@NicoramaMGMTV Popularity is a meaningless crock of shit, that only shallow ignoramuses even bring up. Musical artistry is COMPLETELY UNRELATED to album sales. In fact, many of the worlds' greatest artists have never been too popular. Either you're joking, or you're a moron. Simple as that.
@PROGFAN What a beautiful story.He will grow to have a great heart.And great memories of his Father. I used to dance in the dark with my daughters when they were tiny to Enigma's "Return to innocence"
Apart from the musical arrangement, which is in itself fantastic, the lyrics and imagery to this one are among his all-time best. Just the alliteration in the first couple of sentences alone is amazing: 'slow', 'sun', 'soldiers', 'side'; and then 'shattering' paired with 'shop' followed by 'bomb' and 'baby'. And then the uniqueness in the 2nd verse of the phrases 'dead sand' and 'automatic earth.'
@progfan10 i agree . When my son was about 3 , I taught him some of the lyrics. It was GREAT .He could repeat them perfectly. This was the boy I would be so proud of 20 yrs or so later. I believe thes arethe days of ... was what I taugtth him .
@progfan10 i agree . When my son was about 3 , I taught him some of the lyrics. It was GREAT .He could repeat them perfectly. This was the boy I would be so proud of 20 yrs or so later. I believe thes arethe days of ... etc. and baby 'don't cry , don't cry"
@NicoramaMGMTV: You mean to tell me that if a new Justin Bieber record comes out and beats Graceland or Tha Carter III in sales, IT will be the best record ever?
Peter Gabriel has included this song on his current tour, accompanied solely by an orchestra, and modified to other cadences. It was certainly an interesting interpretation and, as much as I love and admire Peter, I'll hand this one to it's author.
When my parents divorced I was 12, so my mom bought some music and we would drive around and listen to this album. I learned to appreciate good music at a young age and it got us threw a really tough time.
A lot of people criticized Paul Simon for this Album...claimed he "exploited" South Africa for his musical "art"...bunch of morons, idiots, and jealous snakes they are....at least he tried...so has Manfred Mann, Toto, many others
@MrEdgarCayce The main thrust of the criticism was that he took a bunch of Afropop backing tapes, songs from other musicians, ideas from other people, and then slapped his vocals on top and called the end result a Paul Simon album, words and music by Paul Simon.
@AshleyMarkPomeroy "Main thrust of what criticism?"...please provide specific details, artists, copyright violations, plagiarism, etc...I cannot think of ONE musical artist who has not been influenced in some way or another by at least ONE other artist of the same genre, and then that influence is reflected in the persons art work. I guess all those guitars, microphones, synthesizers, speakers, stage set-ups, advertising, business models, were all "invented" by "Afropop" (sic) artists also?
@AshleyMarkPomeroy I read extensively the Bio on Vieux Farka Touré; so I guess the lead guitar player just "slapped" his fathers guitar riffs onto a guitar, formed a band "called Vieux Farka Touré, and then called it his band and music?...and I know for a FACT that Hugh Ramopolo Masekela invented the Flugelhorn (NOT!).
Graceland features an eclectic mixture of musical styles including pop, a cappella, isicathamiya, rock, and mbaqanga. Much of the album was recorded in South Africa, and it features many South African musicians and groups. Simon faced accusations that he had broken the cultural boycott imposed by the rest of the world against the apartheid regime in South Africa, which was in its final years at the time.
@AshleyMarkPomeroy This view was not supported by the United Nations Anti-Apartheid Committee, as the album showcased the talents of the black South African musicians while offering no support to the South African government. The worldwide success of the album introduced some of the musicians, especially the vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, to global audiences of their own. Simon included American 'roots' influences with tracks featuring Zydeco and Tex-Mex musicians.
@AshleyMarkPomeroy The Everly Brothers sing harmony on the title track. Linda Ronstadt appears on the track "Under African Skies", the second verse of which Simon wrote based on her childhood experiences.
@AshleyMarkPomeroy 2 FACTS: Simon was accused of violating the "Culture Ban" in place in South Africa at the time; AND Los Lobos (American Tex Mex band BTW) accused him of ripping off one of their songs....but thanks for allowing me to clear up the misconceptions....
@AshleyMarkPomeroy Rankings Voted the best album of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll. In 1998, Q magazine readers voted it the 56th greatest album of all time. In 2006, Q magazine placed the album at #39 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s".[7] It was also ranked #84 in a 2005 survey held by British television's Channel 4 to determine the 100 greatest albums of all time.
@AshleyMarkPomeroy In 1989, it was rated #5 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Albums of the '80s. It is #81 on the list of Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The song "Graceland" was voted #485 in the list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
@AshleyMarkPomeroy According to AcclaimedMusic, a site which combines hundreds of best-of lists from critics and musicians from around the world, Graceland is ranked at #76 on the greatest albums of all time.
