Paul Simon - Graceland
Some of you might already have made up your minds about Paul Simon. Some of you might have made up your minds without having actually listened to the song in question. And that's a shame.
Bear with me...
While "Graceland" isn't my favorite of Simon's songs (that would be "The Boxer") it's still a very strong work. It's got a catchy melody, and Simon's voice is as likeable as ever, but it's this verse that makes it so good:
"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 noticed
The way she brushed her hair from her forehead"
It's just great - casual and simple and poetic observation, summing up the end of a relationship in a few easy lines. When Paul Simon is good, he's really good. And the song has other excellent lyrics, too - "For reasons I cannot explain/ There's some part of me wants to see Graceland," Simon sings. His partner (wife?) has left him, and he's seeking comfort in one of America's great holy sites, bringing his young son with him. It's not quite a narrative song, but it gives the beats of a story - the important parts. And it's a song that you must admit, no matter your unreasoned prejudices, has nothing to do with African rhythms.*
*Not that using African rhythms makes a song bad.
Here's a short exchange:
indie cool queen: graceland doesn't rule. graceland is offensive.
odorless boatman: I agree; it's also offensive that Eminem would pilfer rap to create his music. Or that the Clash used reggae in their music. You're using a specious argument, made even more specious by the fact that you haven't actually listened to the song in question. Maybe you'll think the music's good, maybe you won't. But to say it's "offensive" because Simon is drawing on African rhythms is silly. Further, to imply that someone who wrote dozens of songs before delving at all into other cultures' music finds it "impossible to create without first pilfering sentiment, sound, and muse from someplace outside himself" is overly simplistic, not to mention obviously incorrect.
I await proof that an artist utilizing elements of a style of music he enjoyed is racist. I await proof that Paul Simon can't write honest songs. I find any argument based on someone using a different style of music somewhat ridiculous, since every artist (both consciously and subconsciously) draws from and is influenced by numerous sources. I admit Paul Simon's made boring music; some of it is on the same album as "Graceland" and other parts of it are scattered throughout the rest of his catalogue. But that doesn't make this song bad, it doesn't provide proof that he's a racist (though I don't have proof he isn't, but burden on the accuser and so forth), and it doesn't invalidate him as an artist.
Some of you might already have made up your minds about Paul Simon. Some of you might have made up your minds without having actually listened to the song in question. And that's a shame.
Bear with me...
While "Graceland" isn't my favorite of Simon's songs (that would be "The Boxer") it's still a very strong work. It's got a catchy melody, and Simon's voice is as likeable as ever, but it's this verse that makes it so good:
"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 noticed
The way she brushed her hair from her forehead"
It's just great - casual and simple and poetic observation, summing up the end of a relationship in a few easy lines. When Paul Simon is good, he's really good. And the song has other excellent lyrics, too - "For reasons I cannot explain/ There's some part of me wants to see Graceland," Simon sings. His partner (wife?) has left him, and he's seeking comfort in one of America's great holy sites, bringing his young son with him. It's not quite a narrative song, but it gives the beats of a story - the important parts. And it's a song that you must admit, no matter your unreasoned prejudices, has nothing to do with African rhythms.*
*Not that using African rhythms makes a song bad.
Here's a short exchange:
indie cool queen: graceland doesn't rule. graceland is offensive.
odorless boatman: I agree; it's also offensive that Eminem would pilfer rap to create his music. Or that the Clash used reggae in their music. You're using a specious argument, made even more specious by the fact that you haven't actually listened to the song in question. Maybe you'll think the music's good, maybe you won't. But to say it's "offensive" because Simon is drawing on African rhythms is silly. Further, to imply that someone who wrote dozens of songs before delving at all into other cultures' music finds it "impossible to create without first pilfering sentiment, sound, and muse from someplace outside himself" is overly simplistic, not to mention obviously incorrect.
I await proof that an artist utilizing elements of a style of music he enjoyed is racist. I await proof that Paul Simon can't write honest songs. I find any argument based on someone using a different style of music somewhat ridiculous, since every artist (both consciously and subconsciously) draws from and is influenced by numerous sources. I admit Paul Simon's made boring music; some of it is on the same album as "Graceland" and other parts of it are scattered throughout the rest of his catalogue. But that doesn't make this song bad, it doesn't provide proof that he's a racist (though I don't have proof he isn't, but burden on the accuser and so forth), and it doesn't invalidate him as an artist.
posted by Odorless Boatman at 10:19 PM
7 Comments:
ugh i never said he was a racist. i said he was a theif, and he is. you haven't done anything to prove that he isn't, and i can point to his use of percussion in the song graceland to supplement my argument.
other than that, fine, you win.
You used the phrase "latent racism."
And I'll ask again, a thief of what? Paul Simon found a type of music he enjoyed, and incorporated it into his own. Every artist does this; it's not stealing. If you can find some sort of proof that it was done solely for non-artistic motives, I'll take back what I've said. But until that point, the fact that Simon had non-American influences in "Graceland" can't be rationally said to be stealing.
that will take a bit more time. and that means implied racism, which means that i can infer it and you cannot infer it. that was merely my opinion on his use of the tribal music. but, to support my opinion, a quote from wikipedia, "The album featured South African musicians including the band Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Simon faced accusations that he had broken the cultural boycott imposed by western democracies against the apartheid regime in South Africa."
i still maintain that he essentially stole the dirth of this album from a culture that could not stop him from doing so, and i consider that unfair, as well as thievery. while many artists borrow from other artists to enhance the creative process, never does that make another artist's work their own. i like teenage fanclub, they sound just like big star, does that make them original? no, in fact they pretty much just took a blueprint and applied it to their songs, that's just a form of stealing. if they had gotten alex chilton to co-write some songs and play on the album, then they'd be paul simon. the album is just too much indebted to that african music.
I think that quote contradicts your opinion, actually.
If a group that drew of Alex Chilton's influence had him agree to play on songs they recorded, he'd be giving his musical consent for them to be influenced by him - basically saying, "Hey, it's cool that they're drawing on my work." Similarly, the South African musicians who played on Simon's album imply by their participation that they found nothing offensive about his use of traditionally African rhythms. If they thought what he was doing was offensive, they wouldn't have joined him. Not only did they not "try to stop him," they joined him.
The cultural boycott you refer to was implemented to punish the apartheid government; as the following sentence on Wikipedia notes, "This view [that Simon had broken the boycott] 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."
k. you win.
I think in the end, we can both agree that the album as a whole is pretty boring. Though there are exceptions, and the "You Can Call Me Al" video is great. I'll have to find that online and YSI it.
yeah, the album sucks. i agreed that the song itself is good.
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