50 Ways to Leave Your Lover

Background

Following his divorce from his first wife Peggy Harper, Simon opted to take a more humorous approach to document the event. He recorded the song at A&R Recording on 48th Street in New York City, Simon described the song as "just a fluke hit that I slipped into by accident".

In 2023, Simon appeared on The Howard Stern Show and stated that he wrote the chorus lyrics while teaching his son Harper how to rhyme.

Steve Gadd recalled that the drumbeat for "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" was originally uniform across the verses and choruses, although at A&R Recording, both Simon and Phil Ramone asked Gadd to rework the verses with a different groove. In between takes, Gadd was quietly practicing drum patterns by placing particular emphasis on the hi-hat cymbal. Ramone overheard him practicing and asked him to incorporate these ideas into the verses, which was ultimately retained in the final mix.

Although the song is called "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover", the song only references five unique methods.

Critical reception

Contemporary reviews of "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" were positive, with Billboard called it an "excellent song" that has "very clever lyrics" and an "easy to listen to melody". Cash Box said that it is "a clever, commercial song about the elasticity of love, how easy it is to pull away and equally easy to snap back with it." Record World said that the song "finds Simon aided by a crack team of session men and the unmistakable vocals of Phoebe Snow".

Entertainment Weekly thought that Simon "reached a conversational, graceful peak on '50 Ways to Leave Your Lover'". Spin was more critical of the song and listed it as one of the "50 Worst Songs By Otherwise Great Artists".

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Still Crazy After All These Years.

• Paul Simon – lead vocals, acoustic guitar
• John Tropea – electric guitar
• Hugh McCracken – electric guitar
• Tony Levin – bass guitar
• Kenny Ascher – Hammond organ
• Steve Gadd – drums
• Ralph MacDonald – tambourine, shaker
• Patti Austin – background vocals
• Valerie Simpson – background vocals
• Phoebe Snow – background vocals

Charts and certifications

"50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" was Paul Simon's biggest solo hit and broke in the US in late 1975. It entered the US Billboard Hot 100 on December 20, 1975 at number 74 and peaked at number one on February 7, 1976. The song remained at the summit for three weeks and became his only number one on that chart as a solo act. It also topped the adult contemporary chart for two weeks. Overseas, on the UK Singles Chart, the song reached number 23 in January 1976. It was certified gold on March 11, 1976, and remained a best seller for nearly five months. Billboard ranked it as the No. 8 song of 1976.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

References

1. Bronson, Fred. (2003). "The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits". Billboard Books.
2. Paul Simon – Topic. (2014-11-05). "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover".
3. Breihan, Tom. (August 23, 2019). "The Number Ones: Paul Simon's "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover"".
4. Anon.. (2024). "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover".
5. The Howard Stern Show. (2023-09-22). "Paul Simon on Writing “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover”".
6. Williams, Stuart. (March 15, 2023). "Steve Gadd on His Drum Intro to Paul Simon's 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover: "It was a Lucky Day for Me"".
7. Leonetti, Michael. (April 6, 2020). "The Other 45 Ways to Leave Your Lover That Paul Simon Didn't Want You to See".
8. (December 13, 1975). "Top Single Picks". Billboard.
9. (December 13, 1975). "CashBox Singles Reviews". Cash Box.
10. (December 13, 1975). "Hits of the Week".
11. Eliot, Marc. (2010). "Paul Simon: A Life". John Wiley and Sons.
12. Browne, David. (January 18, 1991). "Rating Paul Simon's albums".
13. (July 20, 2022). "The 50 Worst Songs By Otherwise Great Artists".
14. (1975). "[[Still Crazy After All These Years]]". [[Columbia Records.
15. Whitburn, Joel. (2002). "Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001". Record Research.
16. [https://books.google.com/books?id=xCQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT43 ''Billboard'', December 25, 1976 ("Billboard's Annual Talent in Action", Pop Singles of 1976)]
17. Kent, David. (1993). "[[Kent Music Report". Australian Chart Book.
18. Roberts, David. (2006). "[[British Hit Singles & Albums]]". Guinness World Records Limited.
19. "Paul Simon - Chart history". Prometheus Global Media.
20. "Pop Singles" ''Billboard'' December 25, 1976: Talent in Action-6
21. [http://www.45cat.com/45_list_view_record.php?li=2171 Top 50 Adult Contemporary Hits of 1976]