I totaly agree that this is the best album of all time. Beatles, Elvis. Michael J. and others big stars or band to they i only say sorry but you are not so good as Paul Simon.
This song always fills me with hope in technology. we can perform full heart transplants. we can see further into space than we could ever travel. we can do full video calls with someone on the other side of the planet. we can make energy from the sun's light. we can fly through the air, hundreds at a time.
@LazurBeemz And we can wire bombs to radios and hide them in baby carriages. There's plenty of irony in this song, as it juxtaposes progress with regression. We may be making wonderful and miraculous scientific advancements, but there remains plenty of suffering and isolation in the world.
True, there are two sides to that coin. It's up to us to use technology in ways that make our existence a better one, instead of using it to destroy each other and our planet.
@mascall87 Give us the proof that atheism is true and correct, that's all we ask. Wheres the beef? God is science and science is God. When will you God-Haters realize this.
@afar1 I cannot prove that god doesn’t exist, nor will I try. Atheism is not a belief; it is a lack of a belief. I am not a god hater at all. I really hope that there is a good and part of me believes that there is. What I don’t like is people who claim to know gods will or anything about him. All major religions have embarrassingly and obviously plagiarised there storeys on older religions whose gods you and I don’t believe in. So who is the fool?
@armenius28 The individual who bases his beliefs on evidence, logic and reason is the fool? That doesn’t sound right! You would employ all of these qualities into any other belief you hold, but the powers of religion have forced you to be ignorant to the truth. The fact that you are a Christian is nothing more than a geographical accident....sorry, but that’s the way it is!
@mascall87 first i thought...hej somebody with some IQ,but then you called me christian...and i'm not...so im not a...how did you say it...geographical accident.And when you tell me...that darwins theorie is the ture one...i just shake my head by the ignorance showed to me.Yeah we humans coem from water and a rock...yeah right.Peace...and pls dont replie...its obvious you still have much to learn.
The only thing that is obvious is that you are arrogant! Maybe I did wrongly assume that you where a Christian, but I did so based on the fact you brought up Darwin and Einstein. I drew the conclusion that your beliefs had been taken from primitive texts and that the basic ideas Darwin and Einstein expressed some how offended you. Your comment was nothing more than a pathetic attempt to try and offended me. Please don’t reply unless you have the IQ to try and debate in a more adult manner.
I lived in ghana as a kid. this music and the smell of fuel, the back of a landrover, orange segments thrown from the windows the evening, chickens and children in the streets, mud walls, red dust, driving home in the evening from somewhere
Out of nowhere in the midst of a swaythe of differing albums qualities and styles throughout his career came this absolute gem of an album. He was always a good artist, but this was the seminal one which was not bettered before or after it's release.
Graceland was one of the 5 most important albums of the '80s. Not only was the music some of the most original in decades, but no single work raised more awareness of the plight of apartheid S Africa.
It truly gave a message and got its point across. Not to say that it directly aided the fall of the Botha regime, but it did publicize it.
the long distance call from the past that still waiting for a pick up, this song is nearly ageless the lyrics are amazing yet this song is more than 20+ yrs old
This is the first song on side 1 of the Graceland Cassette. This song hooked me from the moment I heard it, and I never looked back. This was my favorite song for many years. Bravo Paul, you changed my life with this music.
@minamu8 Yeah. If an artist wrote this one song, and that was their only hit in their whole career, they'd still be awesome. But no, this was just ONE of the songs on an album that also happened to contain CALL ME AL, GRACELAND, DIAMONDS ON THE SOLES OF HER SHOES, and more. It's insane. Some of the most perfect songs ever... all on one album. Not, like, a "greatest hits" album, either. Just an album. It's nuts.
@minamu8 I'd say Is This It by the Strokes. I'm not big in that type of music but it's an album i can listen to without even thinking of changing the song
@minamu8 Another great album is The Dark Side of the Moon. Highway 61 Revised and Sgt. Pepper Lonely's Heart Club Band are also AWESOME albums. The last two don't have all perfect songs, like this, but The Dark Side is the biggest competitor with Graceland..
I have a big colection: Bob Dylan, Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Cat Stevens, Paul McCartney AND Graceland, by Paul Simon etc.
wow...the comments about this song are great...except for the "grammar snobs" that evidently NEVER make a type-o or deliberate play one words...anyway. this has got to be one of Paul Simon's BEST albums...and i don't care what you think of my grammar...you have the message of what i am saying regardless. ;-)
@SuziHockey8 Some people just type like that out of habit! For example, me. Even when I'm playing on my PS3 I do the same. =) It's a good natural skill to adopt, it means you don't really need to think when you type a formal letter or other types of formal communication.
