"Fakin' It" | ||||
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Netherlands cover
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Single by Simon & Garfunkel | ||||
from the album Bookends | ||||
B-side | "You Don't Know Where Your Interest Lies" | |||
Released | July 7, 1967 | |||
Format | 7" single | |||
Recorded | June 1967 Columbia Studio A (New York City) |
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Genre | ||||
Length | 3:14 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Writer(s) | Paul Simon | |||
Producer(s) | ||||
Simon & Garfunkel singles chronology | ||||
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"Fakin' It" is a song recorded by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel for their fourth studio album, Bookends (1968). The song was initially released only as a single on July 7, 1967 through Columbia Records. It was later compiled into the second half of Bookends. The song's lyrics stem from Simon wondering about his occupation and life had he been born a century earlier.
The song was a minor hit in the United States, peaking at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Shortly before production began in earnest on Simon & Garfunkel's fourth LP, Bookends, Paul Simon hit a dry spell in his writing. Amid concerns for Simon's idleness, Columbia Records chairman Clive Davis arranged for up-and-coming record producer John Simon to kick-start the recording.
His first session with the group was for "Fakin' It" in June 1967. The duo were signed under an older contract that specified the label pay for sessions ("As a folk duo, how much could recording costs be?" said John Simon). Simon & Garfunkel took advantage of this indulgence, hiring viola and brass players, as well as percussionists. When the viola players arrived, the duo were so taken with the sound of the musicians tuning their instruments before recording that they spent nearly all night (at Columbia's expense) trying to find the random sound.
In "Fakin' It", melodies are occasionally deleted to suit lyrics, but the song generally follows a similar chord structure and melodic outline over a "funky rock beat" that sonically references the Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows". The song opens with an "unearthly rhythmic sound" (that some critics felt owed a debt to the Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever") that was an example of Simon & Garfunkel's desire to push the limits of studio recording. The song finds the protagonist mulling over his insecurities and shortcomings. It has been suggested that "Fakin' It" may be an allegory for Simon's relationship with Art Garfunkel.