"Richard Cory" is a song written by Paul Simon

Paul Simon

Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...

 in early 1965, and recorded by Simon and Garfunkel for their second studio album, Sounds of Silence

Sounds of Silence (album)

Sounds of Silence is the second album by Simon and Garfunkel, released on January 17, 1966. The album's title is a slight modification of the title of the duo's first major hit, "The Sound of Silence", which originally was released as "The Sounds of Silence"...

. The song was based on Edwin Arlington Robinson

Edwin Arlington Robinson

Edwin Arlington Robinson was an American poet who won three Pulitzer Prizes for his work.- Biography :Robinson was born in Head Tide, Lincoln County, Maine, but his family moved to Gardiner, Maine, in 1870...

's 1897 poem of the same title

Richard Cory (poem)

"Richard Cory" is a narrative poem written by Edwin Arlington Robinson. It was first published in 1897.The poem describes a person who is wealthy, well educated, mannerly, and admired by the people in his town. Despite all this, he takes his own life...

.

Plot

The song tells the tale of a Richard Cory from the perspective of one of the men who works in his factory. The factory worker is envious of the advantages and enjoyments available to Cory, believing him (Cory) to be a satisfied man. The last verse of the song ends similarly to the Robinson poem: Richard Cory went home last night and put a bullet through his head. The chorus repeats again after this verse.

Personnel

• Paul Simon
  Paul Simon
  Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
  
  : joint lead vocal, guitar
• Art Garfunkel
  Art Garfunkel
  Arthur Ira "Art" Garfunkel is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and actor, best known as being a member of the folk duo Simon & Garfunkel...
  
  : joint lead vocal
• Glen Campbell
  Glen Campbell
  Glen Travis Campbell is an American country music singer, guitarist, television host and occasional actor. He is best known for a series of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for hosting a variety show called The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour on CBS television.During his 50 years in show...
  
  : guitar
• Hal Blaine
  Hal Blaine
  Hal Blaine is an American drummer and session musician. He is most known for his work with the Wrecking Crew in California. Blaine played on numerous hits by popular groups, including Elvis Presley, John Denver, the Ronettes, Simon & Garfunkel, the Carpenters, the Beach Boys, Nancy Sinatra, and...
  
  : drums

Covers

The song was covered by Wings

Wings (band)

Wings were a British-American rock group formed in 1971 by Paul McCartney, Denny Laine and Linda McCartney that remained active until 1981....

 during their 1975-1976 Wings Over The World tour

Wings Over the World tour

In 1975 and 1976, Wings embarked on the ambitious Wings Over the World tour.-History:In contrast to Wings' two low-profile, smaller-scale outings of 1972, this was a major, highly publicised concert tour that took place mostly in arenas...

 (available on the 1976 album Wings Over America

Wings over America

Wings over America is the sixth album by Wings and their only live album. In its initial release, it was a triple album and included a poster of the band.-Recording history:...

). Denny Laine

Denny Laine

Denny Laine is an English songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, guitarist, and lead singer of The Moody Blues' 1965 debut album "The Magnificent Moodies"; and, later, best known for his role as co-founder of Wings...

 sang lead.

The song has also been covered by Van Morrison

Van Morrison

Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...

 (and with his band, Them

Them (band)

Them were a Northern Irish band formed in Belfast in April 1964, most prominently known for the garage rock standard "Gloria" and launching singer Van Morrison's musical career...

), Angst

Angst (U.S. band)

Angst was an American punk rock band from San Francisco, California. In mid-1978, brothers Joseph Pope and Jon E. Risk formed their first punk rock group, the Instants, in Boulder, Colorado. The band gigged in the Denver/Boulder area before moving to England in late 1979 where they lasted only a...

, The Back Porch Majority

The Back Porch Majority

The Back Porch Majority was an American folk music group founded by Randy Sparks in 1963. It was intended to be a rehearsal space for The New Christy Minstrels, another group Sparks had established in 1961, but it ended up becoming successful on its own...

, Yami Bolo

Yami Bolo

Yami Bolo is a Jamaican reggae singer and performer.-Biography:Rolando Ephraim McLean, better known as Yami Bolo, is a Jamaican reggae singer, musician, artist, and performer. He was born on October 1, 1970 and grew up in Kingston 13...

, Cuby & the Blizzards

Cuby & the Blizzards

Cuby + Blizzards – also known as Cuby & the Blizzards – are a Dutch blues group that formed in 1964 around Harry Muskee and Eelco Gelling...

 and Martini Ranch

Martini Ranch

Martini Ranch is a new wave band conceived in 1982 by Andrew Todd Rosenthal. The band was composed of Andrew and actor Bill Paxton , and featured a similar sound to late 1980s Devo. The Martini Ranch track "How Can the Labouring Man Find Time for Self-Culture?" featured three members of Devo...

.

A live cover by Mark Seymour

Mark Seymour

Mark Seymour is an Australian musician and vocalist best known for his work as the frontman and songwriter of rock band Hunters & Collectors...

 appears on Live At the Continental, which was packaged with King Without a Clue

King Without a Clue

-Track listing:# "Last Ditch Cabaret" – 4:52# "You Don't Have to Cry Anymore" – 3:56# "The Ghost of Vainglory" – 4:48# "King Without a Clue" – 3:46# "Look What She's Done to You" – 4:25# "Home Again" – 4:04# "Deathwish" – 4:09# "Cry Wolf" – 3:37...

(1997).

The song inspired Steve Gerber

Steve Gerber

Stephen Ross "Steve" Gerber was an American comic book writer best known as co-creator of the satiric Marvel Comics character Howard the Duck....

's naming of Richard Rory

Richard Rory

Richard Rory is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe. He initially was a sort of author surrogate or alter ego for writer Steve Gerber, though Gerber is also shown to exist in the Marvel Universe. He was introduced in Man-Thing Volume 1, #2, a bit of a loner who rather easily befriended the...

.