Funny how something as simple as an accordian can make the record sound so fantastic. Feels like it's being played backwards with all the volume swells, a la Siouxsie And The Banshees 'Peekaboo' (another great song).
The lyrics are definately cool but the groove is what I like about this song. It's like marching band on speed. Very delicious esp the drums and the downhill horn part.
Peter Gabriel refreshed me on the profoundness of the lyrics with his cover. This original is fantastic Paul Simon has done alot through music to bring us all closer together as earthlings
Always loved this song. Anyone notice there's only 4 instruments here? Percussion, Trombone, Accoridan and bass. Odd combo but it's perfect for this song!
there are guys who speak the trut and are lyrical masterminds.
I don't really listen to too much of it, but something tells me you've never even tried to search for any good rap. you just allowed the shitty mainstream radio bullshit shape your opinions for you.
open your mind, dig deeper, and find out for yourself
I remember listening to this when I watched (on television) the winter of miracles, 1989-1990, when the Berlin Wall was breached, Nelson Mandela released from prison, and both Nicaragua and the Philippines held free elections, and wept for joy.
Two years later, I stood at Checkpoint Charlie and wept again in similar joy. .
"These are the days of miracle and wonder. This is the long distance call...and don't cry, baby, don't cry, don't cry..."
I still believe Mr. Simon wrote it with a bitter irony, and it was the media who used it as many came to see it's meaning..hopeful. (I was 25 in 1990)
Remember, this was the time when the butcher, Ronald Regan, began his slaughter of millions in Latin America.
@21gramsofsoul Don't you mean more than likely, rather than morethen likely? You shoul re-read dear!! Make sure you can speak/write English before you criticise others eh?
@NicoramaMGMTV Popularity is a meaningless crock of shit, that only shallow ignoramuses even bring up. Musical artistry is COMPLETELY UNRELATED to album sales. In fact, many of the worlds' greatest artists have never been too popular. Either you're joking, or you're a moron. Simple as that.
hecbiz75 3 weeks ago
Comment removed
carlafierro7 3 weeks ago
@carlafierro7 well you're here...
zettyzable 1 week ago
If you aren't the age of Paul Simon when he wrote this, please just shut the F up. You have nothing to say. No, believe me, you have nothing to add.
Amhlair 2 months ago
@Amhlair I'm not that age, but I think he is absolutely amazing and his music is glorious.
stefcoolo1 1 month ago
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So much we have, so little we know.
OldManDuke 4 months ago in playlist Sunday night stuff
@PROGFAN What a beautiful story.He will grow to have a great heart.And great memories of his Father. I used to dance in the dark with my daughters when they were tiny to Enigma's "Return to innocence"
wrp54 4 months ago
Stop fighting in the comments, and just enjoy the music for once
dcd1248 4 months ago 3
Whenever I hear this song, time simply stops. And has there ever been a more spot-on lyric as "every generation throws a hero of the pop charts"?
brickbat246 4 months ago
@brickbat246
I agree- but the WHOLE of the lyrics seems to be telling us stuff...
stumyu 3 months ago
Apart from the musical arrangement, which is in itself fantastic, the lyrics and imagery to this one are among his all-time best. Just the alliteration in the first couple of sentences alone is amazing: 'slow', 'sun', 'soldiers', 'side'; and then 'shattering' paired with 'shop' followed by 'bomb' and 'baby'. And then the uniqueness in the 2nd verse of the phrases 'dead sand' and 'automatic earth.'
progfan10 4 months ago
@progfan10 i agree . When my son was about 3 , I taught him some of the lyrics. It was GREAT .He could repeat them perfectly. This was the boy I would be so proud of 20 yrs or so later. I believe thes arethe days of ... was what I taugtth him .
Sharingems 4 months ago
@Sharingems So pretty much, this whole video is about your and your son? Narcissistic much?
Amhlair 2 months ago
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@progfan10 i agree . When my son was about 3 , I taught him some of the lyrics. It was GREAT .He could repeat them perfectly. This was the boy I would be so proud of 20 yrs or so later. I believe thes arethe days of ... etc. and baby 'don't cry , don't cry"
Sharingems 4 months ago
Needs Art's counter melody.
