Going to Graceland

Last Wednesday, we got the incredible opportunity to see Paul Simon in concert. It was one of the best shows we’ve been to and everyone in the audience agreed. For a man who is 85 and has been performing since 1962, he absolutely rocked it. He acknowledged health struggles that prevented him from performing for several years, but came back stronger than ever. His voice is as good as it’s ever been, his “backup singer” is his wife, the amazing Edie Brickell, and the band was quite memorably talented. He was on stage for two-and-a-half hours! Everyone in the audience cried at least once. It was awesome.

Understandably, Paul Simon requested no phones, which I actually wish were more common at live shows. It added to the experience. But that means I have no photos or videos to share with you. Instead, I’ll do a track-by-track review of my favorite Paul Simon album, Graceland (1986).

I listened to Graceland a lot when I was growing up. After my mom played it the first time, the CD usually lived in my room. I felt like it was a secret weapon of culture, one that I needed to hold close. A Jewish singer traveling across the world and creating beautiful music in a culture not his own. It’s such a special album to me, and this was part of what made getting to see Paul Simon perform so special. Of course, I love much more of his music than just Graceland.

Graceland was a cultural phenomenon, both criticized for its use of South African music at the height of cultural boycotts of South Africa due to the policies of apartheid, and celebrated for its introducing South African music to much of the western world. It won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1987 and cemented its place as one of the greatest singer-songwriter albums of all time. On tour, he brought with him Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, Ray Phiri, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo, for a total of 24 Black South Africans. I could write an entire article just on the political theater behind this album, but I’ll focus instead on what is really important: the music. 

The Boy In the Bubble

What an auspicious start to an album. The zydeco accordion leads into something you immediately know will be great. The lyrics are about violence but the chorus is decidedly hopeful: “These are the days of miracle and wonder This is the long-distance call / The way the camera follows us in slo-mo / The way we look to us all / The way we look to a distant constellation / That’s dying in a corner of the sky / These are the days of miracle and wonder / And don’t cry, baby, don’t cry, don’t cry.” Powerful stuff. Lesotho musical group Tau Ea Matsekha joins Simon for this storytelling extravaganza. The song ends with 30 seconds of instrumental outro, by which time you can lick your fingers.

Graceland

Featuring South African guitarist Ray Phiri, this was the biggest hit from the album and also won Record of the Year at the Grammys and was also nominated for Song of the Year alongside “Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel, “Higher Love” by Steve Winwood, and “Addicted to Love” by Robert Palmer, all of which lost to Dionne Warwick, Elton John, and Stevie Wonder singing “That’s What Friends Are For.” The Everly Brothers feature their vocals and guitars on the song.

The song is about a road trip taken to the home of Elvis Presley in Memphis with his son after the failure of his marriage, later confirmed to be about his ill-fated marriage to Carrie Fisher. Message-wise, it’s one of my favorite songs ever. It’s about bouncing back from tragedy by going back to your roots, and for a rock musician, that means going to Graceland. But it’s widely applicable, and holds up 40 years later as an absolute classic.

I Know What I Know

Featuring General MD Shirinda and the Gaza Sisters, this absolute tour-de-force of a song features some of the best background vocals ever. The song itself is great, but the background vocals are and will always be what makes this song memorable for me. 

Gumboots

Featuring the Boyoyo Boys, this song was the one that Paul Simon first heard that inspired him to travel to South Africa to make this album. It adds a super fun saxophone solo. It’s not my favorite song on the album, but it’s still fun and upbeat.

Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes

The first appearance of legendary South African choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo on Graceland, again the music and the background vocals in Zulu make for a very memorable song. The first minute is purely a cappella, and then it transitions into this mid-beat gorgeous song. It’s a song about the viciousness of poverty, but it’s made to sound light and airy, which makes for a solid cover for what is otherwise a pretty dark song. 

You Can Call Me Al

Okay, I’m not going to lie, I kind of hate this song. Despite an infamous riff done by Adrian Belew of King Crimson, my mother used this song as an excuse to call me “Al,” a nickname I’ve always hated. The song is essentially a mid-80s synthpop song and is a pretty mainstream song, and a pretty sharp departure from the rest of the album, despite featuring many of the same South African musicians. 

The music video for this song, however, is amazing. It’s Chevy Chase lip syncing the entire song in a bare pink room while Paul Simon carries all sorts of instruments in and out while looking increasingly frustrated by Chase’s antics. The lyrical content is inane and kind of annoying, but it nevertheless became one of Paul Simon’s most successful singles as a solo musician.

Under African Skies

Featuring singer Linda Ronstadt on harmonic vocals (although Edie Brickell filled in last week), the song is a delicate one. It’s lovely as a duet. Apart from the title track, this is the only song from Graceland that Simon played on this current tour.

Homeless

Again featuring Ladysmith Black Mambazo, in a lead role, compared to the background role in “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes,” this relatively simple song is sung with great emotion and countless vocal layers. It eventually switches from English to Zulu and becomes slightly more upbeat, and adds Paul Simon’s voice essentially as background. 

Crazy Love, Vol. II

Featuring South African rock group Stimela, which also included album guitarist Ray Phiri, this song is slightly less strong than others on the album. It’s not a bad song by any measure, but it is less memorable than most other tracks. I do sometimes skip the last three songs on Graceland. 

That Was Your Mother

Featuring American zydeco band Good Rockin’ Dopsie and the Twisters (say that five times fast), this song is certainly upbeat and fun. I do think it’s both lyrically and thematically a bit disconnected from the rest of Graceland, even though it is a very good song. 

All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints

Los Lobos later accused Paul Simon of stealing this song from them. It’s certainly easy to hear Los Lobos in this song. Regardless, I don’t really like this one very much. It’s a little bit too pop but also doesn’t have a hook that I find memorable or fun. 

Even though it’s been 40 years since its release, Graceland still holds up as one of the all-time greats. Getting to listen to it anytime I want is a great pleasure of life.