Line #96 Music/Graceland


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/paulsimon_graceland_4y6x.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''"I am following the river down the highway, through the cradle of [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar the Civil War]]."'' ]]
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4	''Graceland'' is the sixth studio album by Music/PaulSimon, released in 1986. It is perhaps his most famous solo album, well known for hits such as "The Boy in the Bubble", "Graceland", "Diamonds On the Soles of Her Shoes" and "You Can Call Me Al". It's certainly his best-selling record in commercial terms; it sold over 14 million copies and won the 1987 UsefulNotes/GrammyAward for ''Album of the Year''.
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6	The album is famous for featuring the cooperation of many South African musicians, thus providing a very African atmosphere and giving those musicians the ColbertBump. However, that same cooperation ended up attracting significant amounts of controversy for Simon, as it meant that he was visiting and operating in South Africa during a time when the United Nations had instituted a cultural embargo against the country, with artists being encouraged to avoid visiting in protest towards [[UsefulNotes/TheApartheidEra Apartheid]].
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8	Simon's visit to South Africa was seen as a defiance of this popularly-supported boycott, with the problematic aspects behind it being something that Simon would end up spending the rest of his career adamantly refuting. Simon additionally drew criticism from African-American groups in the United States for what they perceived as [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy cultural appropriation]], despite Simon actively working with South African artists to provide a proper and authentic representation of their culture.
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10	In 2007 "Graceland" was inducted in the UsefulNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry for being "historically, culturally and aesthetically important." A documentary about the creative process behind the album can be seen in the ''Series/ClassicAlbums'' TV documentary series, as well as in the 2012 documentary film, ''Under African Skies'' by Joe Berlinger. The latter additionally goes in-depth into the controversy that followed the album's release, thoroughly displaying the multitude of different ways that the album was received and ultimately leaving it up to the viewer to form their own perception of ''Graceland'' based on the testimonies shown.
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12	Alongside ''Music/{{So}}'' by Music/PeterGabriel, ''Graceland'' is further significant in that it represented the peak of the worldbeat boom that had been going on throughout the 1980's, first kickstarted by Gabriel's ''Music/{{Melt}}'' and Music/TalkingHeads' ''Music/RemainInLight'', both in 1980. However, the controversy this album spawned served as a leading factor in the decline of worldbeat throughout the remainder of the decade, as more and more people began to question the ethical and sociopolitical implications of white artists like Simon, Gabriel, and Talking Heads making use of sounds and styles from nonwestern countries. Gabriel and the members of Talking Heads (particularly frontman Music/DavidByrne) would eventually manage to free themselves from the debate as their socially conscious sides and earnest appreciation for WorldMusic became increasingly well-known, but Simon would remain dogged by the controversy up to the present day.
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14	''Graceland'' was supported by five singles: "You Can Call Me Al", the TitleTrack, "The Boy in the Bubble", "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes", and "Under African Skies".
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16	----
17	!! Tracklist:
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19	[[AC:Side One]]
20
21	# "The Boy in the Bubble" (3:59)
22	# "Graceland" (4:48)
23	# "I Know What I Know" (3:13)
24	# "Gumboots" (2:44)
25	# "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" (5:45)
26
27	[[AC:Side Two]]
28
29	# "Music/YouCanCallMeAl" (4:39)
30	# "Under African Skies" (3:37)
31	# "Homeless" (3:48)
32	# "Crazy Love, Vol. II" (4:18)
33	# "That Was Your Mother" (2:52)
34	# "All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints" (3:15)
35
36	----
37	!! Bonus Tracks (2004 Reissue):
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39	# "Homeless (Demo)" (2:28)
40	# "Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes (Alternate Version)" (4:43)
41	# "All Around The World Or The Myth Of Fingerprints (Alternate Version)" (3:17)
42
43	----
44	!! ''If you'll be my bodyguard, I can be your long-lost trope:''
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46	* AbortedArc: When the album kicks off you hear a lot of African instruments and you expect the record to go deeper into this, but no. Only "Under African Skies" has lyrics that directly reference Africa.
47	* ACappella:
48	** "Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes" starts off a cappella, but then instrumentation falls in.
49	** "Homeless" is entirely a capella, accompanied by Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
50	* ActorAllusion: Not only does Music/LindaRonstadt sing harmony on "Under African Skies", Simon has confirmed that one of the verses is about her as well.
51	-->In early memory\
52	Mission music\
53	Was ringing 'round my nursery door\
54	I said take this child, Lord\
55	From Tucson, UsefulNotes/{{Arizona}}\
56	Give her the wings to fly through harmony\
57	And she won't bother you no more
58	* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: Twice in "The Boy in the Bubble"
59	-->''There was a bright light,\
60	A '''sh'''attering of '''sh'''op windows,\
61	The '''b'''omb in the '''b'''aby carriage\
62	'''W'''as '''w'''ired through the radio.\
63	...\
64	The '''b'''oy in the '''b'''ubble\
65	And the '''b'''aby with the '''b'''aboon heart''
66	* AffectionateNickname: "Graceland".
