CECILIA (SONG)

'"Cecilia"' is a song by Simon and Garfunkel, from their 1970 album ''Bridge Over Troubled Water''. When released as a single, it reached #4 in the US charts. The "Cecilia" of the title is a clearly capricious lover, causing both anguish and jubilation to the singer. It begins "''Cecilia, you're breaking my heart/ You're shaking my confidence daily...''" then ends with "''Jubilation!/ She loves me again...''" One possible interpretation of the song is that it refers to Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music, who is granting Paul Simon the ability to write songs, and then taking that gift away again. In other words it is about writer's block, which fits in with the fact that it was written at the last moment to fill an album as writer's block is particularly common when a songwriter is under pressure.
That lofty interpretation does not quite square with the verse suggesting the singer has been giving oral sex to the title character.
The single did not chart in the UK, despite being released as the follow-up to Simon and Garfunkel's number one hit "Bridge Over Troubled Water".
The first bar of this song is sampled repeatedly in the song "Midlife Crisis" by Faith No More, from their fourth studio album ''Angel Dust''. The song was released as the first single from said album and reached number 10 in the UK charts in 1992.
A cover version by Suggs (the lead singer of UK pop band Madness) that appeared on his 1995 debut solo album ''The Lone Ranger'', became his most successful single and sold more than 500,000 copies. ^[1]
In 1998, Swedish pop band Ace of Base released a motown track titled "Cecilia" from their album Flowers, which continues the story of the Simon and Garfunkel character. Jenny Berggren, lead vocalist for the band, sings, "This is a song about a well known girl", then tells of Cecilia's continuous bouncing back and forth between lovers.
French-speaking American musician Joe Dassin sang a French version of this song in 1970, while in February 1971 a version was released in England by the New Wave Band – a group that comprised three members of the band that would soon become 10cc, and Herman's Hermits guitarist Derek Leckenby. It did not chart.
In 2004 Latvian rock outfit The Hobos also did a cover of "Cecilia" on their studio album ''Radio Jah Jah''.
The effects of the singer show a sign of Limerence.
A short parody of this song is featured at the end of the ''Clay Porn'' segment of ''Damn! Show'' called ''Necrophilia''; "Necrophilia; the body's still warm..."

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★ Lyrics & interpretations