
Paul Simon vs. the World - tintinnabula
https://www.theringer.com/music/2018/5/10/17338512/paul-simon-career-songs-life-biography-robert-hilburn
======
nikhizzle
I grew up on Paul Simon. In high school when my peers were listening to Snoop
Dog and Guns N’ Roses, I found myself attracted to the multi-cultural
percusson and deep stories on Rhythm of the Saints. Same but different for
Graceland.

To this day, I wonder why my tastes were so different. Maybe there is just
something nerdy about the music. Of course, my dad listening to the whole
Simon back catalog played a part.

Anyone else have a similar interest?

~~~
Vaskerville
Yes. I also grew up with Simon in the background. And also alot of Earth Wind
and Fire. My parents were immigrants and we had alot of different music around
the house. But, Talking Heads for me were the seminal band. Byrne/Eno's My
Life in the Bush of Ghosts was such an exotic album I started searching the
world for other sounds. When I bought my first Fela Kuti album around 1985 my
friends thought it was very strange.

It was a very special time for music. I became a collector (I got employee
discounts at Tower even though I didn't work there). But, when Nirvana hit the
big time, labels stopped promoting that kind of music (I don't like the term
'world music' either - Byrne wrote an essay about that). The focus went
elsewhere, and to be honest, it hasn't been the same since (confirmed by some
friends at some special record labels).

------
ss64
One full day of playing failed to yield any results, but something caught
Simon's attention on day two. "Paul goes, 'Hey, what's that?' We start playing
what we have of it, and it is exactly what you hear on the record. So we're
like, 'Oh, OK. We'll share this song.'" When Los Lobos found no trace of their
names on the album's writing credits, they initially assumed that it had been
an honest mistake. But when months went by with no restitution, the band's
bemusement turned to anger. "It was not a pleasant deal for us," maintains
Berlin. "I mean he quite literally – and in no way do I exaggerate when I say
– he stole the song from us."

He claims that he brought to matter to Simon's attention and was met with the
less-than-conciliatory response of, "Sue me. See what happens."
[https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/paul-simons-
grac...](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/paul-simons-
graceland-10-things-you-didnt-know-w435711)

------
wiredfool
Graceland is the only album that I've bought three times, on LP, Cassette and
CD. At this point, I think I know pretty much every sound on the album.

If you like Graceland, there's a really interesting mix
([http://www.kleptones.com/blog/2012/06/28/hectic-
city-15-path...](http://www.kleptones.com/blog/2012/06/28/hectic-
city-15-paths-to-graceland)) Paths to Graceland from the Kleptones recreating
an idea of what the Gumboots II tape might have sounded like. It's interesting
to hear a little more background that the tape actually existed.

~~~
kej
If you want to make it 4 times, the 25th Anniversary Deluxe version includes
some unreleased demo versions and an interesting story about how the title
track came together. It's on Google Play Music and probably the other
streaming services, too.

------
B1FF_PSUVM
I like these lines, they pretty much nail the century so far:

    
    
        These are the days of lasers in the jungle
        Lasers in the jungle somewhere
        Staccato signals of constant information
        A loose affiliation of millionaires
        And billionaires and baby
        These are the days of miracle and wonder
    

(
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy5T6s25XK4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy5T6s25XK4)
)

~~~
lisper

        It was a slow day
        And the sun was beating
        On the soldiers by the side of the road
        There was a bright light
        A shattering of shopwindows
        The bomb in the baby carriage
        Was wired to the radio
    

Amazingly prescient considering it was written in 1986.

[UPDATE] Actually, it turns out that the lyric is probably referring to this
event in 1985:

[http://articles.latimes.com/1985-01-22/news/mn-10943_1_baby-...](http://articles.latimes.com/1985-01-22/news/mn-10943_1_baby-
carriage)

