Graceland

Today's Music From Years Ago is Paul Simon's Graceland. This is an album I picked up on CD when I was much younger and didn't really know how to cook. Anyway, I bought this album at a record store that I think is now a Christian Science reading room and nail salon, basically because I had always liked Simon & Garfunkel.

Graceland turned out to be one of the better purchases of my post-adolescent years, an album I liked enough to purchase on cassette tape later (as my car in those days had no CD player). It comes from a period where Paul Simon decided to blend his brand of wordy, sensitive guitar music with traditional African rhythms or something like that. The result ended up being Graceland, an album full of friendly and listenable songs. There are all kinds of instruments here, though Simon's voice is the bandleader (save for one track, "Homeless").

As a whole, even today, I think this album works. Granted, the second half of the album is a little too breezy for my taste now, lacking some of the focus and drive of the earlier songs. The fusion of sounds works, though, and Simon's lyrics are a definite strength. Several tracks stand out: the opener, "Boy in the Bubble", "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes", and my personal favorite, "Under African Skies". The title track, "Homeless, and "Gumboots" are good too. You probably think of "You Can Call Me Al", and the music video with Chevy Chase, our modern-day Icarus, smug as ever.

Anyway, this album might be dated at this point, but it's still a good listen, whether you have a soft spot for Paul Simon's work, like African music, or hopefully both.

In Other News:
The other news is weary and melancholy today. Maybe things will be okay. Maybe not. Who knows?