67	-->''There's a girl in New York City who calls herself the human trampoline\
68	And sometimes when I'm falling, flying or tumbling in turmoil\
69	I say: "Whoa, so this is what she means."\
70	She means we're bouncing into Graceland.''
71	* AfricanChant: Omnipresent throughout the album. The musical sounds of this album were very much inspired by South African musicians Music/JohnnyClegg and Sipho Mchunu and their band Juluka. Despite this only the track "Under African Skies" directly references UsefulNotes/{{Africa}}. The title track takes place in Graceland, Memphis Tennessee, USA, for instance!
72	* AlbumTitleDrop: "Graceland".
73	-->''I'm going to Graceland, Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee''
74	* AlliterativeTitle: "'''I''' '''K'''now What '''I''' '''K'''now".
75	* UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar: Mentioned in the TitleTrack.
76	* BilingualBonus: ''Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes'' and ''Homeless'' have lines in Zulu.
77	* BubbleBoy: ''The Boy In The Bubble.'' Sort of obvious...
78	* CallAndResponseSong: "Homeless"
79	-->''Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih\
80	Somebody sing hello, hello, hello\
81	Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih\
82	Somebody cry why, why, why?\
83	Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih\
84	Somebody sing hello, hello, hello\
85	Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih\
86	Somebody cry why, why, why?\
87	Somebody say ih hih ih hih ih''
88	* CelebrityCameo: In the music video of "You Can Call Me Al" Creator/ChevyChase makes a cameo and basically lip-syncs the main vocals while Paul Simon lip-syncs some of the backing vocals.
89	* DamnedByFaintPraise: The narrator of "I Know What I Know" actually does this to himself.
90	-->''She looked me over''\
91	''And I guess she thought I was all right''\
92	''All right in a sort of limited way for an off night''
93	* DudeNotFunny: "I Know What I Know"
94	-->''She said there's something about you\
95	That really reminds me of money\
96	She is the kind of a girl who could say things that weren't that funny''
97	* EitherOrTitle: "All Around The World Or The Myth Of Fingerprints"
98	* GenreRoulette: The album continuously rotates between pop rock, folk music, and traditional South African music, oftentimes intersecting.
99	* HaveWeMet: "I Know What I Know".
100	-->''She said, "Don't I know you\
101	from the cinematographer's party?"\
102	I said, "Who am I\
103	to blow against the wind?"''
104	* HomelessHero: "Homeless".
105	-->''And we are homeless, homeless\
106	Moonlight sleeping on a midnight lake\
107	Homeless, homeless''
108	* LocationSong: "Graceland", where the protagonist is driving to the place to visit it.
109	* LyricalColdOpen: The first minute of "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" is in a capella.
110	* LyricalDissonance:
111	** "Boy In The Bubble", a cheery song about with lyrics that aren't that upbeat:
112	--->''There was a bright light\
113	A shattering of shop windows\
114	The bomb in the baby carriage\
115	Was wired to the radio''
116	** Zig-zagged in the chorus, making it an example of MoodWhiplash. Simon himself commented that the song combines "hope and dread... that's the way I see the world — a balance between the two, but coming down on the side of hope.":
117	--->''These are the days of miracle and wonder\
118	This is the long distance call\
119	The way the camera follows us in slo-mo\
120	The way we look to us all\
121	The way we look to a distant constellation\
122	That's dying in a corner of the sky\
123	These are the days of miracle and wonder\
124	And don't cry baby, don't cry, don't cry''
125	** "That Was Your Mother" - The upbeat zydeco music disguises the fact that the lyrics are basically a father complaining to their child that he and his mother don't have much fun since he was born.
126	* NewSoundAlbum: Compared to Music/PaulSimon's previous output, this was the first album where he drew on musical influences from Africa, which changes his entire sound.
127	* OneManSong: "You Can Call Me Al"
128	* OneWordTitle: "Graceland", "Gumboots", "Homeless".
129	* RippedFromTheHeadlines: "The Boy in the Bubble" includes allusions to David Vetter and Ted [=DeVita=], two boys born with severe immunodeficiency which forced them to live inside special "bubble" chambers, and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Fae Baby Fae]], a child that had a baboon heart transplant since no human donor was available. She lived 21 days and much controversy surrounded the event.
130	* RoadTripPlot: The protagonist in "Graceland" is driving to Graceland, Tennessee with his son from a previous marriage.
131	* ShoutOut: To Zydeco legend Clifton Chenier in "That Was Your Mother". His son C.J. Chenier made a guest appearance on Simon's follow-up album ''The Rhythm of the Saints''.
132	* SpecialGuest: Music/TheEverlyBrothers provide backing vocals on the title tune, Music/LindaRonstadt duets with Simon on the verses of "Under African Skies", and the band Los Lobos accompanies Simon on "All Around The World Or The Myth Of Fingerprints".
133	* UptownGirl: "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" examines this trope in a wistful way.
134	* WeirdnessMagnet: The men in "You Can Call Me Al" wonder why they feel bad or why certain things happen to them.
135	* WorldMusic: The album is one of the most famous fusions of world music, in this case from South Africa, of all time.
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Context Music / Graceland