You Can POLL Me, Al: Paul Simon's "Graceland"

Not my favorite of his work, but I'll go with: "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes"

I'd never have pegged you as a Graceland fan, Alex.

"Boy in the Bubble" for me, but, wow, "I Know What I Know" is a sly little sleeper.

"I Know What I Know" is the first song I can remember rewinding and listening to over and over.

title-track

"Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes", but yeah "I Know What I Know" is great, esp. the line about the Fulbright: it's the kind of woman I tend to fall for.

could go for any of about 7 tunes, but that said "boy in the bubble" still feels kinda visionary. and i love how long it takes for the rhythm to come clear at the start of the song.

staccato signals of constant information
a loose affiliation of millionairea and billionaires

it's that or graceland

OH SO THIS IS WHERE VAMPIRE WEEKEND GOT ITS INSPIRATION

Lasers in the jungle!

lolfred

whoa im listening to this next. i love this record.

probably boy in the bubble fwiw

I am going for "Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes", mainly because it's the one that has preserved the most of what Paul Simon used to sound like, and the way he used to write songs, before "Graceland". "Graceland" and "Rhythm Of The Saints" are interesting albums in a lot of ways, but I still feel like he had to sacrifice something songwriting-wise, and for me, he peaked on the marvellous "Hearts And Bones".

Getting into some of Rhythm of the Saints recently (great title, disappointing sleeve) but I've been putting off revisiting this, basically because it was the only record my dad ever played when I was growing up. Not quite ready to turn these annoying memories into happy ones.

This is the story of how we begin to remember
This is the powerful pulsing of love in the veins
After the dream of falling and calling your name out
These are the roots of rhythm and the roots of rhythm remain

I'm torn between Boy in the Bubble and Under African Skies.

OH SO THIS IS WHERE VAMPIRE WEEKEND GOT ITS INSPIRATION

Also, I think the group that more directly sounds like this is Dave Matthews Band.

I probably won't vote for it but "Crazy Love" deserves at least a little consideration y'all

Hell yeah.

She says the joke is on me/I say the joke is on herrrrrrrrrrr!

man this album is good. voted 'i know what i know'

xpost I actually listened to it yesterday just to hear that part <3 <3 <3

but really depending on the day, I could vote for anything but the last two tracks

which track brought the wrath of David Hidalgo  – "The Myth of Fingerprints"? He claims Simon never awarded him credit?

yeah it's the Myth of Fingerprints - http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/teenage-kicks/los-lobos-on-paul-simon-do-you-1/ - which is also possibly the best, or at least most underrated, song on the album

Boy in the Bubble is the album's best commercial jingle. I Know What I Know is too self-consciously self-aware.

yeah it's weird that a song called 'i know what i know' is self-consciously self-aware

congratulations, btw

Boy In The Bubble

Yeah, this is one of those albums that kind of deserves a classic-style poll for each line - I mean I'd really like to be able to throw some points to each of the following:

* I say the joke is on herrrrrrrrrrr!
* the reversed slap bass solo in "You Can Call Me Al
* the BOY in the BUBble and the BABy with the BABboon heart
* Standing in the shadow of Clifton Chenier, dancing the night away
* DON'T I KNOW you from the cinematographer's PAR-tee?
* ...but they ended up a-sleepin' in a doooor-way...

etc etc. There's just so many sweet, beautiful little melodic and rhythmic bits in this record.

Under African Skies always kills me...

I get chills just *thinking* about that high lonesome guitar part in the title track.

Also (now singing the whole song in my head) at "losing love is like a window to your heart / everybody sees you're blown apart / everybody hears the wind blow."

love love love love love this album and i couldnt possibly choose

great album, gonna vote for the title track because i find it really kind of haunting and sad

i think i wanna buy that vampire weekend record

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 notice
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

^^^basically this bit is one of my favorite lyrics and vocal deliveries ever

this was my favorite album at like age 6-7, because the lyrics are really easy to understand but my young self couldn't imagine what they possibly meant. still one of my fav lyricists ever, and the reissue of this album sounds incredible.

i'm gonna need some time to pick one

xpost ya rly song is B+ and then whammo hello next level

diamonds on the soles of her shoes is ~*wonderful*~ esp that intro part

i think graceland is an "A" all the way through, at least from the part where the guitar comes in @ 0:24

totally o_0 and should be torched by Mayer's smugitude... but Simon's harmonies at 1:30 and passim will raise the hairs on yr neck

i think graceland is an "A" all the way through, at least from the part where the guitar comes in @ 0:24

― "Together we could rape the universe" (omar little), Friday, May 1, 2009

I hears ya... for me it's a genius conceit and a very good song but not transcendent until... boom, the bridge. Gorgeous and perfect in itself, plus expands and deepens everything before and after.

so is there a worst song on this album? I say "Under African Skies," which is problematic: it's so pretty, yet the lyrics have this faux naif quality that, when sung by Linda Ronstadt, get on my nerves.

*gets

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 notice
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

^^^basically this bit is one of my favorite lyrics and vocal deliveries ever

― "Together we could rape the universe" (omar little), Friday, May 1, 2009 1:01 PM (25 minutes ago) Bookmark

yeah, this.