Holdenon3 5 months ago
I played the very first Mario game on the original NES while playing this song. I believe I can die a happy man.
bigjew899 5 months ago 24
I can't listen to this song only once. I have to replay at least three times before moving on.
gimmeurtots72 5 months ago 4
these are the days of miricles and wonders and don't cry
urantiruslan 5 months ago 2
pauls simon was the fiirts american music i hear when coming to america paul simon kicks ass!
urantiruslan 5 months ago
Amazingly Wonderful Music ... Paul Simon, sure knows how to knock a tune together.
msginca 6 months ago in playlist PAUL SIMON 2
@NicoramaMGMTV: You mean to tell me that if a new Justin Bieber record comes out and beats Graceland or Tha Carter III in sales, IT will be the best record ever?
bigjew899 6 months ago 4
Peter Gabriel has included this song on his current tour, accompanied solely by an orchestra, and modified to other cadences. It was certainly an interesting interpretation and, as much as I love and admire Peter, I'll hand this one to it's author.
uckbee 7 months ago
I first heard this in my English class where we analized the lyrics and if you can read between the lines, then you can really appriciate this song
Naruhinafan1994 8 months ago
A song of the species. How did he do it.
Femfikon 8 months ago
When my parents divorced I was 12, so my mom bought some music and we would drive around and listen to this album. I learned to appreciate good music at a young age and it got us threw a really tough time.
uintahbrew 8 months ago 3
A lot of people criticized Paul Simon for this Album...claimed he "exploited" South Africa for his musical "art"...bunch of morons, idiots, and jealous snakes they are....at least he tried...so has Manfred Mann, Toto, many others
MrEdgarCayce 8 months ago 2
@MrEdgarCayce The main thrust of the criticism was that he took a bunch of Afropop backing tapes, songs from other musicians, ideas from other people, and then slapped his vocals on top and called the end result a Paul Simon album, words and music by Paul Simon.
AshleyMarkPomeroy 7 months ago
@AshleyMarkPomeroy "Main thrust of what criticism?"...please provide specific details, artists, copyright violations, plagiarism, etc...I cannot think of ONE musical artist who has not been influenced in some way or another by at least ONE other artist of the same genre, and then that influence is reflected in the persons art work. I guess all those guitars, microphones, synthesizers, speakers, stage set-ups, advertising, business models, were all "invented" by "Afropop" (sic) artists also?
MrEdgarCayce 7 months ago
@AshleyMarkPomeroy I read extensively the Bio on Vieux Farka Touré; so I guess the lead guitar player just "slapped" his fathers guitar riffs onto a guitar, formed a band "called Vieux Farka Touré, and then called it his band and music?...and I know for a FACT that Hugh Ramopolo Masekela invented the Flugelhorn (NOT!).
MrEdgarCayce 7 months ago
@AshleyMarkPomeroy usic
Graceland features an eclectic mixture of musical styles including pop, a cappella, isicathamiya, rock, and mbaqanga. Much of the album was recorded in South Africa, and it features many South African musicians and groups. Simon faced accusations that he had broken the cultural boycott imposed by the rest of the world against the apartheid regime in South Africa, which was in its final years at the time.
MrEdgarCayce 7 months ago
@AshleyMarkPomeroy This view was not supported by the United Nations Anti-Apartheid Committee, as the album showcased the talents of the black South African musicians while offering no support to the South African government. The worldwide success of the album introduced some of the musicians, especially the vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, to global audiences of their own. Simon included American 'roots' influences with tracks featuring Zydeco and Tex-Mex musicians.
MrEdgarCayce 7 months ago
@AshleyMarkPomeroy The Everly Brothers sing harmony on the title track. Linda Ronstadt appears on the track "Under African Skies", the second verse of which Simon wrote based on her childhood experiences.
MrEdgarCayce 7 months ago
@AshleyMarkPomeroy 2 FACTS: Simon was accused of violating the "Culture Ban" in place in South Africa at the time; AND Los Lobos (American Tex Mex band BTW) accused him of ripping off one of their songs....but thanks for allowing me to clear up the misconceptions....
MrEdgarCayce 7 months ago
@AshleyMarkPomeroy Rankings Voted the best album of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll. In 1998, Q magazine readers voted it the 56th greatest album of all time. In 2006, Q magazine placed the album at #39 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s".[7] It was also ranked #84 in a 2005 survey held by British television's Channel 4 to determine the 100 greatest albums of all time.
MrEdgarCayce 7 months ago
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@AshleyMarkPomeroy In 1989, it was rated #5 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Albums of the '80s. It is #81 on the list of Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The song "Graceland" was voted #485 in the list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
MrEdgarCayce 7 months ago
@AshleyMarkPomeroy According to AcclaimedMusic, a site which combines hundreds of best-of lists from critics and musicians from around the world, Graceland is ranked at #76 on the greatest albums of all time.
MrEdgarCayce 7 months ago
I can't sing worth a crap but I seriously belt this song. Annoys the neighbors. Makes me happeh. :3
princessnekonivardi 8 months ago 2
@princessnekonivardi This is a great song, but you shouldn't annoy your neighbors.
back2frinky 8 months ago
@NicoramaMGMTV are you SERIOUS? "the sales prove it"? LIL WAYNE? ARE YOU SERIOUS?
