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And now it's time for this real milestone, strangely absent from DeBaser: "Graceland" by Paul Simon represents a true musical-cultural event destined to "weigh" in the music of the years to come (yes, including these). Recorded between New York and South Africa, this album sold 14 million copies and won the 1986 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Third in the American charts, the album topped the UK and South African charts for many weeks and had among its many merits a great and immense one: bringing the sound of South Africa and a certain taste for ethnic contamination to the whole world (those were the "good" years and the signals were already given, including the amazing album "Cruze de Ma" by De André which in its small way helped the cause).
As Paul Simon recounts: "Graceland was the result of an extraordinary ability to understand one another among people who had just met". With this masterpiece, the musical world of Paul Simon, until now "relegated" to sweet pop songs and almost classical ballads, yet unforgettable, is filled with sounds, lights, and colors of a multi-ethnic celebration. These are the colors of South Africa, to which Paul refers in an original, sincere, open way. In direct contrast with the prevailing UN boycott directives of those years, Paul hired local musicians who significantly contributed to bringing the issues of apartheid, which had reached the peak of socio-political tension, to the forefront of a purely musical stage. As you can hear, the result is astonishing for Simon's creative flair and the remarkable cohesion of the whole: a true festive kaleidoscope of sounds, rhythms, and colors with the bewildered Paul almost acting "as a guest" on an album that exudes "little Americanness".
The songs on the album are almost all memorable, sometimes oblique and uncoordinated, with Paul's suave voice swallowed by tribal timbres, pulsating instruments, and pounding rhythms that enhance its peculiarity in a contrast that enchants quite a bit. In the strange amalgam of American and African artists (the sound quality and arrangements are perfectly curated), alongside the colorful and unknown Ladysmith Black Mambazo (later signed by Simon), who are the choreographic and vocal architects of the unforgettable "Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes" and "Homeless", we find Los Lobos in "All Around The World...", Steve Gadd, Adrian Belew, but also the Everly Brothers, Youssou N'Dour and the splendid delicate cameo of Linda Ronstadt in the counterpoint of "Under African Skies". Perhaps it might be worth lingering on the lyrics, full of apparent frivolities and exemplary stories, but frankly, it's the least evident and enjoyable thing about this album. Above all, "Graceland", a beautiful dreamlike march to which to direct the wandering of our hopes, our dreams, musical and otherwise, and the unforgettable "Homeless" with its beautiful a cappella intro (a goosebump-inducing performance!).
Simon later tried to repeat the concept, going to Brazil to record "The Rhythm of the Saints": while the latter is still an excellent album with equally splendid music, the compositional peak and happy insights of "Graceland" remained unmatched.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
02 Graceland (04:50)
The Mississippi delta
Was shining like a national guitar
I am following the river, down the highway
Through the cradle of the Civil War
I'm going to Graceland, Graceland
Memphis, Tennessee
I'm going to Graceland
Poorboys and pilgrims with families
And we are going to Graceland
My travelling companion is nine years old
He is the child of my first marriage
But I've reason to believe
We both will be received
In Graceland
She comes back to tell me she's gone
As if I didn't know that
As if I didn't know my own bed
As if I'd never noticed
The way she brushed her hair from her forehead
And she said losing love
Is like a window in your heart
Everybody sees you're blown apart
Everybody sees the wind blow
I'm going to Graceland
Memphis, Tennessee
I'm going to Graceland
Poorboys and Pilgrims with families
And we are going to Graceland
And my traveling companions
Are ghosts and empty sockets
I'm looking at ghosts and empties
But I've reason to believe
We all will be received
In Graceland
There is a girl in New York City
Who calls herself the human trampoline
And sometimes when I'm falling, flying
Or tumbling in turmoil I say
Whoa, so this is what she means
She means we're bouncing into Graceland
And I see losing love
Is like a window in your heart
Everybody sees you're blown apart
Everybody feels the wind blow
In Graceland, in Graceland
I'm going to Graceland
For reasons I cannot explain
There's some part of me wants to see Graceland
And I may be obliged to defend
Every love, every ending
Or maybe there's no obligations now
Maybe I've a reason to believe
We all will be received
In Graceland
Whoa-oh-oh-oh, in Graceland, in Graceland, in Graceland
I'm going to Graceland
03 I Know What I Know (03:13)
She looked me over
And I guess she thought
I was all right
All right in a sort of a limited way
For an off-night
She said don't I know you
From the cinematographer's party
I said who am I
To blow against the wind
I know what I know
I'll sing what I said
We come and we go
That's a thing that I keep
In the back of my head
She said there's something about you
That really reminds me of money
She is the kind of a girl
Who could say things that
Weren't that funny
I said what does that mean
I really remind you of money
She said who am I
To blow against the wind
I know what I know
I'll sing what I said
We come and we go
That's a thing that I keep
In the back of my head
She moved so easily
All I could think of was sunlight
I said aren't you the woman
Who was recently given a Fullbright
She said don't I know you
From the cinematographer's party
I said who am I
To blow against the wind
I know what I know
I'll sing what I said
We come and we go
That's a thing that I keep
In the back of my head
04 Gumboots (02:44)
I was having this discussion
In a taxi heading downtown
Rearranging my position
On this friend of mine who had
A little bit of a breakdown
I said breakdowns come
And breakdowns go
So what are you going to do about it
That's what I'd like to know
You don't feel you could love me
But i feel you could
It was in the early morning hours
When I fell into a phone call
Believing I had supernatural powers
I slammed into a brick wall
I said hey, is this my problem?
Is this my fault?