4 real. this album is def one of my favourites in so many ways

so i'm the only one who prefers ROTS huh

It's a great listen, not a bad song on it, but always felt samey-er to me. Graceland is a better mix of rhythms, tempos, textures.. also, came to ROTS later in life as a Paul Simon fan, rather than as a kid soaking in the music that was around.

Could have been any of 5 songs, but IKWIK. I love that the lyrics are completely Upper West Side NYC and make no concession to the sound of the music.

yeah it's weird that a song called 'i know what i know' is self-consciously self-aware

And from a guy who wrote two songs called "Think Too Much."

So much greatness on this record, but I went with "I Know What I Know."

It really reminds me of money.

so i'm curious what people think of the controversy over this album, 20-odd years later. i get the sense that it's now generally regarded as a good move by simon -- not just musically, but bringing more attn to south african music, giving ladysmith a global stage and so forth. which is how i thought of it at the time, even as a high-school kid moderately attuned to apartheid politics (i was in favor of the embargo, divestment, etc). but boy was that not a universal view. it's easy to forget how much shit simon got for it.

Tipsy, pretty good thread focused on those issues here: Paul Simon's 'Graceland'

Also comes up quickly in this Popular comments thread: http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2006/09/simon-and-garfunkel-bridge-over-troubled-water/?cp=0

No love for Gumboots?

xxpost True that it got shit at the time. (A lot of people will tell you Ronald Reagan was universally loved in 1986, too.) What holds up is the substance -- Simon wasn't pissing around, he wrote some really great songs on this record, and some of his thickest verses ever.

ha on that thread i said the same things about "boy in the bubble" 4 yrs ago that i said on this thread. that either represents a consistency of thought or a worrying calcification of my brain.

I agree with you, 4 years ago. These are STILL the days of miracle and wonder.

If anything, that song hits harder now that when it was written.

i wish paul simon had just put together a collection of world music he liked, without ruining the songs by singing over them.

I call bullshit. (Or were you kidding?) It's VERY much a Paul Simon album that has world music in it, not the other way around.

No, strike that. It has a specific kind of regional African music in it. "World"... pfft.

Man, the playing on this album, what a joy!

every time this thread gets bumped i have to turn off whatever i have on this listen to this album

^yup

Still haven't been able to narrow down my pick, like at all.

This is a great album. Simon himself seems like a giant asshole, personally, and not just judging from the way he ripped off Los Lobos here.

God, fantastic album. That was on of the nicest things my girlfriend did for me when I was freaking out about graduating and being unemployed was put this on and talk about how it was always her go to album for when she was feeling hysteric as a kid.

And it's also pretty much why I hate Vampire Weekend, inoffensive vest-wearing weenies as they may be. It's like wanting Talking Heads and getting Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Narrowed to:

"The Boy in the Bubble" - 3:59
"I Know What I Know" - 3:13
"Gumboots" - 2:44
"Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" - 5:45
"You Can Call Me Al" - 4:39
"Under African Skies" - 3:37
"Crazy Love, Vol. II" - 4:18
"All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints" - 3:15

and probably my heart belongs with "I Know What I Know" as outlined above, but I'm going to vote for "Gumboots" because:

* it has a lot of great little pretty parts, nice intro
* when I was a kid I loved "believing I had supernatural powers I slammed into a brick wall" (my best friend, to Simon: "Well, you're pretty stupid then!")
* somehow it feels the most "of this album" of any track on here. Like, everything about it says "album track" but also it just epitomizes the feel of the record - sweet, wistful, some ennui, some optimism, self-aware boomer guy with accordions carrying him along... like if you had to convey what this album's all about in the shortest possible time (2:44!) that'd be it.

tempted to go with "Graceland", which has been an emotional song for me lately. cosign on the 'window in your heart' lyrics etc.

but "diamonds" is clearly the best song for me; washes away all anxieties

I saw the title and gut-reaction voted for "Under African Skies" but it really should have been "I Know What I Know". It's so dense and I have fond memories of it being played towards the end of a good friends' wedding receptions and everybody freaking out.

That's a nice story. I've been swithering for days between:
- 'Graceland' for its fantastic bass and I like the glittery guitar too. It really drives along.
- 'I Know What I Know' for the incredible backing vocals and, like you say, the denseness of the guitar lines, but it loses a point because I don't like the lyrics so much
- 'Gumboots' for the joyous introduction and the terrific drums, and I like the delivery of 'If that's the way it's going to be I'm going to call the whole thing to a halt.' (if that's actually what he says, listening to it closely I'm not sure if he fluffs the line or not)

I think that 'Graceland' is probably the best song and 'I Know What I Know' has the best performance, but 'Gumboots' is the one that puts the biggest smile on my face and I doubt it'll get many other votes so it's getting mine.

i love this album, but what bugs me sometimes is Paul Simon's tendency to have lyrics like: "and i said.." " and you said.." "she said.."

err. yeah. really.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Fat Charlie the Archangel slopes out of the poll
He says, well I don't claim to be happy about this, boys

btw this album is tagged as "soft rock" in itunes

Why - is it soft in the middle?

man I knew I shoulda voted for Crazy Love