Aqualung1989 8 months ago 24
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Just found some hot, latin girls busizz4me.info
AstridLaci 9 months ago
Paul Wise of music
bolet77 9 months ago
The best Paul Simon album ever....incredible!
Yaaah....Dire Straights,Radiohead,WhiteStripes& on & on & on yaaah!
Religion only holds us back if we're narrow minded & lack conviction.
VeronikRosa 9 months ago
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I doubt you will read this but thanks Paul
Keighley1970 9 months ago
LAZERS IN THE JUNGLE!
Must have been watching Predator at the weekend
MKECBS1 9 months ago
"A loose loose affiliation of millionaires and billionaires" always makes me think of TED...
Azimuth28 9 months ago
Most. Favorite. Song. Ever.
EVER.
Lyrics? Perfect. Musicality? Holy crap.
jojojootlewootle 9 months ago
Comment removed
DesertSouthwestYouth 9 months ago
I totaly agree that this is the best album of all time. Beatles, Elvis. Michael J. and others big stars or band to they i only say sorry but you are not so good as Paul Simon.
pitacaromo 10 months ago
i believe these are days of lasers in the jungle
arequipa1 10 months ago
medicine is magical and magic is art 2011
mikdpluma 10 months ago
best music ever
RedcliffeStreetScene 10 months ago
This song always fills me with hope in technology. we can perform full heart transplants. we can see further into space than we could ever travel. we can do full video calls with someone on the other side of the planet. we can make energy from the sun's light. we can fly through the air, hundreds at a time.
this is truly the age of miracles and wonder.
LazurBeemz 10 months ago
@LazurBeemz And we can wire bombs to radios and hide them in baby carriages. There's plenty of irony in this song, as it juxtaposes progress with regression. We may be making wonderful and miraculous scientific advancements, but there remains plenty of suffering and isolation in the world.
nowhereman1940 9 months ago
@nowhereman1940
True, there are two sides to that coin. It's up to us to use technology in ways that make our existence a better one, instead of using it to destroy each other and our planet.
But still, I choose to believe in the future.
LazurBeemz 9 months ago
@LazurBeemz Yes, but religion will keep attacking science and holding us all back.
MrWomanpower 9 months ago
@MrWomanpower
except when it totally doesn't, which is most of the time. how the hell did this turn into a science vs religion thing.
lets just listen to the music.
LazurBeemz 9 months ago
@MrWomanpower What a moronic God-Hating idiot. God is Science you fool.
afar1 7 months ago
@afar1 god is science? Prove it. You can’t state something as a fact if you don’t have evidence, that would make you the fool.
mascall87 7 months ago
@mascall87 Give us the proof that atheism is true and correct, that's all we ask. Wheres the beef? God is science and science is God. When will you God-Haters realize this.
afar1 7 months ago
@afar1
Are you ten years old or younger?
peticolous 7 months ago
@afar1
Are you ten years old or younger?
peticolous 7 months ago
@peticolous That you're a useless leg humping canine out for a quickie.
Forget it dude,that's sick and you need help.
The only reason I don't remotely recognize you is the fact that you are human spam.
I don't treat spam as actual communication.
Especially if it comes from a talking monkey such as yourself.
afar1 7 months ago
@afar1 I cannot prove that god doesn’t exist, nor will I try. Atheism is not a belief; it is a lack of a belief. I am not a god hater at all. I really hope that there is a good and part of me believes that there is. What I don’t like is people who claim to know gods will or anything about him. All major religions have embarrassingly and obviously plagiarised there storeys on older religions whose gods you and I don’t believe in. So who is the fool?
mascall87 7 months ago
@mascall87who is the fool you ask.... the ones who belief in darwin and einstein srry,but thats the way it is
armenius28 6 months ago
Comment removed
mascall87 6 months ago
@armenius28 The individual who bases his beliefs on evidence, logic and reason is the fool? That doesn’t sound right! You would employ all of these qualities into any other belief you hold, but the powers of religion have forced you to be ignorant to the truth. The fact that you are a Christian is nothing more than a geographical accident....sorry, but that’s the way it is!
mascall87 6 months ago
@mascall87 first i thought...hej somebody with some IQ,but then you called me christian...and i'm not...so im not a...how did you say it...geographical accident.And when you tell me...that darwins theorie is the ture one...i just shake my head by the ignorance showed to me.Yeah we humans coem from water and a rock...yeah right.Peace...and pls dont replie...its obvious you still have much to learn.
armenius28 6 months ago
The only thing that is obvious is that you are arrogant! Maybe I did wrongly assume that you where a Christian, but I did so based on the fact you brought up Darwin and Einstein. I drew the conclusion that your beliefs had been taken from primitive texts and that the basic ideas Darwin and Einstein expressed some how offended you. Your comment was nothing more than a pathetic attempt to try and offended me. Please don’t reply unless you have the IQ to try and debate in a more adult manner.
mascall87 6 months ago
@LazurBeemz The human race isn't even getting started. We can do much more technologically. It's just we as citizens don't have access to it yet.
