One of the very first songs written about MILF (Mother I’d Like to F**k), Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson”, topped the Billboard Hot 100, this month in 1968.
Written for the 1967 movie The Graduate (Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft), critics praised its infectious melody and cryptic lyrics, with Rolling Stone and The New York Times hailing its as a generational anthem. Pitchfork and Acclaimed Music ranked it among the greatest songs of the 1960s, cementing its legacy as a pop-folk masterpiece.
One of the very first songs written about MILF (Mother I’d Like to F**k), Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson”, topped the 𝘉𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘏𝘰𝘵 100, this month in 1968.
In 1969, “Mrs. Robinson” became the first rock song to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. Though not explicitly about the “MILF” trope—a term coined later—the character of Mrs. Robinson became an enduring archetype of the seductive older woman in popular culture. The song’s association with The Graduate solidified this image, influencing later media portrayals and even contributing to the term’s eventual rise in the late 20th century.
The song has been covered by a number of artists, including Frank Sinatra, Bon Jovi, and—the video here—The Lemonheads’ alt-rock cover, which introduced the song to a new generation successfully. Their faster, grunge-infused version, led by Evan Dando, became a radio hit, showcasing the track’s adaptability across genres.
Dando later told American Songwriter that he “hated” the song as well as its author and that its recording was only to promote a 25th anniversary home video release of The Graduate. He noted that Simon greatly disliked the cover, but Garfunkel was more favourable toward it.
💧 You might also like WHISKEY IN THE JAR.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
Featured image via Britannica.