If that's the way it's going to be
I'm going to call the whole thing to a halt
You don't feel you could love me
But I feel you could
You don't feel you could love me
But I feel you could
I was walking down the street
When I thought I heard this voice say
Say, ain't we walking down the same street together
On the very same day
I said hey senorita, that's astute
I said why don't we get together
And call ourselves an institute
You don't feel you could love me
But i feel you could
You don't feel you could love me
But i feel you could
05 Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes (05:48)
(a-wa) O kodwa u zo-nge li-sa namhlange
(a-wa a-wa) Si-bona kwenze ka kanjani
(a-wa a-wa) Amanto mbazane ayeza
She's a rich girl
She don't try to hide it
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes
He's a poor boy
Empty as a pocket
Empty as a pocket with nothing to lose
Sing Ta na na
Ta na na na
Ta na na na
She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Ta na na
Ta na na
Ta na na
She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes (rich girl)
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes (poor boy)
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes
People say she's crazy
She got diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Well that's one way to lose these
Walking blues
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes
She was physically forgotten
Then she slipped into my pocket
With my car keys
She said you've taken me for granted
Because I please you
Wearing these diamonds
And I could say Oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo ooo
As if everybody knows
What I was talking about
As if everybody here would know
Exactly what I was talking about
Talking about diamonds on the soles of her shoes
Oo ooo
Oo-oo
Oo ooo
She makes the sign of a teaspoon
He makes the sign of a wave
The poor boy changes clothes
And puts on after-shave
To compensate for his ordinary shoes
She said honey take me dancing
But they ended up by sleeping
In a doorway
By the bodegas and the lights on
Upper Broadway
Wearing diamonds on the soles of their shoes
And I could say Oo oo oo oo oo oo oo oo ooo
And everybody here would know
What I was talking about
I mean everybody here would know exactly
What I was talking about
Talking about diamonds
Oo oo oo ooo
Oo oo o o ooo
People say I'm crazy
I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes
Well that's one way to lose
These walking blues
Diamonds on the soles of our shoes
Ta Na Na Na (etc.)
06 You Can Call Me Al (04:40)
A man walks down the street
He says, Why am I soft in the middle now?
Why am I soft in the middle?
When the rest of my life is so hard!
I need a photo-opportunity
I want a shot at redemption
Don't want to end up a cartoon
In a cartoon graveyard
Bonedigger, Bonedigger,
Dogs in the moonlight
Far away, my well-lit door
Mr. Beerbelly, Beerbelly
Get these mutts away from me!
You know, I don't find this stuff amusing anymore
If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty, when you call me
You can call me Al
A man walks down the street
He says, Why am I short of attention?
Got a short little span of attention
And whoa, my nights are so long!
Where's my wife and family?
What if I die here?
Who'll be my role-model?
Now that my role-model is
Gone, gone
He ducked back down the alley
With some roly-poly, little bat-faced girl
All along, along
There were incidents and accidents
There were hints and allegations
If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty, when you call me
You can call me Al
Call me Al
A man walks down the street
It's a street in a strange world
Maybe it's the Third World
Maybe it's his first time around
He doesn't speak the language
He holds no currency
He is a foreign man
He is surrounded by the sound, sound
Cattle in the marketplace
Scatterlings and orphanages
He looks around, around
He sees angels in the architecture
Spinning in infinity
He says, Amen! and Hallelujah!
If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty, when you call me
You can call me Al
You can call me Al
Na, na, na, na, na, etc.
08 Homeless (03:48)
Emaweni webaba
Silale maweni
Webaba silale maweni
Webaba silale maweni
Webaba silale maweni
Webaba silale maweni
Webaba siiale maweni
Webaba silale maweni
Webaba silale maweni
Webaba silale maweni
Webaba silale maweni
Homeless, homeless
Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake
Homeless, homeless
Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake
We are homeless, we are homeless
The moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake
And we are homeless, homeless, homeless
The moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake
Zio yami, zio yami, nhliziyo yami
Nhliziyo yami amakhaza asengi bulele
Nhliziyo yami, nhliziyo yami
Nhliziyo yami, angibulele amakhaza
Nhliziyo yami, nhliziyo yami
Nhliziyo yami somandla angibulele mama
Zio yami, nhliziyo yami
Nhliziyo yami, nhliziyo yami
Too loo loo, too loo loo
Too loo loo loo loo loo loo loo loo loo
Too loo loo, too loo loo
Too loo loo loo loo loo loo loo loo loo
Strong wind destroy our home
Many dead, tonight it could be you
Strong wind, strong wind
Many dead, tonight it could be you
And we are homeless, homeless
Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake
Homeless, homeless
Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake
Homeless, homeless
Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake
Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih
Somebody sing hello, hello, hello
Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih
Somebody cry why, why, why?
Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih
Somebody sing hello, hello, hello
Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih
Somebody cry why, why, why?
Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih
Yitho omanqoba ( ih hih ih hih ih) yitho omanqoba
Esanqoba lonke ilizwe
(ih hih ih hih ih) Yitho omanqoba (ih hih ih hih ih)
Esanqoba phakathi e England
Yitho omanqoha
Esanqoba phakathi e London
Yitho omanqoba
Esanqoba phakathi e England
Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih
Somebody sing hello, hello, hello
Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih
Somebody cry why, why, why?
Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih
Somebody sing hello, hello, hello
Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih
Somebody cry why, why, why?
Kuluman
Kulumani, Kulumani sizwe
Singenze njani
Baya jabula abasi thanda
Yo Ho
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