in his song "Bridge Over Troubled Water", Paul Simon writes "Sail on Silver Girl, sail on by". to what or to whom was he referring?

"The rumor at the time was that the “silver girl” was a reference to needles, meaning drugs - yes, this is pretty far-fetched, even for Sixties lyrical interpretation)."

But I don't know. I wasn't there.

No, that's not what I've heard (in two separate interviews).

"The last verse, it was about Peggy [Simon's girlfriend, later to become his wife], whom I was living with at the time: 'Sail on, silver girl ... / Your time has come to shine' was half a joke, because she was upset one day when she had found two or three gray hairs on her head."

From a Playboy interview. What a cute story. Thanks for asking the question that made me look !

Ten out of ten for dogspit!