” and so on.
Additionally, and this is quite funny, there is a lyric in the song — “Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?” whom at the time was still quite alive and quite visible, I believe, as a sportscaster. If I’m not mistaken DiMaggio even went on air at one point, because the song got so popular, and said, “I’m right HERE! I’m NOT DEAD!” (the lyric is more of, you know, cultural sort of thing — I don’t think he was playing at the time, and so on — nostalgic a bit, but with artistic license).