Paul Simon vs. the World
theringer.com
theringer.com
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?
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).
My peers - and bandmates - didn't share my appreciation. I vividly remember an argument with my high-school band that ended in a dog rough performance of Sweet Child of Mine at a school talent show which included a broken guitar string during a solo, inaudible vocals, and off beat drum fills.
Later in my music career, musician friends came to understand the beauty of his songwriting and musicianship. It was really great to finally share my affection for those songs.
Simon influenced my own songwriting more than any other artist.
Then he had a hit on MTV with Chevy Chase, but never caught on in the same way that someone similar such as Peter Gabriel ever did (it's strange that I never realized the similarities between them until now). My Def Leppard loving friends still thought his music and especially the African vocals were weird and uncool. I later gravitated more towards electronic music and alternative, but kept buying his new albums through college.
I still like his music, and my daughter now loves the Graceland album as well, so Paul Simon was cool-dad music for 2 generations. I think I get credit for playing sound of silence for her before it got popular again. But to me his music hasn't aged well. I guess I still remember it as singer-songwriter and folksy, but now when I listen, it's mostly pop. Despite being more complex than the 3- and 4-chord melodies he was trying to outdo, the melodies seem catchy but not moving, the lyrics a bit trite--it all sounds better when explained by a critic.
The backstory about the personality and disputes is mostly new to me--I had only heard about his falling out with Garfunkel. But growing up I didn't know much about any musicians, who was in which band, nor really care. With all the mini biographies on Wikipedia, I now learn a lot more about the music I listened to, and often find myself realizing the connection between some bands, for example having the same producer. But I never idolized Simon or any other musician, so the stories don't change my experience of the music, though I do feel for the other artists.
Someone mentioned the quality of the Simon and Garfunkel duo, and I agree. Wednesday morning 3am is the least pop of their albums, with the best harmonies. The other folk group I liked with harmonies was Peter, Paul, and Mary--another hand-me-down from my parents and also to my own kid.
Now of course my music taste has expanded to all the directions, from contemporary electronic to classical, jazz to stoner metal. I think there are always people in schools just not going with the flow when it's up to music. Sometimes it's hard, but later on you realize you still dig into the new stuff when your old peers just listen to the same songs as they did back in the school years.
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...
If you like Graceland, there's a really interesting mix (http://www.kleptones.com/blog/2012/06/28/hectic-city-15-path...) 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.
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
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
[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-...
which is likely the event that this lyric is referring to.
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.
> 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.
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.
We bitch when white men write only about white male culture as that is exclusionary. We also bitch about cultural appropriation if they write about anything else. We also also bitch about how evil and terrible it is if other cultures feel forced to put their culture on display to try to make money.
Apparently, nothing makes us happy.
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.
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.
(Those blues artists would be long forgotten if not for Zep, the Stones, Eric Clapton, and others copying/blending it.)
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...
I agree, although I don't think "nuance" or "case-by-case basis" have ever been used in accusations of appropriation.
Maybe the real problem is not taking African art seriously in the first place (not until a European starts making it, that is).
Cultures influence each other, but it’s silly to argue they don’t have a meaningful geographic origin. Italians are right to take pride in Italian food. Would you say a carnitas taco is equally Mexican and Chinese?
Cultures are a real thing, usually tied to real places and real people. Pretending otherwise is approbation, but it’s also just rude and incorrect.
I'm not arguing that, nor am I arguing that one shouldn't take pride in one's culture.
> Cultures are a real thing, usually tied to real places and real people. Pretending otherwise is approbation
That is a new definition of appropriation. For example, the "walk like an Egyptian" dance is now considered cultural appropriation, yet it explicitly says it is Egyptian.
It's just absurd.