MKECBS1 9 months ago
This is the first rock album I fell in love with. My dad used to play it all the time when I was a kid.
panth753 10 months ago
@panth753 me too!
arequipa1 10 months ago
My first album from Paul KNOW 4 albums to go
13beerke 10 months ago
brilliant... like a constellation that's dying in the corner of the sky
TheChinaRider 10 months ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
excellent..just shows that white men are better at making nigger music than they are
aranterranting 10 months ago
lasers
a217andy 10 months ago
Happy Mardi Gras 2011~
/watch?v=T-BQreE_5Tw
remember the reason for mardi gras
is the lenten season which immediately follows.
You can wear your summer clothes...
SuperMegaUberGenius 11 months ago
Paul is a briliant lyricist. Everyone knows that.
MicroWorldLover 11 months ago
@MicroWorldLover Unfortunately, not everyone does know that. So it is our responsibility to educate those poor ignorant people.
snailbacon 11 months ago
I lived in ghana as a kid. this music and the smell of fuel, the back of a landrover, orange segments thrown from the windows the evening, chickens and children in the streets, mud walls, red dust, driving home in the evening from somewhere
RandyLahey911 11 months ago
on of my favourites of paul great song !!
HolyAnanas 11 months ago
Out of nowhere in the midst of a swaythe of differing albums qualities and styles throughout his career came this absolute gem of an album. He was always a good artist, but this was the seminal one which was not bettered before or after it's release.
wtmoore 11 months ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
I hate Paul Simon.
invertedchords 1 year ago
@invertedchords is that you Art?
hebber1961 11 months ago 6
Comment removed
invertedchords 11 months ago
Yes "Graceland" one of the greatest albums ever done!!
tobesograteful 1 year ago
Graceland was one of the 5 most important albums of the '80s. Not only was the music some of the most original in decades, but no single work raised more awareness of the plight of apartheid S Africa.
It truly gave a message and got its point across. Not to say that it directly aided the fall of the Botha regime, but it did publicize it.
arkady714 1 year ago
Paul Simon realy brings me back....
UpsidedownCrayons 1 year ago
Peter Gabriel's cover from his "Scratch My Back" album evokes more emotion than Paul Simon's original.
RaintideBunnyfox 1 year ago
I've said it before on this site - Paul Simon's music has given me more pleasure than any other songwriter
firestartertwistedfi 1 year ago
"...Every generation throws a hero up the pop charts..."
bmiltonb 1 year ago 2
has a nice sound to it
zoeruls 1 year ago
the long distance call from the past that still waiting for a pick up, this song is nearly ageless the lyrics are amazing yet this song is more than 20+ yrs old
5554132 1 year ago
Staccato signals of constant information
A loose affiliation of millionaires and billionaires and baby
Fuleadeare 1 year ago
This is the first song on side 1 of the Graceland Cassette. This song hooked me from the moment I heard it, and I never looked back. This was my favorite song for many years. Bravo Paul, you changed my life with this music.
blurrybigfoot74 1 year ago 3
i think 4 people are very, very unique in there ideas of good music
JPBjpb123 1 year ago
@JPBjpb123 i prefer to say they are very idiot
hildergarn 1 year ago
Where is the concert in the Park ?????? I want to see him ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡
robertwatersss 1 year ago
"It's a turn-around jump shot
It's everybody jump start
It's, every generation throws a hero up the pop charts,
Medicine is magical and magical is art think of
The Boy in the Bubble
And the baby with the baboon heart"
Very Dylan-esque.
crazytree 1 year ago
@crazytree Shit! Dylan don't come close-
godofslumber 1 year ago
Anyone who dislikes this doesn't exist
WorldsGreatestVidiot 1 year ago 2
love this stuff
cm1179 1 year ago
Great lyrics. Like this version better than Gabrielle's, which is *only* sad. This one is bittersweet
YerJob 1 year ago
SO SAD. I ONLY REALISED AFTER LISTENING TO PETER GABRIEL'S VERSION...
filthychimp03 1 year ago
What a prophecy. This song applies more to today than to 1986 when it was written.
pardyhardly 1 year ago 25
@pardyhardly Key album of my life, mon ami :)
JayGOS117 9 months ago
Album of the Year.
