Released April 5, 1968 - This was written for the movie The Graduate, starring Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson, a middle-aged woman who seduces the much younger Dustin Hoffman. Bancroft, who died in 2005, had a long and successful film career, but is best known for her part in this movie.Regarding the famous line, "Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?": DiMaggio was a star baseball player for the New York Yankees who was briefly married to Marilyn Monroe. Simon was using him to represent heroes of the past. DiMaggio was a little miffed when he heard this, since he was still very much alive even though he retired from baseball in 1951, but he realized that he had become a new icon now with the baby boomer generation due to this song's success.
Simon, who is a huge fan of The Yankees, explained in a 1990 interview with SongTalk magazine: "The Joe DiMaggio line was written right away in the beginning. And I don't know why or where it came from. It seems so strange, like it didn't belong in that song and then, I don't know, it was so interesting to us that we just kept it. So it's one of the most well-known lines that I've ever written."
Paul Simon was a much bigger fan of Mickey Mantle than Joe DiMaggio. On The Dick Cavett Show, Simon was asked by Mantle why he wasn't mentioned in the song instead of DiMaggio. Simon replied, "It's about syllables, Mick. It's about how many beats there are."
When DiMaggio died in 1999, it was a very emotional event for many baseball fans who grew up watching him play. The part of this song that mentions him summed of the feelings of many people who felt there was no one left to look up to. Simon wrote an editorial about DiMaggio in The New York Times shortly after his death.
Simon began writing this as "Mrs. Roosevelt," and had just the line, "Here's to you, Mrs. Roosevelt" when he changed it to "Mrs. Robinson" for The Graduate.
Eleanor Roosevelt was a likely influence on the song. Some of the lyrics support this theory: Read more
MRS. ROBINSON (Simon & Garfunkel)
CAPO 2nd Fret
PLAY G
KEY A
G/B x-2-0-0-0-3
C/B x-2-x-0-1-0
Am7/G 3-x-2-0-1-0
[Intro]
E
Di di-di-di di di di-di di di di-di di
A
Doo doo-doo-doo doo doo-doo doo doo doo
D G C G/B Am E D
Di-di-di-di di di di-di-di di di-di di
[Chorus]
D G Em
And here's to you Mrs. Robinson
G Em C C/B Am7 Am7/G D
Jesus loves you more than you will know, wo wo wo
D G Em
God bless you please Mrs. Robinson
G Em C C/B Am7 Am7/G Am
Heaven holds a place for those who pray, hey hey hey
E
Hey hey hey
[Verse 1]
E E7
We'd like to know a little bit about you for our files
A A7
We'd like to help you learn to help yourself
D G C G/B Am
Look around you all you see are sympathetic eyes
E D
Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home
[Chorus]
D G Em
And here's to you Mrs. Robinson
G Em C C/B Am7 Am7/G D
Jesus loves you more than you will know, wo wo wo
D G Em
God bless you please Mrs. Robinson
G Em C C/B Am7 Am7/G Am
Heaven holds a place for those who pray, hey hey hey
E
Hey hey hey
[Verse 2]
E E7
Hide it in a hiding place where no one ever goes
A A7
Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes
D G C G/B Am
It's a little secret just the Robinsons' affair
E D
Most of all you've got to hide it from the kids
[Chorus]
D G Em
Koo-koo-ka-choo, Mrs. Robinson
G Em C C/B Am7 Am7/G D
Jesus loves you more than you will know, wo wo wo
D G Em
God bless you please Mrs. Robinson
G Em C C/B Am7 Am7/G Am
Heaven holds a place for those who pray, hey hey hey
E
Hey hey hey
[Verse 3]
E E7
Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon
A A7
Going to the candidates debate
D G C G/B Am
Laugh about it shout about it when you've got to choose
E D
Any way you look at it you lose
[Chorus]
D G Em
Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio
G Em C C/B Am7 Am7/G D
A nation turns its lonely eyes to you, woo woo woo
D G Em
What's that you say Mrs. Robinson
G Em C C/B Am7 Am7/G Am E
Joltin' Joe has left and gone away, hey hey hey, hey hey hey
Source: tabs.ultimate-guitar