This article, "Rock and Roll Soundtracks in the Production of Nostalgia", written by David Shumway for Cinema Journal, discusses a very important aspect of this movie: the soundtrack. It describes that in life, our auditory sense plays a huge role in evoking specific memories and emotions. Simon and Garfunkle's 1967 hit, Mrs. Robinson, does that for audiences that have ever seen The Graduate. Consisting only of songs by Simon and Garfunkle, a favorite of Mike Nichols, the soundtrack is one of the most memorable aspects of the masterpiece. Firstly, since the movie contains only the voice of Paul Simon, the songs are more substantial as the only non-diegetic aspect. In addition, the film, for the most part, has rather simple dialogues and uninteresting visuals, and often, audiences are taken inside the minds of the characters. The score in the background sets an appropriate tone for these scenes.

The fact that the music is that of Simon and Garfunkle, a popular duo at the time, reflects the youthfulness that Nichols is trying to evoke in Ben's character. The rock and roll plays into the counterculture that was so imminent at the time the film was released.

Although most of the Simon and Garfunkle songs had been released a few years before the movie, "Mrs. Robinson" was written specifically for the film. Nichols approached Paul Simon and begged him to write music for the score, but Simon said he was too busy. However, he quickly played him "Mrs. Robinson", which was originally "Mrs. Roosevelt" and was a song discussing times past. Nichols insisted that the name be changed so that it could be included in the score of his movie. Since the song was new and fit perfectly into the rock and roll genre that was quickly rising in 1967, audiences at the time were very likely to remember the new catchy tune and recall the wonderful and innovative film, The Graduate.