1privatepop1 1 year ago
The best album of all time. Every song is perfect. When was the last time that happened?
minamu8 1 year ago 38
@minamu8 nah, there is no such thing as "the" best album of all time, just good and bad music and this is certainly good
THthefirst 10 months ago
@minamu8 never.
completeaddiction 10 months ago
@minamu8 Probs about 85-86 ;)
JayGOS117 9 months ago
@minamu8 Yeah. If an artist wrote this one song, and that was their only hit in their whole career, they'd still be awesome. But no, this was just ONE of the songs on an album that also happened to contain CALL ME AL, GRACELAND, DIAMONDS ON THE SOLES OF HER SHOES, and more. It's insane. Some of the most perfect songs ever... all on one album. Not, like, a "greatest hits" album, either. Just an album. It's nuts.
slut4berniesanders 9 months ago 2
@minamu8 1997. Radiohead's OK Computer.
abcdefh1992 9 months ago
@abcdefh1992 Yeah, that's true. KID A was also really good.
minamu8 9 months ago
@minamu8 Almost every Dire Straits album is like that. But this truly in my top 5 favourite albums
MKECBS1 9 months ago
@minamu8 Queens debut album. Pink Floyd's Wish You were Here album. Rob Zombie's Hellbilly Deluxe. In short, not often...
masercot 9 months ago in playlist Graceland Album - Paul simon
@minamu8 I'd say Is This It by the Strokes. I'm not big in that type of music but it's an album i can listen to without even thinking of changing the song
ShurCashMoney 8 months ago
@minamu8 master of puppets
2ciatc 8 months ago
@minamu8 probably Master P
tittyj2020 7 months ago
@minamu8 Another great album is The Dark Side of the Moon. Highway 61 Revised and Sgt. Pepper Lonely's Heart Club Band are also AWESOME albums. The last two don't have all perfect songs, like this, but The Dark Side is the biggest competitor with Graceland..
00ligeirinho 1 month ago
Crazily good. Awesome.
costellodan 1 year ago
Graceland = The Greatest Album Ever Made
minamu8 1 year ago 2
Used to have this on Vinyl! And I'm only 18 xD
ProjectAlexable 1 year ago 4
@ProjectAlexable I absolutely LOVE vinyls!
I have a big colection: Bob Dylan, Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Cat Stevens, Paul McCartney AND Graceland, by Paul Simon etc.
And I'm 13! =P
Age does NOT count. Good music counts.
00ligeirinho 1 month ago 2
just a beautiful song.
jasonwheel 1 year ago
wow...the comments about this song are great...except for the "grammar snobs" that evidently NEVER make a type-o or deliberate play one words...anyway. this has got to be one of Paul Simon's BEST albums...and i don't care what you think of my grammar...you have the message of what i am saying regardless. ;-)
SuziHockey8 1 year ago
@SuziHockey8 Some people just type like that out of habit! For example, me. Even when I'm playing on my PS3 I do the same. =) It's a good natural skill to adopt, it means you don't really need to think when you type a formal letter or other types of formal communication.
ProjectAlexable 1 year ago
@SuziHockey8
It's not type-0..that's like a blood group...it's typo...hee hee.
theyorkshirewhites 1 year ago
Funny how something as simple as an accordian can make the record sound so fantastic. Feels like it's being played backwards with all the volume swells, a la Siouxsie And The Banshees 'Peekaboo' (another great song).
gestapojohnson 1 year ago 3
Peter Gabriel's version's good too
toxicity187 1 year ago
Not to compare, but anyone else hear a Talking Heads resemblance as the song starts? ("Life during wartime"?)
Again, this isn't comparing so don't start an arguments. Just an observation..
JaredTJohnson 1 year ago
beautiful.....simply beautiful.
clearfudge 1 year ago
love the accordian
SpArKpLuG12994 1 year ago
these are the days of miracle wonder..........?
I cry, cry and cry.
man0m0ut 1 year ago
Great song !!
johnfre2 1 year ago 3
A good catchy song I love this.
Forestamtul 1 year ago 5
I grew up to Paul, I remember when I was young. What a great performer/composer!
fartmagnet 1 year ago
The lyrics are definately cool but the groove is what I like about this song. It's like marching band on speed. Very delicious esp the drums and the downhill horn part.
OttieBlue 1 year ago
Peter Gabriel refreshed me on the profoundness of the lyrics with his cover. This original is fantastic Paul Simon has done alot through music to bring us all closer together as earthlings
doxiehouse 1 year ago 3
Ahhh... That harmonica brings back memories of my childhood... Hearing this song on the radio... :-)
Great Song Paul!!!
azaraangelwings11 1 year ago
@azaraangelwings11
its an accordion not a harmonica I think. But yeah, good times! I was four when this came out.
bigjew899 1 year ago
Great song. Rest in peace little David.
letthemadoptchildren 1 year ago
put the video pn
whitemanstand72 1 year ago
I like this song except...the verse is so much cooler than the chorus. it's like...verse...*rock out*, chorus *wuss out*
Lewis1711 1 year ago
Ya he does say blazers, interesting.......
coopmen 1 year ago
Every generation sends a hero up the pop charts.
