"Richard Cory" is a song written by

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

in early 1965, and recorded by

Simon and Garfunkel Simon & Garfunkel were an American folk rock duo comprising the singer-songwriter Paul Simon and the singer Art Garfunkel. They were one of the best-selling music acts of the 1960s. Their most famous recordings include three US number-one sing ...

for their second studio album, ''

Sounds of Silence ''Sounds of Silence'' is the second studio album by the American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, released on January 17, 1966. The album's title is a slight modification of the title of the duo's first major hit, " The Sound of Silence", which ...

''. The song was based on

Edwin Arlington Robinson Edwin Arlington Robinson (December 22, 1869 – April 6, 1935) was an American poet and playwright. Robinson won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry on three occasions and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times. Early life Robins ...

's 1897 poem of the same title. The inspiration for this song comes from the poem that was required reading in English class while Paul Simon and Arthur Garfunkel were students at Forest Hills High School in New York City.

Plot

The song tells the tale of Richard Cory from the perspective of a man who works in his factory. The worker is envious of Cory. The advantages and recreations available to Richard Cory are enumerated in the song and the worker openly envies not only these specific advantages but Cory's presumed happiness. The last verse of the song ends similarly to the Robinson poem: ''Richard Cory went home last night and put a bullet through his head.'' Whereas the original poem concludes with this closing revelation and its implications, the repetition of the chorus in Simon's version (still pressing an insistent envy following Cory's suicide) discloses a second, darker revelation about what the worker wants.

Personnel

: joint lead vocal, guitar *

Art Garfunkel Arthur Ira Garfunkel (born November 5, 1941) is an American singer, actor and poet who is best known for his partnership with Paul Simon in the folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel. Born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, Garfunkel became acquainte ...

: joint lead vocal *

Joe South Joe South (born Joseph Alfred Souter; February 28, 1940 – September 5, 2012) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Best known for his songwriting, South won the Grammy Award for Grammy Award for Song of the Year, ...

: guitar *

Hal Blaine Hal Blaine (born Harold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician, thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 singles. ...

: drums

Covers and popular culture references

The song was covered by

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces both lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the bene ...

during their 1975–1976 Wings Over The World tour (available on the 1976 album ''

Wings Over America ''Wings over America'' is a triple live album by the British–American rock band Wings, released in December 1976. The album was recorded during the American leg of the band's 1975–76 Wings Over the World tour. It peaked at number 8 on the ...

'').

Denny Laine Brian Frederick Hines (29 October 1944 – 5 December 2023), known professionally as Denny Laine, was an English musician who co-founded two major rock bands: the Moody Blues and Wings. Laine played guitar in the Moody Blues from 1964 to 1966 ...

sang lead. In the version released on ''Wings Over America'', during the first chorus line Laine (jokingly) substitutes

John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American Country music, country and Folk music, folk singer, songwriter, and actor. He was one of the most popular acoustic m ...

's name for Richard Cory's, thus inciting a roar of laughter and applause from the audience. Bill King, reviewing the album in the ''Atlanta Constitution'' at the time of its release, interpreted this as "a little stage humour". The song has also been covered by

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

during his tenure with

Them Them or THEM, a third-person singular or plural accusative personal pronoun, may refer to: Books * ''Them'' (novel), 3rd volume (1969) in American Joyce Carol Oates' ''Wonderland Quartet'' * '' Them: Adventures with Extremists'', 2003 non-fict ...

. The Watchmen,

The Heptones The Heptones are a Jamaican rocksteady and reggae vocal trio most active in the 1960s and early 1970s. They were one of the more significant trios of that era, and played a major role in the gradual transition between ska and rocksteady in ...

Angst Angst is a feeling of anxiety, apprehension, or insecurity. ''Anguish'' is its Romance languages, Latinate cognate, equivalent, and the words ''anxious'' and ''anxiety'' are of similar origin. Etymology The word ''angst'' was introduced in ...

The Back Porch Majority The Back Porch Majority was an American folk music group founded by Randy Sparks in 1963. It was intended to be a rehearsal space for The New Christy Minstrels, another group Sparks had established in 1961, but it ended up becoming successful on ...

Yami Bolo Rolando Ephraim McLean (born 1 October 1970), better known as Yami Bolo, is a Jamaican reggae singer. Biography Yami Bolo grew up in postal zone 13 of Kingston. His first professional job and exposure was with Sugar Minott's Youth Promotion C ...

, Cuby & the Blizzards,

Chicago Loop The Loop is Chicago's central business district and one of the city's 77 municipally recognized Community areas in Chicago, community areas. Located at the center of downtown Chicago on the shores of Lake Michigan, it is the second-largest busi ...

and

Martini Ranch Martini Ranch was an American new wave band conceived in 1982 by Andrew Todd Rosenthal. The band originally featured Rosenthal, Cliff Roman, and Steven William "Billy Bones" Fortuna. Sometime in the mid-1980s, the band shifted their sound more ...

also covered the song. Jamaican singer

Ken Boothe Kenneth George Boothe OD (born 22 March 1948) is a Jamaican vocalist known for his distinctive vibrato and timbre. Boothe achieved an international reputation as one of Jamaica's finest vocalists through a series of crossover hits that appeal ...

performed a version of the Paul Simon song in an early reggae style for his 1968 album '' More of Ken Boothe''. It was recorded in the Studio One and produced by C. S. Dodd. A live cover by

Mark Seymour Mark Jeremy Seymour (born 26 July 1956) is an Australian singer-songwriter and musician. He was the frontman and songwriter of rock band Hunters & Collectors from 1981 until 1998. Seymour has carved a solo career, releasing his debut solo alb ...

appears on ''Live At the Continental'', which was packaged with '' King Without a Clue'' (1997). The song inspired comic book author

Steve Gerber Stephen Ross Gerber (; September 20, 1947 – February 10, 2008) was an American comic book writer and creator of the satiric Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck. Other works include '' Man-Thing'', ''Omega the Unknown,'' ''Marvel Spotlight ...

's naming of the fictional character

Richard Rory Richard Rory is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He initially was a sort of author surrogate or alter ego for writer Steve Gerber, though Gerber is also shown to exist in the Marvel Universe. He ...

.letters column, ''Man-Thing'' #6

References

External links

* Review of ''Richard Cory''on allmusic.com {{Authority control 1966 songs Simon & Garfunkel songs Songs about suicide Songs written by Paul Simon Them (band) songs Van Morrison songs Paul McCartney and Wings songs Song recordings produced by Bob Johnston Songs about fictional male characters Songs based on poems