Simon & Garfunkel – April Come She Will

April Come She Will

Lyrics:

[Verse 1]
April, come she will
When streams are ripe and swelled with rain
May, she will stay
Resting in my arms again

[Verse 2]
June, she’ll change her tune
In restless walks, she’ll prowl the night
July, she will fly
And give no warning to her flight

[Verse 3]
August, die she must
The autumn winds blow chilly and cold
September, I’ll remember
A love once new has now grown old

April Come She Will

“April Come She Will” is a song by American music duo Simon & Garfunkel from their second studio album, Sounds of Silence (1966). It originally appeared on the solo album The Paul Simon Songbook. It is the B-side to the hit single “Scarborough Fair/Canticle“.^[1]

Background and composition

The song was written in 1964 while Paul Simon was in England. Its lyrics use the changing nature of the seasons as a metaphor for a girl’s changing moods. The inspiration for the song was a girl that Simon met and the nursery rhyme she used to recite.^[2] It is the shortest song on the album.^[3] According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the song is composed in the key of G Major with Paul Simon’s vocal range spanning from D₃ to D₄.^[4] On the duo’s recording, Art Garfunkel sings the lead vocals.

Release and reception

In the February 1968 release of the soundtrack for the movie The Graduate, the song appeared (in a different version) as the seventh track.^[5] It is featured in a pool scene in the movie, and was used as a rhythmic guide for the editing of the film.^[6]

Reviews for the song were generally positive. Matthew Greenwald of Allmusic wrote: “The sense of yearning in this song would later be beautifully echoed in one of the Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme masterpieces, “For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her.” Like that song, it is very brief, yet the shortness of the song adds to the effectiveness and economy of both the lyric and melody.”^[2] George Starostin called the song a “gorgeous ballad” and said it was “pretty much the same song as ‘Leaves That Are Green’ except it’s completely different.”^[7]