Tag Archives: Graceland

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Song of the Day #6,305: ‘All Around the World (Or The Myth of Fingerprints)’ – Paul Simon

Concluding a countdown of my favorite albums of 1986…

#1 – Graceland – Paul Simon

Like The Smiths’ The Queen is Dead, Paul Simon’s Graceland is one of my all-time favorite albums, and it’s pretty damn high on that list.

My love for Simon’s best-selling and most-lauded album is due to its impeccable music content, of course, but it’s also rooted in nostalgia. This is the one album on my 1986 list that I listened to the year it came out. It was a staple of my childhood, an album my family learned and loved together.

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Song of the Day #1,925: ‘The Boy in the Bubble’ – Paul Simon

paul_simon_gracelandThe most-read Song of the Day in the history of Meet Me in Montauk is (drum roll, please) Paul Simon’s ‘Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes.’ Top two spots go to Mr. Simon! Must be some meaning behind that.

Even factoring out the Bob Dylan tracks, this post is far and away the winner. It has been viewed 3,690 times, second only to the Hancock post, and more impressive as all of these views have come the old-fashioned way.

In the three and a half years since I posted it, it has never received more than 211 views in a single month. But it’s good for about four page views per day, every single day.

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Song of the Day #1,406: ‘I Know What I Know’ – Paul Simon

Best Albums of the 80s – #1
Graceland – Paul Simon (1986)

All of the drama and anticipation of the last four weeks leads to this… the least surprising “Best 80s Album” pick of the batch. Sorry to be boring and predictable, but what choice did I have?

I considered ranking Graceland second just to up the excitement factor, but I couldn’t do it in good conscience. It’s too perfect, too ground-breaking, too emotionally and viscerally satisfying to deny. The only thing going against it is that it’s been the best! album! ever! for more than 25 years. At some point, shouldn’t Graceland fatigue set in?

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Song of the Day #1,247: ‘That Was Your Mother’ – Paul Simon

Paul Simon’s Graceland is famous for its blend of Simon’s signature pop sensibility with the sounds of South African music, including the a capella work of Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Simon was accused of supporting apartheid by breaking a cultural embargo but the United Nations supported him.

The South African influence is certainly heard all over Graceland, but it’s easy to forget that Simon spins off in other directions, particularly at the end of the album.

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Song of the Day #1,246: ‘Graceland’ – Paul Simon

Paul Simon’s Graceland is an all-time classic, his best work, a critical and commercial smash, one of the most beloved albums in history. It feels almost unnecessary to write about it because its story is so well-known, its rhythms and melodies long ago memorized.

What struck me as I reached this album in the chronology of my Paul Simon Weekends is that Graceland arrived at the lowest point in Simon’s career.

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