Who is the silver girl in 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'?

Who is the silver girl in Bridge Over Troubled Water? The question anchors this examination of one of Simon and Garfunkel’s defining songs and its personal origins. Paul Simon has explained that the line Sail on, silver girl was aimed at his then-girlfriend Peggy, who would later become his wife, and who was beginning to show premature grey hair. The lyric was intended as a sweet homage rather than a drug reference, and Simon noted he didn’t want the final verse included because it didn’t fit the song, even as the rest endured. Peggy and Simon married later but divorced five years later, a biographical detail that colors the beloved ballad’s reception.