~~~
rfrey
He did not need a crystal ball, there were plenty of exploding baby carriages
(and mailboxes, and garbage bins) in the 70s and 80s.

~~~
lisper
You're right. In fact, there's this:

[http://articles.latimes.com/1985-01-22/news/mn-10943_1_baby-...](http://articles.latimes.com/1985-01-22/news/mn-10943_1_baby-
carriage)

which is likely the event that this lyric is referring to.

------
8bitsrule
1965-70 was the most fertile time in popular music. Right place, right time.
Simon had well-developed talents for melody (which the British are usually
better at) and poetry.

He also (unlike Joni) had a street-wise sense of humor and mystery (e.g. 'Me
and Julio') to keep it real.

He never settled into a pattern, but (like Madonna and Neil Young) kept
renewing himself. Hard to do, but doesn't fade away.

------
gavinpc
I'm surprised no one (including the OP) has mentioned "American Tune," which I
thought was lifted from a Bach piece but which it turns out Bach himself
lifted:

> The tune is based on a melody line from a chorale from Johann Sebastian
> Bach's St Matthew Passion, itself a reworking of an earlier secular song,
> "Mein G'müt ist mir verwirret," composed by Hans Leo Hassler.[3] The melody
> used for "American Tune" can be heard quite distinctly in part 1, number 21
> and number 23 and in part 2, number 54. The melody to "American Tune" is
> practically identical to that of "Mein G'müt ist mir verwirret" and "O
> Sacred Head, Now Wounded," although Simon expanded on the tune. [0]

Knowing that, the wit of the title starts to rival the mastery of the song.

On the other side, I remember a drum video in which Carter Beauford of Dave
Matthews Band shows how the drum groove from "#41" (or some early song of
theirs) was taken directly from "50 ways to leave your lover." IIRC the
segment where he shows how to play it is captioned "50 ways groove," not "#41
groove." Of course, that probably came from one of Simon's session drummers
(not himself), but who cares. Art can much much more ruthless than that, and
rightly so.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Tune](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Tune)

------
tnolet
Graceland's lyrics and cultural meaning are tremendous. But don't overlook the
absolutely awesome editing, sampling and production tricks. I'm a bit of a
gear nerd and always marvel at the bass sounds, the tape loops they made of
live drums and the really weird mix of "white/western" songwriting gelling
with these african, often processed/resampled backing tracks.

------
olivermarks
Music PR is big, big business. Tech could learn a lot from this type of
influencer article

~~~
paulcole
Just to start: TechCrunch, the Verge, Gizmodo, Daring Fireball? I think “tech”
is well aware of the power of PR.

------
skookumchuck
> cultural appropriation

The idea that someone can "own" a culture is patently absurd. Everything we do
is a hopeless mix of cultures. Every culture is influenced by other cultures.
It's like trying to stake out Mississippi water in the Gulf of Mexico.

And as a direct result of "Graceland", I've bought a number of CDs from
African artists who I'd never have sought out otherwise.

~~~
daseiner1
Yeah imagine people telling Picasso that he couldn’t make African-influenced
art. Turns out his work actually led lots of people (myself included)to take
African primitive art seriously.

~~~
theoh
It's a thankless job to try to convince anyone that what Picasso did was
appropriation. Notoriously, he himself said (translated) "African art? Never
heard of it."

Cultural appropriation hurts when it's done by someone in a position of
relative power to amplify their own voice, rather than allow the foreign
culture in question to be heard. This idea is not a politically radical form
of thought policing, it's just good democratic practice and respect.

~~~
mcphage
> Cultural appropriation hurts when it's done by someone in a position of
> relative power to amplify their own voice, rather than allow the foreign
> culture in question to be heard.

Well, given how many people became familiar with South African music—and
Ladysmith Black Mambazo in particular—through Paul Simon's music, that seems
to be a pretty good description of what he did.

~~~
skookumchuck
Another example would be Led Zeppelin being inspired by blues artists on
another continent. That fits the definition of "cultural appropriation", but
do you seriously want to denounce Zep for that? Music is so rich and diverse
and beautiful and ever-changing _because_ of copying/blending styles from
other cultures and genres.

(Those blues artists would be long forgotten if not for Zep, the Stones, Eric
Clapton, and others copying/blending it.)

~~~
theoh
These are fine counterexamples. The existence of instances of borrowing that
nobody objects to doesn't mean that the problem of cultural appropriation
doesn't exist.

It's a question of nuance, on a case-by-case basis. It's not about something
"fitting the definition" of cultural appropriation, it's about whether someone
is hurt by it e.g. by having their voice or agency denied. It's a subjective
thing.

Showing me a piece of software with no bugs doesn't disprove the existence of
other, buggy, software...

~~~
mcphage
> It's a question of nuance, on a case-by-case basis.

I agree, although I don't think "nuance" or "case-by-case basis" have ever
been used in accusations of appropriation.

~~~
theoh
Well, a Google search finds a number of articles/posts on the topic which make
the observation that more nuance is needed in the conversation. So you are
probably right that it is typically lacking, though the word nuance isn't
totally absent from the discussion.

------
RickJWagner
Love his music, respect his thinking, hate that he sold out to Hillary Clinton
as she cheated Bernie.