Tubernaut 1 year ago 2
great song...i like how he says "lasers in the jungle"....
spliter227 1 year ago 3
@spliter227 I think hes saying blazers, as in people smoking weed
Ultima222 1 year ago
@Ultima222 The lyrics here are "lasers in the jungle," sorry to burst your bubble.
MusicRevisited 1 year ago
@MusicRevisited "blazers in the jungle" hahahahahah
It's so obviously " lasers "
fartmagnet 1 year ago 2
Always loved this song. Anyone notice there's only 4 instruments here? Percussion, Trombone, Accoridan and bass. Odd combo but it's perfect for this song!
snuffereet 1 year ago 4
and acoustic guitar!
xxrosietxx 1 year ago
oh duh... ending to fade out has acoustic guitar, okay FIVE instruments! I feel like a moron. ha ha thanks for catching my mistake!
snuffereet 1 year ago
After hearing Gabriel's version I can't even listen to this one.
terminalmf 1 year ago
dont be a close minded fuck.
not every hip hop artist perverts music.
there are guys who speak the trut and are lyrical masterminds.
I don't really listen to too much of it, but something tells me you've never even tried to search for any good rap. you just allowed the shitty mainstream radio bullshit shape your opinions for you.
open your mind, dig deeper, and find out for yourself
danzig5 1 year ago 3
@danzig5
check out dj dangermouse - bush boys :)
very political but kinda proves the point you're trying to make
LeonTHDD 1 year ago
if we dont do something these pieces of art will be vanished from earth and leave us nothing but computer made nonsense
mikemoos 1 year ago
Check out my modest cover :-)
SimonEndeacott 1 year ago
Thanks for adding this song! Fab!!
kirstinroma 1 year ago 4
"Every generation throws a hero up the pop charts."
These days, "heroes" are rappers and hip-hoppers who pervert music.
samsticka 1 year ago 4
I remember listening to this when I watched (on television) the winter of miracles, 1989-1990, when the Berlin Wall was breached, Nelson Mandela released from prison, and both Nicaragua and the Philippines held free elections, and wept for joy.
Two years later, I stood at Checkpoint Charlie and wept again in similar joy. .
"These are the days of miracle and wonder. This is the long distance call...and don't cry, baby, don't cry, don't cry..."
ArkadyRenkovich 1 year ago 93
@ArkadyRenkovich I think the song has a bitter sarcasm, and irony.
I
21gramsofsoul 1 year ago
@21gramsofsoul, that is a valid interpretation. One can certainly view the message that way.
But in January, 1990, it seemed an anthem of hope.
Less so now, after the slaughters and butchery and thievery of the last twenty years.
Very good counterpoint, 21 grams. (smile)
ArkadyRenkovich 1 year ago
@ArkadyRenkovich Thanks!
I still believe Mr. Simon wrote it with a bitter irony, and it was the media who used it as many came to see it's meaning..hopeful. (I was 25 in 1990)
Remember, this was the time when the butcher, Ronald Regan, began his slaughter of millions in Latin America.
21gramsofsoul 1 year ago
@21gramsofsoul that was supposed to read..."when the butcher, Ronald Regan, began almost a decade earlier..."
Sometimes I think faster then I type!
21gramsofsoul 1 year ago
@21gramsofsoul Good for Reagan. If he would have done more, we would have them coming over the border America.
y4m5m5 1 year ago
@y4m5m5 you really should be careful with your grammar...re-read dear!
Most Latin Americans, and Mexicans can write, and morethen likely speak better english then you!
21gramsofsoul 1 year ago
@21gramsofsoul Don't you mean more than likely, rather than morethen likely? You shoul re-read dear!! Make sure you can speak/write English before you criticise others eh?
Kegster9 1 year ago
@Kegster9 don't you mean "should" rather than "shoul"? you SHOULD reflect before you throw the first stone, darling.
lipstickvogue1216 1 year ago
@lipstickvogue1216 That was a deliberate error. Tongue in cheek. Anyway, where did you pipe up from? Bell end.
Kegster9 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@Kegster9 LOL! I guess you're just as silly as the bigot I was responding to....
21gramsofsoul 1 year ago
@21gramsofsoul fuck you.
dmkwils 1 year ago
@dmkwils WOW! You're so intelligent!!
21gramsofsoul 1 year ago
@dmkwils thank you, you must be an Nobama butt kisser.
dmkwils 1 year ago
@ArkadyRenkovich arent u a legend
ozziedoggy14 1 year ago
@ArkadyRenkovich Optimisim at its best.
dubconor 1 year ago
@ArkadyRenkovich dude that was one of the most sensible posts i have ever read on youtube. What an awesome tune too...
garyb654 1 year ago