50 Ways to Leave Your Lover

1975 single by Paul Simon

"50 Ways to Leave Your Lover"

Single by Paul Simon

from the album Still Crazy After All These Years

B-side

"Some Folks' Lives Roll Easy"

Released

December 1975

Studio

A&R Recording, NYC

Length

3:35

Label

Columbia^[1]

Songwriter(s)

Paul Simon

Producer(s)

Paul Simon
Phil Ramone

Paul Simon singles chronology

"Gone at Last"
(1975)

"50 Ways to Leave Your Lover"
(1975)

"Still Crazy After All These Years"
(1976)

"50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the second single from his fourth studio album, Still Crazy After All These Years (1975), released on Columbia Records. Backing vocals on the single were performed by Patti Austin, Valerie Simpson, and Phoebe Snow. The song features a recognizable repeated drum riff performed by drummer Steve Gadd.

One of his most popular singles, "50 Ways" was released in December 1975 and began to see chart success in the new year. It became Simon's sole number-one hit as a solo artist on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States and was his highest charting song in France, where it peaked at number two. Elsewhere, the song was a top 20 hit in Canada and New Zealand. The single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting sales of more than one million copies.

Background

Following Simon's divorce from his first wife Peggy Harper, Simon opted to take a more humorous approach to document the event.^[2] He recorded the song at A&R Recording on 48th Street in New York City,^[3] a small studio "in the heart of Broadway's theater district, and built the song around percussion—"martial drums" in particular—in order to "avoid clutter".^[4] Simon described the song as "just a fluke hit that I slipped into by accident."^[1]

Steve Gadd recalled that the drumbeat for "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" was originally uniform across the verses and choruses, although both Simon and Phil Ramone asked Gadd to rework the verses with a different groove at A&R Recording. In-between takes, Gadd was quietly practicing drum patterns by placing particular emphasis on the hi-hat cymbal. Ramone overheard Gadd practicing and asked him to incorporate these ideas into the verses, which was ultimately retained in the final mix.^[3]

Although the song is called "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover", the song only references five unique methods.^[5]

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."^[6] 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."^[7] Record World said that the song "finds Simon aided by a crack team of session men and the unmistakable vocals of Phoebe Snow."^[8]^[9]

Entertainment Weekly though that Simon "reached a conversational, graceful peak on '50 Ways to Leave Your Lover'".^[10] Spin was more critical of the song and listed it as one of the "50 Worst Songs By Otherwise Great Artists".^[11]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Still Crazy After All These Years.^[12]

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.^[1] It also topped the adult contemporary chart for two weeks.^[13] 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.^[14]

Weekly charts

Chart (1975–1976)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)^[15]	35
Canada (RPM) Top Singles^[16]	7
Canada Pop Music Playlist (RPM)^[17]	1
France (SNEP)^[18]	2
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)^[19]	18
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)^[20]	23
US Easy Listening (Billboard)^[21]	1
US Billboard Hot 100^[22]	1
West Germany (Official German Charts)^[23]	42

Year-end charts

Chart (1976)	Rank
Canada 100 (RPM)^[24]	91
US Billboard Hot 100^[25]	8
US Billboard Easy Listening ^[26]	3

Certifications


Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)^[27]	Silver	200,000^‡
United States (RIAA)^[28]	Gold	1,000,000^{^}
^{^} Shipments figures based on certification alone. ^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits (5th ed.). New York, NY: Billboard Books. p. 428. ISBN 0-8230-7677-6.
^ Breihan, Tom (August 23, 2019). "The Number Ones: Paul Simon's "50 Ways To Leave Your Lover"". Stereogum. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
^ ^a ^b 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"". MusicRadar. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
^ Anon. (2024) [1996]. "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover". SuperSeventies.com. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
^ Leonetti, Michael (April 6, 2020). "The Other 45 Ways to Leave Your Lover That Paul Simon Didn't Want You to See". Points in Case. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
^ "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. December 13, 1975. p. 58. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
^ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. December 13, 1975. p. 16. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. December 13, 1975. p. 1. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
^ Eliot, Marc (2010). Paul Simon: A Life. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-470-43363-8.
^ Browne, David (January 18, 1991). "Rating Paul Simon's albums". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
^ "The 50 Worst Songs By Otherwise Great Artists". Spin. July 20, 2022. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
^ Still Crazy After All These Years (booklet). Paul Simon. United States: Columbia. 1975.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 222.
^ Billboard, December 25, 1976 ("Billboard's Annual Talent in Action", Pop Singles of 1976)
^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
^ "RPM100: Singles" (PDF). RPM. 24 (21). Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada. February 21, 1976. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
^ "The Programmers' Pop Music Playlist" (PDF). RPM. 24 (22). Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada. February 28, 1976. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
^ "Paul Simon – 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
^ "Paul Simon – 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 499. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
^ "Paul Simon - Chart history". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
^ "Paul Simon Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Paul Simon – {{{song}}}" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved November 12, 2015. To see peak chart position, click "TITEL VON Paul Simon"
^ "RPM100: Singles" (PDF). RPM. 26 (14–15). Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada. January 8, 1977. Retrieved November 12, 2015.
^ "Pop Singles" Billboard December 25, 1976: Talent in Action-6
^ Top 50 Adult Contemporary Hits of 1976
^ "British single certifications – Paul Simon – 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
^ "American single certifications – Paul Simon – 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 16, 2015.