50 Ways to Leave Your Lover

Written after his divorce from Peggy Harper, the song takes a comic view of leaving someone. Simon recorded it at A&R Recording on 48th Street in New York and built it on percussion, martial drums especially, to avoid clutter. He called it a fluke hit he slipped into by accident, and told The Howard Stern Show in 2023 that he wrote the chorus while teaching his son Harper to rhyme. Steve Gadd said the drum part was at first the same in verse and chorus, until Simon and Phil Ramone asked him to rework the verses. Ramone overheard him practising hi-hat patterns between takes and had him use them in the verses. Patti Austin, Valerie Simpson and Phoebe Snow sing the backing vocals.

Released in December 1975, it entered the Hot 100 at number 74 on 20 December and reached number one on 7 February 1976, staying there three weeks. It also topped the adult contemporary chart for two weeks, reached number 23 in Britain and number two in France, and was certified gold in March 1976. Billboard ranked it the eighth song of 1976. Cash Box called it a clever, commercial song about the elasticity of love. Though the title promises fifty, the lyrics name only five methods.